The Bitter End

[thefarsideofthefield]

Possibly a bit of a macabre one this !
I was reading the thread about the recent death of Chilli Morning who died suddenly whilst out in his paddock . Sad - but the best way to go , as everyone agreed . Then I was reading the thread about selling unsound horses in which there was much discussion about keeping horses until the end of their days . And then it occurred to me , as someone who rarely parts with any animal , that in a lifetime of owning at least 8 cats , 11 dogs and well over a dozen horses ( I keep remembering ones I'd forgotten about ! ) that with the exception one very elderly Springer Spaniel who we left snoring in bed next to a radiator one cold winter morning whilst we went out to do the horses and who had passed away by the time we returned an hour later , NOT ONE of the others has died a natural death .
And thinking of all the other ponies I have known over the years I can only think of one that was found in the field having apparently died peacefully ( as opposed to others who have been found dead having suffered a colic attack or some other trauma ).
As an owner I have always taken it as a given that if I take on an animal then I am responsible for its life and its death " if necessary " but ( and maybe I'm just a bit slow ! ) it's only really just occurred to me that being responsible for your animals death is not just a possibility - it's pretty much inevitable .
So apologies if the subject matter is a bit grim but I think my point is that honestly , in decades of owning dozens of animals , it's the first time I've ever really looked at it this way . I mean , I've always known this is what happens , and it is what it is . It would never put me off having them but I don't think anyone has ever actually pointed out to me that the chances of your much loved pet dying peacefully in its sleep are not just slim , but pretty much zero .

 

[tristar]

is i it not the same for people though?

 

[SOS]

I tell people this everyday in my work. Very very rarely does an animal dies in its sleep, let alone ‘peacefully’. What point of suffering or ill health has the animal got too for the body to give up during the night? When someone says ‘passed in their sleep’ I does not fill me with comfort at all.

The worst problem with this concept is that people wait for them to die in their sleep and then it doesn’t happen. Often they can’t make the decision themselves. A planned PTS slightly too soon (rarely the case in my opinion) is better than an emergency one with a panicked owner and stressed animal being rushed in off its legs or with a bleed. In that situation they sometimes really know they are dying and it can be very hard to see especially when you know doing it a week or month earlier would of prevented this.

A gentle, NOBLE death is what we owe our animals. And for goodness sake please never wait until they stop eating. They know they must eat to survive and to stop, means the pain is worse than the instinct to survive.

 

[TPO]

As a follow on some people (IMO) have a quite skewed view on their elderly/sick/sore horses. They make claims that the horse is "fine" because it's still eating and/or "bright" when they see them (...bringing food).

Not just applicable to horses but some people just dont grasp that stopping eating is almost the very last thing to happen at the very end of the road.

I've seen horses in horrendous condition but because the owner sees them every day they don't notice the deterioration. That was always my concern with my big TB; that I would miss something because my base level of normal was amiss.

 

[cindars]

I've had two cats that have just slipped away one only 7 years old after her brother had died suddenly from heart failure. Our yard managers horse died in the field again from heart failure.

 

[Cortez]

is i it not the same for people though?

Well, we don't usually have the privilege of putting down humans, unfortunately. There are very, very few animals that have died a "natural" death here, thankfully.

 

[SadKen]

I think we know when it's time.

I have found it relatively easy to make the call (have done it with two dogs and one horse) because all of them told me they were ready. It was hardest with the horse as it was quality of life rather than to prevent immediate and obvious suffering, but even she told me. All I had to do was listen.

I remain of the opinion that PTS is actually a gift - the last and greatest gift - we can offer to our pets who are suffering, taking on some pain ourselves to relieve theirs, and believe it a travesty that such a choice is denied to humans.

It is best to accept this and enjoy every moment we can, whilst we have those precious souls with us.

 

[Buster2020]

My grandad dog died in my arms he had cancer but vet thought he had 5 months to live. and I witness horse dropped dead in-front of me from a heart attack . The animals didn’t suffer thankfully. I think people should be put down if they want to from a illness that going to kill them.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I understand why we don't but I wish we could afford people the same dignified end it is possible to give to our animals. I rather worry that our morality is going the other way though. Given how shocked some people seem to be when you tell them you had your horse or dog PTS. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[tristar]

Well, we don't usually have the privilege of putting down humans, unfortunately. There are very, very few animals that have died a "natural" death here, thankfully.

some countries do.

 

[Snowfilly]

I grew up in a family with multiple horses, multiple dogs, cats and various small things. Out of all those, and all my various adult ones, I only saw one die naturally and that was a horrible experience - a 5 year old whippet who was running, dropped to the ground and went into a fit. He continued seizing and died in the car about 10 minutes later, never made it to the vet.

All the others were helped on their way and were generally, aside from a couple of catastrophic injuries or accidents, much more peaceful and relaxed than my poor dog.

A friend had a hunter die under saddle, out on a short local hack, and a friend had a 3 month old foal drop dead in the field - turned out to have deformed lungs - and that’s it. It’s not common, it’s the rarest of rare occurrences and we shouldn’t bank on it.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

A few animals here have popped off of their own accord - 4 chickens (went to bed fine, dead on the floor of their coop in the morning, no previous illness or indication and all a few years apart) and a cat. He was a stray/wild cat that just rocked up, adopted us and lived with us for 5 years. He had been right as rain attacking my ankles from underneath the trailer when I fed the horses that morning, found him curled up under the car where he liked to sleep dead in the afternoon when I got back from work.

The rest have never given me the option. Either catastrophic injury or it was just their time. But they were never kept going because it is what I wanted. They owed me nothing and the least I could do was to give them a dignified end. I actually got seriously annoyed at the vet when she came to put Jeff down. She offered me drugs that would keep him alive for another 12-24 hours. Like hell misses! Although I never did a PM we thought it was acute liver failure. He had been right as rain in the morning, trotting out of his stable to field as per usual, went to bring him in in the evening and it was like he was heavily sedated. Vets play on heart strings too to get more money out of you. Or certainly the ones I used to use do!

 

[scats]

Apart from hamsters and guinea pigs, I don’t think anything we have had here in my lifetime has died a natural death. We’ve chosen to put them to sleep due to poor health and not wanting them to suffer.

I just wish we could do the same with humans, it would have saved my Nans dreadful suffering in her final days.

 

[Frumpoon]

I tell people this everyday in my work. Very very rarely does an animal dies in its sleep, let alone ‘peacefully’. What point of suffering or ill health has the animal got too for the body to give up during the night? When someone says ‘passed in their sleep’ I does not fill me with comfort at all.

The worst problem with this concept is that people wait for them to die in their sleep and then it doesn’t happen. Often they can’t make the decision themselves. A planned PTS slightly too soon (rarely the case in my opinion) is better than an emergency one with a panicked owner and stressed animal being rushed in off its legs or with a bleed. In that situation they sometimes really know they are dying and it can be very hard to see especially when you know doing it a week or month earlier would of prevented this.

A gentle, NOBLE death is what we owe our animals. And for goodness sake please never wait until they stop eating. They know they must eat to survive and to stop, means the pain is worse than the instinct to survive.

Oh my gosh, thank you!!!! You've reminded me what it was that tipped me into having my older boy PTS. I've hated myself and berated myself that I could have tried harder or paid more money or gone down a different route. I'd completely forgotten that he'd picked over his hay the night before and not touched his breakfast.

 

[w1bbler]

Always thought the phrase 'better a week too soon, than a day to late' should be repeated regularly to all animal owners.
Watched too many people allow animals to suffer 'because they love them so much'

 

[Winters100]

In my opinion owners mainly know when their animals have had enough. And dying painlessly in their sleep is in general a myth, same as for people. I told my Mother that my Father died painlessly in his sleep, but the reality is that I have never seen such raw fear in anyone's eyes.

For my animals I will always keep them going for as long as I see that they are truly comfortable and engaged in life, the horses don't need to be able to be ridden, or the dogs to run behind my bike, but they have to be able to enjoy a real quality of life. When this time is over we must show them what I consider to be the greatest respect of all, a pain free death.

 

[meleeka]

I’ve had a dog lay down and die one afternoon but all the others I’ve helped on their way. I’m not actually comfortable about my animals dying alone and would always wonder if it was peaceful, if they knew, etc. I’m pretty sure no natural death is painless so I’d rather avoid that. My old dog that went two years ago would have died anyway but I felt better rushing her to the vet and ending it swiftly than I would have holding her while she died. I don’t think, if you manage to be brave, the animal knows what’s coming when it’s pts whereas when they die they do know if that makes sense.
I think you do get better at knowing when it’s time the more you do it. You just know that putting off the inevitable doesn’t make it any easier so it’s better to just do it.

 

[Lexi_]

Cats rather than horses... but I’ve had one pet who died in his sleep aged 4 and it was the most appalling shock for me that I still don’t quite think I’m over. It’s been much easier (although still hugely upsetting, obvs) to say a planned, peaceful goodbye to the others at the vets when it was their time.

 

[Brownmare]

In my opinion owners mainly know when their animals have had enough.

Sadly in my experience they often don't. Both my mother and even my practical farmer husband have both let pets go too far IMO. I think when an owner is reaching out for advice and is told "you will know when the time is right" it is very hard for many people to separate their fear of losing a loved companion from being objective about the level of suffering involved.

 

[RHM]

I agree it’s the greatest gift you can offer to our friends that we make their final moments as bearable as possible and to not let them suffer. I can’t believe the state that some people allow their animals to get in. How we don’t offer euthanasia in this country to humans is beyond me too, having seen people I loved literally begging for death before they go.
I have been incredibly lucky with my animals having only a couple out to sleep. My ponies father died in the field over night, he was fit and well but he was 25 and had COPD which obviously puts a huge amount of pressure on the heart. He died with all the mares around him so was the best we could have wished for. My dog also died of natural causes, but it was not particularly peaceful. He was only 10 and out on a big walk miles from home when he had a stroke, he managed to stumble his way back to us when he then died in my arms. It was very quick but still completely awful. I think that it is pretty rare that animals actually do die of natural causes though, the worst I’ve seen when I was looking around livery yards there was a lovely mare, completely shut down hardly eating and could barely hobble around her box, all because her owners wanted to keep her around until after Christmas for the kids. Safe to say I didn’t move there!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Funnily enough we have had 3 dogs die in their sleep at home, a LabxGSD and 2 x JRTs. The Labx's death, particularly, had obviously been very peaceful. I came down in the morning to find her lying curled up on the settee with the cat beside her, where he usually spent the night. Her sister was on the other settee, apparently oblivious.

None of the 3 had shown any signs of illness the previous evening, eating their supper as normal, going out last thing and settling down for the night, with the others, all as usual. Whereas my apparently healthy 15 yr old cat had obviously had an event such as a heart attack while I was out at work and fallen off the window-ledge, as I found him on the floor. I could only hope that he was dead before he landed.

 

[Caol Ila]

One of my parents' cats died peacefully in her sleep but the other had to be euthanized due to kidney failure.

Fish will just keel over. I've had a few drop dead for no reason (tested water quality... nothing obvious). I've also put a few fish down when they can't stay upright while swimming or they're lying on their sides on the bottom of the tank. Clove oil is the aquarist's friend when you need to euth a suffering fish.

 

[SEL]

I've posted on here before about the youngster that died in my arms because the vet couldn't get back out quickly enough to PTS. It's a good thing I only knew the owner in the context of that livery yard because I'm still angry about the events which led up to that.

It wasn't peaceful and the poor boy was suffering. I'm not sure slow deaths ever are peaceful unless drugs are involved. The doctor overseeing my grandmother gave enough morphine to keep him on the side of legal for her final 2 weeks and none of us would have cared if she'd had too much.

It's a horrible subject but one we all need to face up to sadly

 

[Red-1]

I have known 2 horses who dropped in front of my eyes, one was out hunting, the other at home. No previous signs of illness. Neither was old. Another horse I worked with dropped out on a ride, he was older and had vet investigations over some sheath swelling, but otherwise was fit and up for work.

2 dogs here have also gone. One was in the middle of eating his tea, after a nice day patrolling his yard. The other went to bed fine but was ill during the night and passed shortly after I got up. Both were older but had nice last days, no obvious failings.

2 people I knew personally went like that too. One fell asleep watching TV and never made it to bed, the other didn't show up for work and was found dressed at home, so not known if she made it to bed the night before or not.

I am usually very quick to PTS if I think that life quality has deteriorated. But sudden deaths can happen. Such as SIDS that I had to deal with at work (cot death). Also, a colleague was at his son's football on a Saturday when a team mate of his son dropped dead. He was just about to finish primary school, I think. No previous medical history.

With one of the horses, the vet attending (too late!) said that he had seen about 4 similar over the years. Young and healthy horses dropping dead with no warning. He said it is more common than you would think, it is just something that most people don't boast about!

I believe the old saying - "Where there's live stock, there's dead stock."

 

[MissTyc]

I've known two horses to drop dead but in both cases they were young and "natural" causes were aneurysm and toxic shock from a gut tear. Not what I'd want ... Death is rarely peaceful, unless it is controlled.

I did have an elderly cat who seemed in find shape and spirits who passed away while sleeping on the couch. I only realised he was dead quite a lot of hours later when I touched him and he was stone cold. He was in his usual place, eyes closed. I think his heart just stopped.

My grandmother also died in her sleep but she'd been unwell a while. Many people said it was the right way to go, but she'd told me months earlier that she was ready and if there had been an easy button for her to push, she would have left us earlier. She wasn't in great pain thankfully, just really tried and said she felt she could never fully settle any more. She was 96 with all her wits about her.

 

[Trouper]

Yes - I've had complete peace of mind knowing that I did not let any horse, cat or dog in my care live on in pain or suffering but went peacefully with help. I'm sorry if that sounds smug but I really do think the owner's peace of mind going forward with the rest of their lives is as important. If I could have done the same for my mother I would have done. When my time comes I want I would want a good horsey friend to be able to make the same decision for me - but I doubt the law will ever get round to allowing that.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I used to keep some of my sheep on a friend's field. They were looking out of the window one day, sheep were round the hay rack and they saw one just drop dead. They were really worried, thought they should have tried to resuscitate it but I told, them it is just what sheep do.
I have had one cat die in her sleep but she did have mammary tumours and my old pony was found dead in the field. No sign of a struggle so hope it was quick. Completely out of the blue so a horrible shock.
With having had animals since I was a child and now in my 70's I have had to have a lot put down. I can't say it gets any easier, the opposite if anything but at least I can face up to doing the deed better than I used to.

 

[ycbm]

I've had two cats that have just slipped away one only 7 years old after her brother had died suddenly from heart failure. Our yard managers horse died in the field again from heart failure.

It does happen and can't be helped in a young animal showing no signs. But most people with a dicky heart will tell you that it isn't all roses up to the point it finally stops. It's just that animals with failing hearts can't tell us. It makes my blood run cold if I hear anyone say they are hoping for a natural death of an old animal.

 

[TPO]

Everything alive has the potential to "drop dead"; the horse I sold did that 3mths later in the new owners field. PM revealed a heart defect that hadnt been detected/detectable by either of our vets.

I think the point of the most is that animals dont just do the "right thing" and pass peacefully in their sleep. In the majority of cases an owner should step in and make the call before there is any suffering and certainly to shorten any.

I had a YO once who was quick to pts horses but let a cat go on far too long and it was sickening how much the poor thing was suffering. Couldnt breath, bringing up green gunk and had an open wound on its chest which appeared to be a tumour doing all sorts of horrible things. There was blood and clumps of tissues from her all over the hay shed and she became incontinent, also over the hay.

A few liveries were wanting to "steal" the cat and get it pts but the worry of being kicked out stopped them. Everyone spoke to her about it and she said the cat would just go off and die herself. It was awful. Cat was only eventually pts because vet came out to pts horses and did cat at the same time.

So it shows how some people can have very warped take on pts between "work/livestock" animals and "pets"

 

[Widgeon]

I'm not sure slow deaths ever are peaceful unless drugs are involved. The doctor overseeing my grandmother gave enough morphine to keep him on the side of legal for her final 2 weeks and none of us would have cared if she'd had too much.

My grandmother...told me months earlier that she was ready and if there had been an easy button for her to push, she would have left us earlier.

My gran died of cancer. She was in horrible pain at the end, she'd been more than ready to go for a while. She was a Christian so had no worries about where she might be going. A few weeks before she ultimately died, she was ill with something else (I can't remember what) and rather than letting her slip away then, the hospital staff "saved" her. So she suffered more and more for another few weeks. Sorry, I don't know why I'm sharing that except that I'm still angry and sad and I don't understand why they did it.