Never thought I'd be asking this, PTS issue

Some really difficult situations described by posters above, and you have my sympathy with the decision making. Don't feel guilty whatever the reason for a decision, we can not explain illness to an animal and it is awful to watch when they have a non reversable condition that you can not do anything to change.

You all sound so caring, that I think you should see the final decision as an act of love and the last thing you can do for a friend who has ment a lot to you. Our pets/horses don't have to wait go through the final suffering that people do, and we should all be glad we can help them to a peaceful end before the suffering gets too bad.
 
Don't feet guilty if pts is the best option.
As you do, I believe a week to soon is better than a day too late.
If you are struggling wouldn't it be better to do it now rather than wait until you Cant afford to keep them or something goes wrong?

I would be thinking give them this year and if you don't win the lottery or horse doesn't improve (sounds like it will continue to go down ill)
then do it before next winter sets in.
 
Just because someone has pots of money to pay vets bills doesnt mean they are the better owner at all. So really dont worry about that bit...ie "IF...."

Last September I made the sad decision that had been brewing for over a year and the bute no longer worked so I contacted the vet to PTS. I had the vet who gave a big lecture on he wouldnt PTS on welfare. When we arrived at my horse he asked me if my stiff 3 legged horse(hopping slightly) could get up if he laid down. I informed my vet I had not seen him lie down which was quite normal but I didnt want to find him down and unable to get up.

Well I honestly couldnt believe my vet wanted to take the difficult loader to the vet hospital and do some more tests on my old boy(who had been diagnosed years before with arthritis and was told about 6 years previous I would not be able to ride him again...he was unrideable for past 2 years as we got him going again etc you could hear joints clicking). Sorry long post. The vet did not want to PTS my horse and I insisited he did. Vets behaviour was a total shock and I wanted the best for my horse who every other experienced horse owner nearby told me it was the right time. I asked everyone to look for me too.

This vet just wanted to make some money. I still have not contacted the vets to have it out with them, but will. I have always paid my bills on time can afford to have fancy treatments if I had wished. My horse was old and the bute stopped working. My farrier had the horse nearly go over on previous visits. In fact after the PTS my farrier thought the horse was older than I thought.

Sorry for the rant as I did post at the time but if you think your horse is going down hill its up to you to make the decision. Some of the endless treatments are not always in the horses best interests, sometimes they are. I know in my heart I did the right thing. I cannot bear animals being put through tests that they dont understand. If its not behaving as a healthy horse I would rather PTS humanely.(in the wild it would be gone by other means). You will make the right decision and stick to what you know believe. It is blooming hard but just dont delay if the problem has not gone and deterioration has set in.
 
indie999, I remebering you posting at the time, how anyone can argue against the pts of an elderly animal who is loosing quality of life, is beyond me. Well done for sticking to your guns.
 
BoF you have done / are doing all you can, and I think in your heart you know the answer to your question.
One or two of the other posters on here need to take a long hard look at their situation, and ask themselves whose best interests they are acting in, their own or their horses.
Some of the most pitiful sights I have seen (and there have been a few over the year) have been horses that their owners worshiped, but yet didn't love quite enough to let them go.
 
A million thankyous to everyone who has taken the time to reply. Yes, show minis could go but knowing my luck Sunny would drop dead the next day and anyway, the minis are my horsey escape now I can't ride any more. At the moment Sunny has free range privileges and is stabled for about 4 hours during the day, then he free ranges for 4 hours, puffing his way round the entire yard looking for food and getting in everyone's way. Then he's out all night on mud. I desperately want to keep him moving as much as possible. He can't run much from frights or other horses partly due to his lungs and partly to his old, old body but he isn't suffering as far as I know. He's just old. He suffers from pollen allergy and if we have a bad summer, he won't be able to breathe and that will answer my question. Cushings related laminitis might be an issue this summer too. Weekly feed is 2 sacks D&H 16+, 1 bag Hi Fi Apple, half a sack pony nuts that he begs for while he's mooching. He won't eat Speedibeet any more so I just wet with water. Ad lib haylage on top of that though he only eats about half a net a day. The big problem is that to look at him he's just Sunny, the same old lad that everyone is used to seeing mooching around. I almost wish he had a clear, quality-of-life health issue but as far as I know he hasn't. He couldn't travel anywhere ever again as his breaths per minute shoot up from a scary 35 at rest to 65+ and rising. He can't have surgery or even light sedation as my vets said he'd go blue and stop breathing. Any tiny additional health problem has the potential to be the end but at the moment, he's just old! He calls when I come to the yard. He calls for food. He saved my life and he's my best friend and it's so so hard. I'd have to be there with him at the end but I think I'd collapse. I always say you know when your animal has had enough and I wish I was at that point with Sunny. But I don't think I am quite yet. I don't know. How lily livered this must sound. I think a last summer, see how his breathing is, re-home Bridie or proper loan. Pray for...what? A definitive pts illness? Good health? No, I'll pray for a quiet summer for him I suppose and strength for me. Thanks again everyone and hugs to everyone who has already been through something similar xxx
 
BoF my oldie (29yr old TB) is on A & P Veteran Vitality. It isn't suitable for laminitics due to high starch content, but if the only laminitis concern you have for your old boy is that he 'may' get cushing related laminitis it may be worth a try. Two years ago at the end of the summer my old mare wasn't doing well, was being pushed away from the feeder by the other horses & used to come in to the yard free range plodding along behind the others. After a fortnight she was shoving her way in to feeder, was looking better in herself & had to come in on a headcollar to stop her bombing off all over the place ! Prior to that she had been on an expensive 'senior mix' & a high oil chaff, along with ad lib hay in the field. In her case I think a lot of the improvement was down to it being very easily digestable. If the laminitis is an issue may be try & Calm & Condition or Fast Fibre?
 
BOF- I really feel for you and the decision you're facing, I've been there myself, and it's heartbreaking.

I wish I could tell you when you'll know the time has come, but that's a decision that presents itself differently to everyone. Just know that when the time does come, all Sunny will know is the love you've given him x x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top