A Veterinarian’s Promise
Euthanasia.
Every few days I get asked the same question, “Am I making the right decision?”
The asker is always distraught, on the verge of saying goodbye to their beloved pet.
I usually just answer ‘yes’ or something similar. Sometimes i quote the statistics of survival for such a condition, because numbers are solid and devoid of emotion when your world is crumbling, numbers you can hold onto.
But what I want to answer is this.
“I wouldn’t let you make the wrong decision.”
As a veterinarian i routinely perform euthanasia to give pets a peaceful, compassionate death. It may be a pet I’ve known and treated for years, or it may be a pet I’ve never seen before who “Didn’t need to go to the vet because he’s healthy, but he’s on his way out now.” (Here’s a tip- most of the time those pets did need a vet, and that’s why they’re in the situation they’re in now.) But the past doesn’t matter. The fact is, the animal is lying before me now, on the brink of making a decision, and you have a choice to make.
A few days ago a lady brought her cat into see me. The cat was elderly, and had disappeared for a few days before coming home. The lady had thought her cat had crawled off to die, and was so relieved that she’d come home.
Her relief rapidly changed to concern when she saw my face drop. This happy, purring little cat was very thin, and I could feel a tumor the size of my fist in her abdomen. A tumor about as big as her head.
It was more than likely intestinal lymphoma. Now surgery was an option to remove the segment of intestine, but lymphomas often spread rapidly and any surgery should be followed up by chemo. Statistically, about a 30% chance of the cat being alive and well in three years time, after both surgery and chemo. But in an old cat who’s lost a lot of weight, well, I was dubious that she’d be one of the 30%, and so was the owner. Palliation is also an option, but effective for about 8 weeks at most.
Things like this are of course extremely personal decisions. She asked me if she was making the right choice.
I wont let you make the wrong decision.
After than consult I had a phone call from a lady i had seen earlier in the day. Her old dog had been coughing a lot, and I had diagnosed it with moderate to severe heart failure.
She called because she was concerned that she was doing the wrong thing by her dog in keeping her alive.
I told her; your dog is happy. She eats. She walks. She sleeps. She has no difficulty going to the toilet with dignity. She recognizes you and her tail didn’t stop wagging the entire time she was here. I can’t give her a new heart. I can try to stop her heart getting worse, but there will come a day when the medication is not enough and she will no longer be wagging her tail. On that day that she is no longer a happy dog, rest assured I will tell you.
But that day is not today. While she’s happy, she’s happy. When she’s not…
I wont let you make the wrong decision.
