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feeling awful today
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Hi all, I have to take my pet hamster to the vets in a couple of hours to be put to sleep as he has a terminal tumour that is malignant and since it was diagnosed about 3 wks ago he has gone steadily downhill. he cannot move around easily as his lump is quite big and is not really interested in eating anything now and his one eye is completely closed up the side the tumour is. I know in my heart its the right thing to take him as i wouldn't want him to go on suffering so why do i feel so bad about it?
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Because you love him you want to protect him,and you feel that by taking him you're letting him down,it doesn't matter if its a hamster,a cat a dog or a horse,we love our pets and what you are about to do is the ultimate act of love,ending his suffering,i've been there with our dogs in the past,yeah it hurts like hell but I know it was the ultimate final act of love that i could ever do for them! Good luck!
Isn't it funny tho - we wouldn't hesitate to keep a human alive under such conditions. We worry about quality of life with animals and quantity with humans. One of my new rescue rabbits ha just had 6 kits and one of those was very ill with a really badly infected eye, the vet gave me some eye drops and I hsd to clean to eye 3 times a day. The vet said if it didn't clear up in a week there wasn't much else we could do for him. I didn't have the heart to take him back after the required 7 days as it was still badly infected but I couldn't have him put down. Good news is that Wolfie is now on the mend after 2 weeks of constant attention. But its a heartbreaking decision and thats the bit that hurts - is that we, the humans, have to make that decision.
I hope you will be ok.
I had to put my hamster down also once as he also had a tumour but I think they just did it there and then thankfully. So there was no build up to it.
You love him thats why you feel so bad but please don't as you are showing a much greater act of love by doing the kindest thing for him.
You will get over this - even by next week it will be easier - I promise!!!!
Aussiebird I'm so sorry for the situation you're in. Its a horrible feeling isnt it. I hung onto my beloved cat a few years ago even tho her kidneys were failing and I never knew if she would still be alive each morning or whenever I came home from work. This lasted for 2 months and I finally took the bull by the horns and took her on her final journey. It was the most awful thing I'd ever done and I was practically hysterical in the waiting room. God knows how I drove home. It took a while but now I can look back with love and be thankful for the gift of her life. Hugs to you x
Until I met my wife I had never known the joys a pet could bring and it has been my sad job to deal with all the ones that we have lost through illness. It was particularly sad with the first cat I ever chose, she was a mans cat but was suffering. I comfort myself by believing we meet again and that we hopefully remove some of the suffering
Thank you all so much for your kind words they have been a great help to me. We took him last night to the vets and he said we were making the right decision as he had been scratching his lump quite badly and it had become ulcerated as well. I know in my heart we have made the right decision as I just could not bear to see him suffer anymore and as heartbreaking as it was it was the right thing to do. One of my friends sent me this beautiful poem which I hope may be of comfort to anybody else who has to go through this.
Rainbow Bridge
Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies, that has been especially close to someone here that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all our special friends so that they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigour: those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright eyes are intent, the eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. YOU have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face: your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
THEN YOU CROSS THE RAINBOW BRIDGE TOGETHER
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