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clevercalamity t1_j21b3ef wrote

Hi friend. My family had to make the tough decision to put our dog down earlier this year. He also had dementia and cancer. It was a hard decision to make because it was such a slow decline and some days (and weeks) were better than others.

Our vet shared with us this quality of life calculator. There are a few online like it. We assessed our boy once a week until it became obvious that it was his time.

I second was other people have said in this thread about at home euthanasia. It was nice getting to say goodbye in a comfortable and safe environment. The vet was so kind and let us take as much time as we needed.

I’m sorry you are going through this.

For what it’s worth, out vet also told us it’s always better to let them go day to early than a day too late. We really struggled with the “when” and not wanting to rob our beloved friend of any time he had left, but because they can’t tell us what they want all we can do is the best we can do and try to let them go gently without any pain.

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dinosaurholes t1_j21gefp wrote

Just got news our 14yo cat has liver cancer, and this is really helpful. Thank you for such a well-explained response and for the link.

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clevercalamity t1_j21iffc wrote

You’re welcome. It was a really emotionally draining experience to go through for me, so I wish you peace and your kitty comfort as you two travel this road together.

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AdMost8276 t1_j22tuty wrote

Me too! The worse day of my life the day my dog was put down. I’ll never forget it!

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JoeBlow49032 t1_j2226vb wrote

As someone who went through this last year, I feel your pain and I'm sorry you're going through this. Give your cat some love for me.

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AlaskanTroll t1_j224q3f wrote

I 100% agree with this. If they are yowling they are probably trying to tell you something. Could be that they are hurting but only a vet can help you get that insight.

I am really sorry to hear about your cat.

It’s better to have a sweet good by then a sour one.

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DanelleDee t1_j22mwvs wrote

Our vet said with our cat, (and our previous dog- who did the same thing except with barking,) that she did not appear to have any pain, but she was confused and frightened and weak, so did not feel safe alone and was probably crying out for comfort. My dog had his first episode of confusion and weakness last month. He's fourteen, and again, the vet said there's no signs of pain. I did get painkillers, just in case, but they had no effect. He just wants to be held. So I second checking it out with a vet, but it seems to be pretty common for animals to cry for help towards the end of their lives when they are probably not in pain.

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ImAPlebe t1_j22svw6 wrote

I just quickly did the test for my 20 y/o boy and scored about 50/55. It says 80 is a happy and healthy pet and 8 is bad and you should end the suffering. I thought he was doing pretty bad but it's a little reassuring that even though he is starting to look very weak, apparently it isn't as bad as it looks. I think when he scores 30/40 we will let him go as he has had a very long and loving life with us and I would hate to see him suffer. Thanks for the link

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chonky_totoro t1_j23reoc wrote

lol i did this calculator for myself. At one point in my life I would have been euthanized if I was a pet

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HappyslappedBrit t1_j23mcig wrote

My family let our dog of 14 years fall asleep at home in October. It was so fucking hard to do, but it was worth doing knowing that the next few weeks of his life would have been painful. From my heart to yours, I hope you are recovering well from your loss

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