I'm starting to notice a theme, it crops up with friends and in the facebook dog groups I follow. Over and over, there will be news of an elderly pet who stopped eating or had a diagnosis of cancer or some other significant illness. The animal receives treatment, rallies, deteriorates, rallies, deteriorates and after a long battle is finally allowed to rest in peace.
People say "but she was ok a week ago" or "it was so fast." The owner says "I thought we had more time"
I grew up in a time when vet specialists were rare, dog's didn't have orthopaedic surgery and cats didn't have chemotherapy so maybe my attitudes and expectations are a relic from another time but it all breaks my heart on behalf of the animals.
They hide their pain, fear or discomfort because to show it makes them vulnerable so by the time we know there's a problem, they are really in trouble. Then we spend thousands of dollars putting them through invasive testing, in surgeries where they are terrified, hand feeding them all kinds of delectable morsels to try to tempt them to stay alive, nursing them toward the next stage of decline.
We are so used to seeing the medicalised disease process in humans, where the patient makes their own choice about treatment, where aging is managed to produce a reducing quality of life over a period of time that we think lingering through illness and infirmity is normal. The reality is that nature is harsher than that. (or kinder?) We can't bring ourselves to accept the truth that our pets have a fast approaching and inevitable end and so we ignore the signs that they have had enough, we ignore the devotion that has inspired them to gamely recover from all kinds of suffering, we ignore the fact that we are inflicting hardship, we ignore the fact that they have no fear of death and instead we ask them to keep going. For us. So we can delay our heartbreak.
If the pets were in charge of our medical care, I think they would let us go.
Ouch. This hit home. I really, really hope that we didn't force Jazz to live in pain for too long (though of course any pain is too long). And it appears likely we will be taking the kittens back to the vet tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI did very carefully consider if I should post it but I know you prioritised Jazz's welfare. I'm really sorry to hit you in a tender spot, it wasn't intended that way. At all. Ever.
DeleteI didn't take it as an attack. I just take the welfare of the animals who share our lives very, very seriously. And often wish that I understood their language better. And sometimes am glad I don't. Jazz certainly in his younger days called me things I would rather not hear (when I was late with food for example).
DeleteJazz was a force to be reckoned with 😊
DeleteWell said. There is something very wrong with helping humans suffer or animals.
ReplyDelete"Nursing them toward the next stage of decline" That seems cruel! We are selfish wanting to keep people or animals around for too long.
When we had less ability to do diagnostic testing vets gave their best educated guess about what was going on and I guess sometimes they got it wrong but now we seem to test and test to end up with the same sad end.
DeleteIt's very difficult to know when to stop
Very interesting post. I see this on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter watched one situation and commented "too much money, not enough heart"
DeleteIt's such a tough call. My old dog, although at death's door, was still excited by going for his last limp around the woods - which made me wonder if we were doing the right thing. And we had our cat with cancer put to sleep - the prognosis was not good, and if she was let out, she would hide, as if looking for a private place to die. I hate making the decision, but it is my responsibility that my pets don't suffer.
ReplyDeleteSx
It's a very tough call. A dog I had years ago got up and wagged his tail at the vet who was there to put him down and I've wondered about it for years. Realistically he had gurgly lungs and was 14.
DeleteI had a terrible moment Kylie when I had made the final appointment for my beloved Ansa. She rallied on the day before and took herself off on a long walk around the property, pausing, looking at the ocean, looking like her old self. And I thought, my god, she's better. Better? She had been crippled for a while and I sensed her pain and how she knew at some level "the plan" for the following day and took herself off for a final look around the place where she had been the happiest at god knows what cost. She was massively old in dog years. So I went ahead. For her sake and not for mine as I still grieve her.
ReplyDeleteI truly hear you. I did the same for my cat Walter more a canine than a feline. And left him snoozing in the garden for a day before "The Plan" and other darlings I have had. It's really hard but not the time to be selfish. They trust us with their lives. And with their deaths.
XO
WWW
People can famously have a burst of energy at the very end of life, I would imagine animals can, too. It's discombobulating for the owners :)
DeleteI do agree. Forcing pets to struggle on when they're obviously past their best is surely cruel. But then we also force human beings to struggle on when their health is failing. We need to accept what you might call the law of diminishing returns and call it a day instead of grimly battling on.
ReplyDeleteWe do try to extend human life beyond what's reasonable,I agree. The difference is, a person can make their own decisions (within the law) about what treatment they will pursue. Our pets just have to accept what we want.
DeleteI agree (in fact have just written a comment about the death of my own cat many years ago - I couldn't let him suffer when his kidneys suddenly failed) that it behoves us to think of the animal not ourselves when deciding on care. I have DNR on my medical notes and I'd do the same for my pets.
ReplyDeleteHi Graham,
DeleteI just found your comment now, it had been placed in the spam folder. This post was inspired by a dog I know through social media. He has been put through the wringer and admittedly he always seems to recover from his many surgeries but I think it's wrong to ask him to
Very insightful Kylie and something I needed to know. I agree that animals have a different view of death than we do. And I have really struggled to know when was the right time to give my beloved pooch the green dream.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle, I've missed you 😊
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough call and I don't want to hurt people and I'm not really talking about age alone, even though aging is hard to watch.
What gets me is the ones who already have a bad diagnosis and are on limited time.