Euthanasia
When animals are diagnosed with a severe or end stage disease
process, we as owners are faced with the decision. When do I authorize
advanced therapy or when should we relieve our pet's suffering and make a
euthanasia decision? How do we make this decision? What is the right
decision? When do we do it? Who do we get advice from? Is my pet suffering
and how do we tell? As a veterinarian I advise many families about these
decisions, this article will be a discussion based on my experience as
a general practitioner.
There a many factors that come into play when we are faced with a
diagnosis of very serious disease in our pets. How individuals and
families deal with this decision is very personal. We all think about
our pets differently, some of us see our pets as members of their
family, while some see them as our children, and some feel that their pets
are additions to their lives but are not equatable to family members.
There is nothing wrong with any of those views but how we view our
pets plays a big role in our decision process. Pets are not people
but they do add so much to our lives and they rely on us to make
decisions about their health care. As an owner  it is an awesome
responsibility to have that life in our hands. To make decisions
about anesthetic procedures, biopsies, dental care, chemotherapy, and
ultimately euthanasia is extremely stressful and confusing to some
people. Our goal is always to extend our pets live as comfortably and
for as long as possible.
Advance veterinary medicine can be very expensive and can put a
burden on families. Unfortunately the financial situation of
individuals and families has a very big role in our decisions on our
pets health care. It is a fact of life, for everyone, that money is
an important factor in our decision making process. If a pet needs
advanced, very expensive treatment it is not wise to put a family in a
financial crisis over their pet. It is not wrong to say we just can't
afford to care for my pet in this manner. It is okay to ask your
veterinarian is there an alternative plan for my pet. I do believe it
is the veterinarians responsibility to discuss finances and accept an
owners decision to deny certain therapies. Sometimes owners and
veterinarians have to be comfortable feeling that we may not be doing
the ultimate therapy for a certain pet but we are doing the best we can.
The phrase "Quality of Life" is a difficult topic to discuss because
it is very personal. "Quality of life " is a combination of continuing
normal function, pain free with the pet acting as normal as possible.
We all see our pets as individuals and we all have different wishes
for our pets. Some people may feel that having advanced therapy (ie
chemotherapy) is "over the top therapy". Another individual may
believe that not doing advanced therapy is horrible because the
therapy will extend life, even if it is for a small period of time.
There is no right or wrong. Pain is a very difficult thing to
measure in dogs and cats. Animals do not have an emotional component
to pain so the signs that we have to look for may be very subtle.
Pets show pain by acting withdrawn, slow moving, frustrated, sometimes
fearful, some can even act angry and reactive. Can the pain be
managed? Are different therapies available to make the pet feel
better, even alternative medicine (ie Acupuncture). How long can we
keep the pet comfortable?
Veterinarians are the doctors that we speak to about making life
decisions with our pets. They are and always will be the pet's
advocate. But their job is to advise clients, not to make the
decision for the client or pet owner. The veterinarian can only give
medical advice about the specific disease process, evaluate pain
status and offer different options for the owners. The decision to do
or not to do advanced therapies is a conversation with a lot of
variables. All diseases have variables, some pets deal with problems
better than others, some are very stoic, some are not. All families
have different personalities and belief systems, some have financial
stressors, and some people just use avoidance to deal with the
stress. In the end the best decision is what is right for the pet and
all family members.
Ultimately euthanasia is the most difficult decision a pet owner
has. Euthanasia is the pain free alternative to end a pet's life.
There is no need to have a pet suffer through a natural death. Nature
can be very cruel in the way that death occurs. Some diseases can be
very prolonged and uncomfortable. If a pet is diagnosed with an
incurable disease, or is diagnosed with a disease process that is too
expensive for a family to treat, and that pet will suffer, the best
decision is euthanasia. Euthanasia involves administering high dose
anesthetics to a pet in order to stop the pet's heart and brain
function. The decision to have a pet euthanized is also very
personal. There are some people who simply do not feel comfortable
taking a life and feel that allowing nature to take it's course is the
best option. This is an extremely personal decision and there is no
right or wrong on the timing of this decision. Individuals and
families have to be completely comfortable with this decision before
they should make the decision. Euthanizing a pet is something that
will never be forgotten. If done when you feel it is right becomes a
very loving moment in a pet's time with the family. Ultimately
euthanasia is the most loving thing that can be done for a pet, and
completes pet ownership. To relieve an animal's suffering is an
amazing act of love.
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Dr. Ellen Leonhardt
Animal General
East Norwich
(516) 624-7500
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