.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

I am so sorry for your loss of your beloved companion, who kept you going for so long.
Actually, we did have this discussion on the old board, and one of our then members came up with a human caretaker blog. Your vet is a compassionate loving human being. It is true. You do know. When the joy of life is gone, when the love cannot come through because of the pain and it will never get any better, only worse, then I too believe you know it is time.
Unfortunately down here in the rural south, we do not have that kind of care, and we have to actually fight to keep a blind dog alive, a shot and run over dog alive. That dog WANTED to live. He was a charity case, so I was running all over trying to raise money for his care. He found LOVE, FOOD, MEDICAL care for the first time in his life, and he was not going gently into that good night. Against medical advice I kept these two dogs alive. I was chewed out by my vet's tech for not destroying AllicksBlindPup! I found a new hospital and I teach them everything they know about the ability of the Lethal White Aussie, as well as genetic predispositions (homozygous merle). We are now on a new journey learning about severe canine compulsive disorder (my newest foster from Texas).
I too have had dogs euthanized (long before I ever found this board, believing my medical professional) when perhaps I was jumping the gun. It happened to the founder of www.handicappedpets.com as well. His Mercedes was euthanized prematurely, because the doctor said it had to be done. Mercedes was the inspiration for this board, and she will save lives for many many years to come.
I believe your care was a beautiful thing and I am so happy you have such a caring medical professional to take care of the best gift in your life.... your dog. Please tell him he has a huge fan in Saint Helena South Carolina.
My deepest sympathies to you and I know you will be reunited at the Bridge.
Here's my beautiful AllicksBlindPup.

[Dianne]

Karen's correct that we have had this discussion in the past, but not in recent months.

There is a measure of quality of life on a rabbit website that asks the following questions:

"Misery cannot be assumed. If you are facing the decision of prolonging or ending a life that you're not sure offers more pleasure than pain, here are the guidelines that we use:

(1) Appetite: does she still like to eat?

(2) Affection: does she exchange affection with you or any other companion?

(3) Attitude: is she interested? Does she like to watch, sniff, and listen to the things going on around her? Does she still show pride and try to groom herself? "

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-8/quality-of-life.html

And yes, there is a caregiver's fatigue. There is the initial shock, grief over the loss of the pet's ability, fear of inability to do the job, and then the settling in process for daily care.

Everyone handles it a bit differently, but you learn to live with it (stress) when you see the quality of life as measured above. There are good and bad days for the pet and the caretaker. A bad day may come and go.

You've got to recognize your own ability to give, and then allow yourself time to recover. Rest, sleep, interest in other things in life...

We try to support the difficult decisions people make, too, but there is often a rush to judgment by some in the veterinary field who would make the decision FOR you. They have never seen or refuse to see that handicapped pets can have quality of life.

The decision is never easy.


Dianne