In a perfect world, our pets would live forever. In a somewhat imperfect world, they’d all pass away in their sleep at a ripe old age. Unfortunately, in the real world that isn’t how things work. As our pets’ owners and guardians, we usually have to make that final big choice regarding their lives- when to put them to sleep. But when is it the right time? Take a look at this info on How to Know When It’s Time to Put Your Pet to Sleep.
How to Know When It’s Time to Put Your Pet to Sleep
Why We Put Pets to Sleep
When you were little you may have thought, “There are a lot of people suffering from terrible illnesses or injuries who still live fulfilling lives, so why do we put ailing pets to sleep?” The answer is in the question. It all comes down to quality of life. As humans, we are lucky to be able to do a lot even when bedridden. Many bedridden people still live happy, fulfilling lives building careers as writers, artists, online consultants, etc. And on days when their condition is at its worse, bedridden people can entertain themselves with books, movies, TV, video games, conversations with friends, and so much more. People have even had good lives from the confines of an iron lung!
But pets can’t live like that. If they’re bedridden, all they can do is sleep and lay there awake. They can’t or don’t want to play with their toys or other pets. There’s no more playing games with you, going for fun walks, chasing after birds, or digging random holes. There’s just laying there and sleeping. Some chronically ill pets have to be force fed or can’t go to the bathroom by themselves. When you reach the point where you’re actively keeping your pet alive and they have a low quality of life, then they’re not really living. That’s why we put pets to sleep.
When You Still Have Time
When considering when it’s time to put your pet to sleep, think about their condition. If an injury isn’t too severe, or an illness is discovered soon enough, you may have options and time. Perhaps your veterinarian can suggest a surgery, medication, or treatment that may help. Maybe there’s some holistic/alternative health remedy you should try. Listen to your vet, but also do your own research. Cancer isn’t a death sentence for pets anymore thanks to chemotherapy, and dogs with injured spines or missing limbs can live full lives thanks to doggy wheelchairs or prosthetics. Consider your dog’s quality of life. Do they eat on their own? Can they go potty on their own? Do they play? Can they move? Do they wag their tail? Are they alert more often than not? Do they have more good days than bad? If you answered yes to most of these, you likely still have time.
When It’s Time to Say Good-Bye
When your pet is continually in pain and isn’t happy, that’s when it’s time to put your pet to sleep. Don’t prolong their suffering just to try idea #100 if they’ve already been suffering for a long time. It’ll be hard, yes, but in the end you’re helping them. Releasing them from suffering is your final big gift to them. A final, highly appreciated, act of love.
Losing a pet is difficult. For help coping with your grief, you may find it worthwhile to talk with friends or family, or to read our articles on pet loss.
How do you deal with the loss of a pet?
This is do hard I’ve been there done that.
Such a difficult decision to make, but so very important. Most of my pets have let me know when they were ready to go …sometimes it’s a look in their eye, sometimes it’s just a feeling, but they have given me signs. We have an older cat now with multiple health issues. She is extremely shy and it’s a little more challenging to gage how she is really feeling. I hope when the time comes, she will let me know in her own way. We are fortunate to have a vet who visits her in our home. He was out last week and thinks she has a bit more time left, fortunately.
It’s a very difficult and personal decision…and one you can second guess for as long as you live. 🙁
So very true Nichole! Even years later and the question rolls around in my head 🙁
It’s so hard to say goodbye. I’m not looking forward to that day at all. I haven’t had to put a pet to sleep yet, but this blog post is very helpful for when the time comes.
Thank you Kia and hopefully that is way off in the future for you!!
I can barely read this because I’m facing this issue soon. My 17-year-old cat and soulmate has advanced kidney failure. It’s not that easy to evaluate quality of life. She’s beaten the odds several times already.
Oh my goodness Sherri! My heart is with you and I will keep you, and her, in my prayers.
Such an important topic, but it made me sad just reading it. My husband and I have not had to put a pet to sleep yet, but with a 14 year old dog, I know the day will come when we have to make that decision. He’s a smaller dog, so we hope he has several more years in him! With three back surgeries under our belt, it’s something we’ve obviously had to think about throughout his life, but so far we’ve never had to act on it! He’s a fighter! Thank you for this important post.
Little dogs do seem to live a lot longer and hopefully yours has many many years left! It is sad to think about, but something I also went in search of when the time got close. There were so many questions and I was hunting answers. Actually, to be honest, there are no perfect answers 🙁
I do not deal well with the loss of my pets. When we had to say good-bye to my Golden Retriever three years ago, it was one of the hardest things I have ever survived. It is never an easy thing to face.
So true! When I lost Sadie, I barely functioned for a long time. She was my very best friend and had been by my side through a lot. She took a piece of my heart with her.
This is such a hard decision to make and highly individual too. Often people put it off for too long. It’s not always very clear-cut.
You are exactly right Jana! It is never clear cut or in black and white. I believe that is what causes so many doubts and the “did I do the right thing” questions. I know those tormented me!
Mr. N is my first dog so I haven’t really had to deal with it yet… I’ve heard of a method where you pick three things your dog loves and if they’re not enjoying any/most of them, it’s time.
We always think we wait until we know our cat ‘isn’t there’ anymore. I am not sure if we get it right every time but I hope so. We never got over losing Dash Kitten – that was a sudden death and much harder to deal with.
I have had to say good-bye to two of my dogs and it was devastating and heart breaking. I know have a mental list of what our senior dog loves to do and when I can no longer check off what makes him happiest I’m hoping this will help with this impossible decision. I think it’s better to say good bye when they have dignity then too late – but of course this isn’t always possible. I’ve been on both sides of this and I was a puddle on the floor.
I agree Christine! I have been on both sides too and there is no happy ending. I love what you said about leaving them with their dignity! When my Sadie was unable to stand to use the bathroom and was eliminating on herself because of it, that is what pushed me into motion. She was such a ‘clean’ girl – always grooming herself and hated to be dirty. She would look at me so pitiful and it was at this moment I knew that it was more than physical pain – it was eating at her soul too 🙁
We discussed this on FB yesterday, its hard but in my heart I know its the best thing to do, I would not want Layla to suffer and have no quality in life, we did it with my father also taking him off life support.
It’s such a difficult decision to make. If you listen with your heart, your pet will tell you when it’s his/her time to go. Jewel definitely let me know when it was her time.
I didn’t deal well at all with the loss of my last two dogs, and it still hurts. I cried buckets and looked to my partner for support.
I am so sorry and know exactly what you mean! I pretty much fell apart the day we let Sadie go too! My hubs and my vets (I think the world of them) and my other furbabies were my comfort. Sometimes, I still feel that she is with us and I certainly still talk to her.
We recently were facing this decision. We noticed our 10 year old dog was panting and eating less and made an appointment for the vet and we knew what advice we were going to get. The day before our appointment Bear tried to chase the UPS truck, ate the rotisserie chicken I bought him because he wouldn’t eat any dog food anymore and he waited at the window for my sons bus in the afternoon. He had what we believe to be a heart attack that evening and died immediately. We would have made the decision to put him to sleep at the appointment the next day if that was the advice from the vet but I am glad I didn’t have to and I think he had a very happy, pain free last day.
Oh my goodness! I am so sorry for your loss! He had a wonderful life with you and I believe if you had to go through with the decision, it would have been the right one. Bear had been letting you know and in the end he took the conflict away from you. He must have enjoyed that rotisserie chicken! What a lucky and loved baby!
This is a hard subject for me, since I recently had to put my cat to sleep, I hated it but I knew she was just not happy and bleeding all the time because of cancer.
I agree! It is a horrible subject! One we all try to avoid. I am so very sorry about your kitty. Cancer is an ugly word from humans to our pets 🙁 My thoughts are with you!
It’s a terrible decision to make. I had to put my cat to sleep last week due to kidney failure and it was one of the hardest decision I have every made.
I am so very sorry 🙁 It is one of the hardest decision we have to make. We somehow have to get past our pain in order to help them in the final moments. My thoughts are with you.
Probably one of the most difficult things I’ve done to date! Putting your dog down, a family member is awful but humane.
I agree! It is THE hardest decision of my life! I struggled with it for what seemed like forever, but in the end I did what humane for my furry child.
This is one of the hardest things about pet ownership – so hard to say goodbye and know the best decision. It feels like it is never a decision that gets any easier.
It’s never an easy decision and it never gets any better. We just don’t have enough time with our furbabies!
I started crying just reading the title of this post. My oldest dog, Zora, just turned 13. While she is in pretty great shape for an older lady, I notice she is slowing down and just yesterday we were on a walk and out of nowhere she starts making this weird heavy breathing/coughing noise. We stopped and sat for a while and then she was fine to keep going but it reminded that she really is a senior dog and I cried for a bit just thinking about where we are at in her life. Just a reminder to enjoy every moment.
I have had to say goodbye to many pets since childhood and it never gets easier but I am absolutely of the belief that one of the greatest gifts we have to give our pets is letting them go when their quality of life declines to the point where they are suffering.
My thoughts are with you!! After losing my Sadie, I now have a 12 year old senior girl with suspected cancer. I know exactly what you are going through. We have decided we will take one day at a time and just enjoy living. I spoil her rotten, but so what! I am with you – our time is probably coming soon. I try not to think on it 🙁
It’s such a sad subject but something we all have to go through at some point. My dad had a dog who was around 12 years old. Within a month she became deaf AND blind. I kept telling me dad that it wasn’t fair to keep her alive anymore. It was painful just to watch her. Clearly there was NO quality of life. Her anxiety skyrocketed because she couldn’t hear or see. They let her live about another month after that when they should have just let go sooner. I understand the pain but we really need to think about our animals at that point.
I really like your point about people being able to live fulfilling lives even when bedridden, it’s very similar to thoughts I had when my old dog had to be put to sleep.
This is the hardest thing in life that anyone has to do. I’ve have my Glamour Girl for now 17 years and when she tells me she will till then I enjoy and don’t think about her life in those terms we will be together forever!
Choosing to put your pet to sleep is one of the most difficult things in the world. I think it is second only to saying goodbye to a human family member (and there may be exceptions to that rule). I just had to put my Cinco down at the end of last month. It has been a very hard month for my husband, Manna, and me. We know we did the right thing, though. Sometimes you have to think about what you would tell someone else to do if they were in the same situation asking you for advice. Healing always takes time. You just have to let yourself grieve and pick yourself back up.
Going through this process is one of the toughest things any pet owner will ever have to do. People told me the first time we had to do it that we would know when the time was right. Hardest moment of my life so far was making that decision, but I knew it was time.
Though it’s heartbreaking there does come that time when letting your pet go is the more humane choice than having them syffer
It’s a difficult decision, but the best display of love you can give your fur child.
Such an important topic, but one that’s so hard to think about. I’ve just lost one of my Siberian Huskies , my heart dog Gibson (who had Canine Epilepsy, but passed during surgery for a splenectomy when it was discovered he had cancer that had spread, including an orange-sized tumor on his liver, so we made the heartbreaking decision to let him go peacefully while under anesthesia) shortly before Christmas and I’m still in such mourning for him. I lost him one month after my mother, who was with my daughter and I when we welcomed him into our home, so my mourning is very deep. June will be six months and I look for him all the time, can see him, hear him, almost feel his velvety fur and the weight of his big polar bear paw…my heart has been broken and a portion of it will always belong to Gibson. My way of working through it is to continue to love and enjoy my other four and to continue on with Canine Epilepsy awareness in Gibson’s name. I find that not only does it keep him close, but we are still working “together” to help others on the same journey he and I traveled. I think doing something in their name helps…but some moments of each day are still so very painful with missing him.
It is a decision that is so hard to make. I have made it two times, both for senior dogs. It was very sad, but I hope that it was the kindest thing to do for them. When my dad was in hospice, I learned a lot about how a body shuts down and it made me wish I could have done more of a hospice thing for my dogs. Kept them comfortable until their bodies were done.
This is definitely a difficult time. We have had to do this with 4 cats that we have had over the years. After the last one, I said no more cats but I could not last but a few days when I told hubby that I needed another furbaby in the house. So we went to the shelter and adopted. Since then our daughter has had to leave two of her cats with us for a bit until she can take them. I will miss them for sure so we may end up fostering kitties if our own cat will allow it. Great article!
i have an mini schnauzer that is almost 15 yrs old. i am not sure i would be able to do this. she has dementia, a little, deaf and almost blind and has a bad back. however, she has plenty of attitude. we go to the vet often to be checked out, even the vet said she is far from ready. said she has too much attittude and still likes to do things. she is not in a lot of pain, we manage with homeopathic and assisi loop, acupunture, chiro, etc. it kills me b/c she looks at me with such loving eyes. she still wants to play. i dont think i could bear to be without her, she has been my baby for almost 15 yrs and we have been thru alot. she and my other 2 gals are my only family. she still loves to eat, even turns over her water bowl if i dont feed her in time, and then looks at me to ask for more. she knows where the treats are kept in the kitchen and wonders in the kitchen waiting for me to come back in to give her some more.
(How to Know When It’s Time to Put Your Pet to Sleep) I have had to do this awful thing a couple of times with two of our cats. Catty and Ibenez both had to be put to sleep about three years apart from each other. Both those days were very sad days here in our home.
This is soooo difficult. Our furson, a silky terrier died in Sept when we took him to be put down. His decline was very rapid, within a span of less than two days he went from eating to not, to bad. Hardest thing, i’m crying as i type this. they become such a huge part of the family. cherish them while you can but you’ll know when it’s time. don’t make them suffer out of the selfish desire to keep them around longer for you. I love you Frizbee.
I’ve had to put 2 dogs to sleep in my 62 years. Both were ill for months. Bunny became afraid and I knew it was time. Lucy just couln’t get up one day. Im still sad thinking back to those horrible days even though they were many years ago.. But I knew I did the right thing.
Walking out of the vets office crying my eyeballs out and vowing never ever to get another pet.
We have done this so many times over the years. It never gets any easier.
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I have had to put a dog to sleep in the past. She was a boxer and had cancer. It got to where she could not walk and seemed to be in alot of pain. Thank you so much for sharing this great article. We love our pets. God Bless
Some times the best thing you can do for your furbabies is let them go. It is hell and you don’t want to but you know in your heart. Some people stay with them and hold them some cannot. We love, We cry, and we do