Following on from the feeling guilty PTS thread, Have you....

[LadyRascasse]

Ever felt guilty about putting a horse down? I have had 2 horses put down that were my decision and I may have to make that decision about my boy soon But I can hand on my heart say I do not feel guilty about it. I miss them both like crazy and if the circumstances where different I would give anything to have them both back. Not a day goes by where I don't think about both of them.

 

[Sprig]

Yes, but I know I would have felt a lot more guilty if he hurt/killed somebody else or I ended up unable to care for my son as a result of an incident with him. There are a lot worse things for a horse than to be PTS. After all they know nothing about it, it is no worse than having their annual jabs.

 

[BlackRider]

I felt guilty making the decision, and booking the vet. I didn't feel guilty afterwards, and like you I miss her a lot, but I know what I did was in her best interests, and if I'd kept her going much longer it would have been for me not her x

 

[Louby]

Yes had my lovely boy PTS this year as I couldnt put him through loads of painful treatment again with the outcome being grave as the vet put it. I feel terrible because Im sure it was caused because I used an EDT over my usual vet, I thought I was doing the best for my boy

 

[AmyMay]

Absolutely yes. Gut wrenchingly so.

 

[Goldenstar]

Yes and no ,
I have never done the deed and then regretted it .
But the weight of making the decision does always sit heavily .
And I miss them but that not the same thing .

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I think guilt is natural. I had my horse PTS at 11 due to melanomas-I could have kept him going for a while but there was the potential for a bleed out or colic and I couldn't do that to him. So yes I felt a bit guilty but always knew there was no alternative and was confident in my decision.

 

[Holly Hocks]

Yes - but only because I always wonder if I tried everything I could have. Did I miss some miracle cure on a google search that might have helped?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

No. We know when we buy every horse that we will pts eventually, hopefully at the end of a long and healthy, happy life.

We have had to pts a few earlier than we would have liked because of accident or illness, the others have all had a good retirement until the hunt/knacker have come to despatch them at home with a bucketful of feed in front of them. We have been sad about them all but never guilty because we knew that we were making the best decision for each horse at the time.

 

[charli_]

I had this situation a few months back, and I have to say as he was very ill and in pain I did not feel guilty of it. I think people often mistake the feelings of guilt and sadness regarding animals being pts.

 

[Lynsey&Smartie]

Only had to do it once but felt terribly guilty afterwards as I don't really agree with people playing God with animals lives. I only did it as he was in terrible pain from colic and there was no alternative after two surgeries already.

 

[noodle_]

yes

i had a 6 year old mare put down - she had ulcers and coliced regularly - i went to leahurst 6 times in one year, let her live out, stabled, bought her a companion - every product under the sun - spent thousands - way beyond my means...

then i had to call it a day after 18 months fighting. I still feel guilty but the decision was the right one to do.

I do think 'what if'.... she was an incredible mare and id love to have her back.

 

[abracadabra]

No. When I've had to do it, I've done it because it needs to be done. My feelings are irrelevant really, it's about the horse, so no, never felt guilty.

 

[Ranyhyn]

I felt guilty having my lovely mare put down. I could have kept her as a paddock ornament, but I didn't want one.

 

[Ditchjumper2]

No. We have always done was we felt was right for the the horse and for us. Felt sad yes, but never guilty.

 

[Clannad48]

I have done it and would do it again given the right circumstances, it was in the best interest of the animal, not in my best interest. Not quite the same but recently had our cat PTS, afterwards a vet friend commented that often he is concerned that some people put their animals through treatment more for the fact that they have tried rather than doing the right thing by the animal. He agreed that I had done the right thing, our cat had been diagnosed with a large tumour in the intestines and we were given the option of chemotherapy which would possibly have given it an extra six months, however the treatment would have been very unpleasant for the cat. I think it is different for people with cancer who understand the reason for the treatment but would an animal understand that.

 

[PolarSkye]

I think there's a difference between guilt and regret.

P

 

[abracadabra]

Definitely a difference

 

[Goldenstar]

I have done it and would do it again given the right circumstances, it was in the best interest of the animal, not in my best interest. Not quite the same but recently had our cat PTS, afterwards a vet friend commented that often he is concerned that some people put their animals through treatment more for the fact that they have tried rather than doing the right thing by the animal. He agreed that I had done the right thing, our cat had been diagnosed with a large tumour in the intestines and we were given the option of chemotherapy which would possibly have given it an extra six months, however the treatment would have been very unpleasant for the cat. I think it is different for people with cancer who understand the reason for the treatment but would an animal understand that.

That's sad I was in the same place with my last dog I did the same for the same reason.

 

[WindyStacks]

Guilty that I couldn't afford to give her 2 years at pasture on bute. But even then she'd still have been young.

No regrets really, there until the very end with complete closure. I never have to spend a minute wondering if she's ok and not being doped up and passed around.

 

[Flame_]

Not when its been entirely in the horses' best interests, but yes I've felt guilt about calling time on the youngish, field sound ones. I keep it in perspective with all the worms I chop in half whilst gardening, spiders I stamp on whilst cleaning and knowing that most of the lambs that make me smile will soon be someone's lunch. Even most of the free, wild animals will probably meet an early, unpleasant death at the hands (claws, etc?) of another animal. I think its best not to be sentimental or emotive about it if you're thinking about killing an animal for your own financial and/or practical reasons.

 

[Nicky44]

It's the worst thing in the world, put my horse down 4 years ago and miss him every day, he was the most amazing horse. He told me he had had enough :-( I still feel I let him down though. I did own him for 10 years and taught me so much. He was 20 when I put him down, so at least not a youngster.

 

[Nicky44]

Just bought a new horse, he's jumped the electric fence, lost a shoe and tried to mount any female that walks through his field but I love him to bits horses who'd have them, one emotional rollercoaster

 

[Spring Feather]

No I've never felt guilty about having horses PTS. I've made the decision loads of times and each and every time it's been exactly the right time. I'm not one for 'letting them have one more summer on the grass', if it needs doing, I have it done relatively soon after I've made the final decision. On the day obviously it's always sad, but there's never guilt.

 

[JJS]

I don't feel guilt for having my mare put to sleep - she'd broken her leg, it was a catastrophic fracture and no amount of time or money would have fixed it. But I do wish that I could go back to that day, that I could have gone up an hour or two hours earlier, before she slipped and hurt herself. It was a freak accident and I know that I couldn't have foreseen it, but I still wish that there was some way that I could have prevented it. And if there's not guilt, there's at least a burden - accepting that there is no more that you can do for someone you love will always weigh heavily. I think I'll always wonder if I should have had a second opinion, if I should have demanded we try something to fix her, but I know that's only because I miss her and would give anything to have her back. So no, there's not guilt, just sadness, but sometimes it's hard to differentiate between the two.

 

[View]

No, I don't feel guilty about putting the wonderful boy that gave us so much to sleep. Do I regret that we had to make that decision? Oh heck yes. But he had suffered enough in his life before we got him, and there was no way that we would let him suffer ever again.

The same with our dogs - they told us it was time, so we let them go peacefully.

 

[AnyChance]

I feel Very sad but not guilty.
I was at work and had a phone call to say my horse had colic , they had given him pain killers etc but his heart rate had shot up again and he was trying to roll. The vet said he thought the best thing was to put him to sleep but if i didn't agree he would travel and go for surgery with unknown outcome.

I had to make a very quick decision over the phone and I knew that it was in his best interests to let him go.

He was 21 I bought him as a 5 yr old, the only horse I have ever owned. He had a full life and was having problems with arthritis etc. I don't believe that making him travel whilst in so much pain and going through surgery would have been the right decision. The surgery probably would have been unsuccessful and if it had of worked (unlikely) the box rest and long recovery would have been miserable for him and no guarantee it wouldn't happen again.

Of course I was (still am) heartbroken he was a super horse.
I had to finish my writing at work (a legal requirement) I was in floods of tears, then raced to the yard but he had already been put to sleep he was in too much pain to wait for me to get there....love that horse...definitely a horse of a lifetime !

 

[Orangehorse]

I felt guilty about one, although in my head I knew it was the best solution. Felt very sad but not guilty about the most recent.

 

[misskk88]

Until the last few years, I have always had horses on loan from my yard- so the decision was out of my hands. When I lost my loan horse I was devastated, but he had blown his front tendons going absolutely hell for leather in the field, was 25 and it would not have been fair to let him drag on, in pain and with little hope of recovering.

I DREAD the day I have to make the decision for my mare, but it will be in her best interests. I would feel far more guilty keeping her going when she was in pain, ill or with an illness that was degenerative where she was only going to feel worse day by day.

Horrible decision- whether you feel guilty or not

 

[Pipkin]

In a way yes I feel guilty but it was the right thing to do.
My mare was disgnosed with EHV-1, after 4 months of battling it and dropping 300kgs she finally started putting on weight, her immune system was battered so she ended up with uveitis which just got worse and worse with treatment, also had lymphangitis after mudfever (which she had never had before, all down to her immune system) I couldnt turn out because it was a really wet winter and keeping her in was making her legs worse. Had the choice of having her eye removed or pts, eye removal isnt the worst thing n the world but she was 6 and wouldn't be happy pottering around the field with two buggered hind legs and one eye. I could have thrown money at treatments for my own selfish reasons, she was my horse of a lifetime. I feel guilty as hell for not pouring money into doing more and things may have been very different but I made the decision wthin a few hours, i knew my girl and knew she'd have thanked me if she could