I was fortunate in that the Saturday I before Ninja went to the Bridge, I'd taken her in because she'd had a very bad Friday night. The vet who was there and helped me gave me her home phone number because at this point we knew Ninja had lymphoma and that it was just a matter of time and it was also a holiday weekend and the clinic was closed on Monday. I would have felt better about helping Ninja the next Tuesday as she was already mostly gone - "she" was not there anymore - I suspect she was in a great deal of pain:( --- but the vet was at home with her infant and her husband didn't get home until about 11p, so it was to be Wednesday afternoon when she was able to come to my apartment and help Ninja. If I'm given the choice in future, a quiet at-home passing is the way I'll choose to help my babies.
Jill Poe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Jill Poe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I wish someone who loves me
> enough, could do the same
> for me when the time comes.
Nina, I have to reply to this, as this is exactly the
same thought that went through my mind after Semuta
passed. It became shockingly apparent to me that
illness before death can be very ugly, brutal, and
painful (Semuta "crashed" 3 days before his last day -
it was a frightening experience). After seeing how
phenobarbital can so easily and seemingly painlessly
rescue an animal from the physical pain of death, I
kept thinking for weeks about how unfair it is that we
have to see our human loved ones suffer in the same
way without the same relief.
I certainly don't mean to open a philosophical or
moral thread with this, just that I would never want
to see an animal or human suffer unnecessarily and
that I was grateful to ! have had the option, and the
very sympathetic and kind vet that night, to give my
beloved friend a painless death.
I wonder if any of you have administered phenobarbital
at home (if that is even legal?) I was fortunate to
have an emergency clinic with greiving rooms so that I
could sit on a carpeted floor and hold Semuta while he
was injected, instead of being in a brightly lit room
with a metal table. I didn't have the option at 2am
to have a vet come to the house (I was sure he would
crash again before morning) but I wondered at the time
if there is a way that we can do this at home,
especially when you and your vet know that death is
imminent?
I hope this email doesn't seem overly morbid but I
think the next time I have an animal showing signs of
severe illness and the vet agrees, I'd like not to
have to stress him more by taking him to a clinic to
have him euthanized. Plus there's that whole
difficulty of trying to! drive while crying!
Jill
--- Nina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
> Kerry, thank you for taking the time during your
> grief to acknowledge
> our emails. Something else that gives me a small
> bit of comfort when I
> feel compelled to help my animals cross, is the fact
> that I can help end
> their suffering. I wish someone who loves me
> enough, could do the same
> for me when the time comes. I absolutely believe
> there is life after
> death and when our bodies become our enemies the
> kindest and most humane
> thing we can do is help them escape their pain and
> speed their
> transition in an atmosphere of love and compassion.
> Holding on, when
> hope for recovery is lost, is something we do for
> ourselves, not for
> them. Having gotten to know you from reading your
> postings, I'm sure
> you made the decision based on lo! ve, and I'm sure it
> was the right one.
>
> About using Doxycycline, from what I've been told,
> it's more
> encompassing in it's effect on different types of
> bacteria than
> Clavomox. My vet called in the prescription to my
> local pharmacy and it
> is quite inexpensive. The tabs I get have to be
> quartered and therefore
> loose the protective coating on two sides. It is
> pretty nasty tasting,
> (I always taste any meds I give the kids), and it
> also has the potential
> to do damage to the esophagus if not swallowed all
> the way. My vet's
> liaison told me a story about a human friend of hers
> that swallowed it
> dry and burned a hole in his throat! It also can
> cause stomach upset.
> When I first started giving Grace Dox, she would
> vomit a few minutes
> later. I experimented with lots of different ways
> to coat the quartered
> pill, but what seems to work the best is using a
> paper thin coating of
> taffy made with corn syrup, and then roll it in
> chicken fat (kept in a
> small dish in the freezer), or butter. Now I know
> that giving Grace
> sugar is not the best thing for her, but it helps
> hide the taste and she
> hasn't had any problems with vomiting since I began
> doing this. I also
> follow the pill with an eye dropper of water
> squeezed gently into the
> corner of her mouth, I give her time to swallow and
> as far as I can tell
> it washes the pill down pretty effectively.
>
> Nina
>
>
>
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