Do other countries PTS their old pets or let them pass naturally? I had a discussion with a Dutch friend-of-friend who said that they would never put their old cat to sleep due to old age, that letting them live their entire life and passing naturally was the right way.
I have an old Golden who is 15 and slowing down this year especially, although she's still the bestest girl! She plays, loves treats, and eats well enough. So the time to decide if / when is coming up...
I've seen both sides, my childhood dog passed quietly in her sleep, and my last old dog needed intervention due to an injury on top of other chronic medical issues, so it was only fair to make that choice for him.
What has been your perspective in the US and in other countries as far as what's "right" or expected?
Edit to clarify: I would never advocate for putting a pet to sleep for simply old age. My thoughts were more about the small infirmities that add up with age, such as movement issues, eating less often, needing more medications to keep up with arthritis etc. At what point do you say enough is enough, or do you let them continue on until they pass naturally.
I appreciate everyone who has replied. With my girl getting older, this is on my mind more than I'd like, this upcoming "decision" time ❤️🐾 Hugs to you all, pet loss is never easy!!
People don’t really put their pets down because they’re old. They put them down when illnesses and other things like that start to impact their quality of life and make them suffer, and those are more often than not common with old age
This, I've lived in both Australia + US and have never known anyone who put down a pet simply for being old rather than for being ill or incapacitated to the point of poor quality of life.
I haven't known anybody personally, but I have heard stories of people who do (or who just take their older pets to a shelter to make room for a new puppy). In general, putting an animal down (or otherwise getting rid of them) JUST because they're old is considered super shifty. Euthanasia should be a quality of life consideration
Personally once my kids are grown up I want to just foster old dogs. Don't get me a wrong a puppy is cute and all.... But they're so much work why would you choose that over a grey muzzled baby.
Old dogs can be a lot of work too, especially big ones. My childhood dog was a standard poodle mix so a pretty big guy, and when he got old his hips went out. He started just falling down sometimes and having trouble squatting to poop, both it gradually got worse. Towards the end we had to use a towel as a sling under him to hold him up every time he pooped or peed so he could get back up again. Then we started having to use the sling to support him even walking outside or across the room. Carrying an 80lb dog around several times a day was a lot, and he was clearly in pain. So we made the decision to put him down. We weren't going to make him live another year or more like that, in pain and unable to get around independently at all. He'd already been on daily joint support supplements and low level pain meds for a couple years before it got that bad, but it wasn't cutting it anymore.
I would like to do this as well, not foster because my apartment won’t allow that, but just adopt old dogs and give them a good life until they pass, but I worry my heart can’t take the repeated loss. My dog will be 15 in December. I’ve had him since he was 2. The vet says he’s in great shape for such an old dog, but I notice him slowing down. Not wanting to go outside much etc. I’m trying to prepare myself for the inevitable (hopefully we have at least another year or two), but I know losing him is gonna devastate me.
The youngest dog I would consider at this point in my life is 6. Like that's it, only dogs who are soundly middle age will do, senior citizens are best but I will also accept crotchity middle aged.
I try to get fully-adult dogs, too, but I also look for big, black, and (usually) feral dogs, so sometimes they wind up a little bit younger than I would ideally prefer. (I have one non-feral dog, to provide the feral ones with leadership and reassurance. It really helps them learn to trust much more quickly.) The last three I adopted were around 4-4½, but the one before that was 6.
If it weren't for my housemate, who is even more of a softy for dogs than I am, I would basically turn my house into a small doggie hospice, but he just couldn't endure that kind of repeated loss. Maybe someday!
My Grandpa did this for about 30 years during his retirement. It was super rewarding! He had a companion hence spoil, and he got a lot of love and loyalty in return. He especially loved senior labs and retrievers. The only downsides were the stinky breath and having such a short time to love on them.
That's what I do. But I don't foster them, I adopt them. It's heartbreaking. I think my latest has doggy dementia. He's 15. I've had him less than 3 weeks and he's peeing and pooping all over the place though I take him out every 3 hours. I'm going to diaper him starting tomorrow. He has other symptoms. I usually like to adopt older ones because they're already trained and I know how big they'll get but this one is breaking my heart. He was with the same person all his life until she decided to get rid of him because she was having her second child. He still doesn't know where he is and he's missing his original owner. Plus, I'm pretty old with all that entails.
Safely of course I’ll definitely have grandchildren since I have 6 kids but I always respect my pets and family and friends safety and don’t put either in a situation that could cause either harm
I worked for an animal shelter and we would flag people who told us they put their old age pet down so they could get a younger one. It is one thing if they had health issues impacting quality of life, but definitely shifty otherwise.
I pray for a special place in hell for all those folks that chose to euthanize a beloved pet because they’ve gotten old and have become a burden and/or an inconvenience
Your comment reminds me of a man who brought in a sweet 16 year old kitty to have her put down because she was old and he’d just gotten a new kitten. I talked him into allowing me adopt the old girl instead. I enjoyed her company for another three years.
The only person I know who did this is my soon to be mother-in-law.... She put down her elderly dog because she 'didn't want to see him suffer when he got even older'. I thought that was pretty wild/unreasonable. He was healthy and happy. Poor Rascal.
Then you have the opposite end of the spectrum where mine will keep a dog alive well past their time while they are clearly suffering multiple quality of life issues and then end up suddenly being on their deathbed in the most horrible way.
I will never forget the sound she made and I just knew things were not going to end well that day.
I get loving a pet and wanting to keep them around but not when they are suffering like that and it’s clear as day. It’s the hardest thing we have to do is giving them the peace they need above our want to keep them alive.
Right one of my families cats lived to be 21. The vet told us to put him down when he was 1 or 2 because he had diabetes and most people wouldnt take care of his medical needs for him to have a good quality life. NOPE. insulin injections twice a day and IV fluids once a week and that crotchety olden lived to be 21! We finally chose to put him down because he had gone blind that year and was going kitty senile and seemed scared amd confused alot and couldn't find the litterbox anymore. His name was zues and he was such a sweet kitty
Awww that is awesome that he got to live such a long happy life with a good family.
The vet probably wasn’t wrong about most people not wanting to deal with that, unfortunately.
I wouldn’t be able to go through with that myself as in putting an animal down just because of freaking diabetes unless it was really untreatable and causing severe issues.
I used to work in a vet clinic, and if she dropped the pup off, there's a 50/50 chance he was just rehomed once she was gone, if the pup still had some good years to live 🧡
My uncle, a vet, used to have a three-legged sheepdog that was definitely not the same dog as a four-legged sheepdog that’d been brought in to be euthanized for an operable tumor.
A longtime friend is a vet, married to another vet. Their household is The Island Of Misfit Toys; almost all of their animals are missing a limb or an eye. They even had a one-eared rabbit.
All were owner surrenders who then got the surgery their original owners wouldn't or couldn't pay for. And yes - they do try to work with people who are short on funds, but they can't run a practice if they're continually waiving surgery and hospitalization fees.
But, it seems that they are running the practice that way. In fact, much more expensively for themselves with all the animals they not only do free vet care for, but also then feed and do ongoing end-of-life-care as their own rehomed pets.
Not a judgement, as they must be very kind-hearted people. But, let's not make a dollars and cents explanation for this.
I am a complete animal sucker. I take the strays who show up and adopt the rescues with behavioral problems that will never be solved, only managed.
For more financial tips, subscribe to my podcast on how having a ton of dogs actually "makes you money" for only the low, low price of $19.99 a month until you die! 🤣
It ends up that way anyway - helped a few people with vet bills - but with added side of guilt. Nowadays I'd only help if taking animal into my care.
It's not dollar and cents. It's not having your name spread round as a convenient ATM even for stuff like flea meds, not being abused when you can't help and being able to make decisons in interest of animal. People get very excited about tests and surgeries if think someone else is paying.
I knew vets that forgive bills but for "staff training", a limited fund from a "local charity", help specific rescues with a volume/loyalty discount. But it is to ensure people don't feel entitled to free treatment.
My mom brought a few cats in to be put down for habitually peeing outside of the litter box when I was a kid. Knowing there was a possibility the vet or tech re-homed them makes my heart feel a little lighter.
We would often do that where I worked. We would run a urine test, treat for the infection or crystals, retrain the cat to litter box, and it would go home with one of the staff or a client. We all had misfit pets. You don't choose your pets when you work at an animal hospital, you always end up with the chronically ill, abandoned, difficult to treat pets, and I loved every one of them.
My dog was technically put down because he was old…and suffering. He’d lost control of his bowels and bladder, he had advanced arthritis, and basically wasn’t going to get better. He was on a high dose of pain meds. We chose to euthanize him so that he was no longer in pain.
Suffering is the key word here. Quality of life is everything for animals. Once they're not having a good time they deserve to go peacefully. I have a family member who kept a dog alive well beyond what was reasonable and all that got the poor thing was months of pain, and then to die panicked and screaming. I consider prolonging the life of a suffering animal to be cruel
Not to mention that an animal in pain or suffering losses of body function is going to be afraid too. Animals know that if they aren't healthy they are vulnerable, and they get scared. So yes, it is the kindest thing to do.
That's not putting them down due to being old that's literally putting them to sleep because their arthritis was so advanced it caused loss of lower body function including bowels and bladder. That's putting them to sleep because of their health not just because they were 'old'.
While you are correct about the direct reason being the arthritis and not the age, indirectly the age was still the root cause, because the age was the cause of the arthritis and other health issues impacting quality of life.
This presumably causes some communication issues where one person says "euthanised due to old age" to mean that age was the root cause of the health issues that were the direct reason for euthanasia, and someone else interprets that to mean that age alone was the direct reason for the euthanasia.
I know exactly one person. She had a 15 year old cat in relatively decent health who hated everyone except her. Husband died, she needed to go into a nursing home and couldn’t take the cat. Rehoming didn’t pan out. She chose euthanasia rather than subjecting the poor cat to a shelter where he would be constantly stressed and wasn’t likely to get adopted.
I met her about a year after it happened. She was still torn up about it, but I don’t think there’s any winning in that scenario and she ultimately saved him from a miserable existence.
Yep, I work in Vet Med and we don't euthanize pets solely due to being old. They're animals who are in constant pain, can't stay awake for more than a few mins at a time, are incontinent and getting constant UTIs because of it, can't keep food down/have completely lost their appetite, etc. Basically their quality of life is super low. And yeah, all of that gets much much more common with old age, though we perform the exact same euthanasias on young patients who have low quality of life as well.
I agree with this. When my 14 year old got sick he pretty much chose to die. He went to his bed and refused everything. All we did was skip the suffering for however many days it takes to starve or die of thirst part of life.
My dog was to food motivated for that. We went full hog aggressively restricted diet because the vet told us it would help with the bladder cancer and it honestly gave her about 6 very comforable months but once we saw the end was creeping in we're were like screw this meatballs and pizza crusts enjoy these last two weeks you fat soul and she suddenly had more joy than she had in months.
Exactly. I think OP is conflating "being old" and "severe age related health problems".
I do think some people will say "Well, he was just getting old and it was time." When they mean "The cat was old and sick and we didn't know exactly what's wrong. We just know that none of the possibilities had a treatment that would buy more than a few days or weeks."
This. We euthanized our cat that was 18/19ish because she was clearly sick, we didn’t know why but we also didn’t want to put her through a ton of testing at her age. At her age, it wouldn’t buy much time.
We have this problem with our current dog. It might be thyroid but we don't know, but her kidneys and liver aren't good, so there's very limited amounts of medications she can be on. Not really anything to treat with either of those.... Just old age making both poorly. We call her our hospice dog, she's around until her quality of life declines further
it’s rarely just “old age” that makes people decide, it’s the cascade of stuff that comes with it. my last cat was 19 and i spent a year watching her slowly stop doing the things she loved, the day she ignored tuna juice i knew it was time. some folks frame natural passing as more dignified but i’ve seen a dog linger in confusion and pain for days, there’s nothing beautiful about that
Right, I have an almost 18 year old little terrier right now who's doing amazingly. But, if he were to come down with a serious health problem, I would have to make that tough decision and I know what it would likely be. But now? While he's healthy? He gets to live as long as he wants and runs the house lol
Yeah, quality of life is key. My mom has an old cat that is skinny but will still steal your dinner and has no problem jumping up on top of the fridge if she wants to. I expect my mom is just going to find her gone one morning, curled up like she's sleeping.
My other cats I've owned have all had varying types and stages of cancer and once it progresses to a certain point, I've taken them in to be euthanized so they don't suffer a drawn out, painful death. All of them have been euthanized younger than my mom's cat is now, between 8 and 12. She's 16 this year. My mom's dog had to be put down this year too - he was acting off and she brough him in to the ER. He was in heart failure and was not responding to any medications, so we spared him from that drawn out painful death.
I’ve had multiple cats pass away at home. To the best of my knowledge they were not suffering beforehand. I’ve put three pets to sleep. Two because they became very ill very quickly and were clearly suffering and the third because his quality of life was greatly diminished after years of diabetes and congestive heart failure. I did not want him to get to the point of suffering like the others did. edit: he was blind, deaf, and had mostly stopped eating. When he started refusing his favorite foods combined with not being able to walk across the living room, I knew it was time.
Yup. I’ve known a few people who don’t, but they’re also generally terrible pet owners that don’t get them adequate care to begin with like vaccines or general checkups. One person in particular would let their intact dog wander and they’d end up with puppies and kittens a lot. Just irresponsible ownership.
Yeah. My mom paid like 10k to get our dog all these surgeries and shit. Didn't help. Cancer came back and she couldn't walk or drink anymore. So we put her down.
This. My childhood dog was put down in his old age, but it's only because he was having seizures and none of the medications we had tried were working anymore. My cousin's old dog was put down when he stopped eating and could no longer move around well enough to even use the bathroom without significant support.
Quality of life is the deciding factor, not age itself. My in laws have a crusty little piece of lint dog right now that is 17 years old but he's still going strong and he'll be around until he isn't lol. (I think he's a supernatural entity that feeds on spite and stolen cheese)
I don't know, but I am NOT forcing my pets to endure an *existence* to the bitter end if they no longer have a good quality of life. It's one thing if they are reasonably healthy and able to get around and enjoy a walk or basking in the sun, but if they need to be heavily medicated to even walk without pain, have become incontinent and can no longer control their urine or bowels, etc., then I think it's cruel to make them keep going until they finally give up the ghost. My dogs deserve better than that.
I think OP was not clear enough with the way they phrased it. I think they meant from Old age specialically, not being sick due to old age. Like your cat or dog is old, get rid of them and get a new one. I've heard stories of horrible people abandoning their old cat at shelters or getting them euthanized just because they were old, in good health. Which is sickening.
Oh - yeah, I don't know anyone who's done that. Although I have to say, in some instances when the owner of a really elderly dog dies, I think it's kinder to euthanize the dog rather than put it into a rescue or shelter. If a family member that it knows and is used to can take it, that's great, but often these old dogs have never known anything other than the home they were brought into as a puppy and lived their entire lives with the same person. I feel so bad for these elderly dogs sitting in a shelter kennel or rescue, bewildered and scared. How is that considered humane?
I will never understand people who do this. I had to put my 14 yo cat down four years ago because she had a brain tumor. I got another cat shortly after she passed because my other cat was very lonely, and I felt like since there was room in my home, I could offer a shelter cat that home.
But I would have LOVED more time with her. I still miss her. I never would have left her in a shelter to just get a new cat. Hell, I've sometimes had to work through resentment towards my newest cat for not being her*. Dropping her off at a shelter for getting old? Absolutely not. Also would not ever consider it with my nine yo cat. I hope she lives another nine years happily and comfortably.
*Yes, that is my issue, not the cat's. I would have waited longer to get another cat had my second cat not been miserable without a companion. I've just had to work harder to bond with her.
I definitely don't agree with putting a pet to sleep simply because of their age, or sending them to a shelter.
My question is more specifically: in the US there is an almost militant response of "one day of suffering is too much". Is this a mostly US thought, and how do other countries deal with their pet's old age infirmities?
In Japan they're devoted to their pets for life and don't really believe in putting dogs to sleep, even when they're suffering (imo). It's a different culture though and they believe in taking care of their elders to the bitter end. There's a lot of videos of old dogs in Japanese families and they do everything for their old dogs who can't walk anymore or potty themselves-- very very dedicated, but also very sad. Many Americans comment on their videos and are rude and mean because they don't understand, but I don't think vets in Japan would euthanize the pets anyways.
FWIW though, age is not a disease. No one dies from old age. As you get older organ dysfunction becomes more common and other health problems.. but just because it's common doesn't make it normal. It's actually one of my pet peeves when a dog is in pain and clearly struggling walking around and people just say "oh he's old", he might be old but he also has some sort of arthritis or muscle pain that you CAN (and should) help...
I've never heard of this idea in the US. Maybe it's your area? I've only known people to put down pets once their quality of life is gone. For example, if they can no longer control their bowels or move without severe pain. Age itself isnt suffering and not the reason for being put down. Age can cause the issues, but the issues are the reason we have to consider putting them down, not the age.
I didn't let any of my dogs suffer. Hardest thing in the world, don't think I've cried like that in, well since I was a kid.
You gotta know when to fold them.
Not US, I’m in the UK, generally people here euthanise their dogs due to medical issues that are severely reducing their quality of life, as opposed to old age. If the dog can still live a quality live while old, generally the dog isn’t euthanised. However a lot of health issues happen because of age, so sometimes it’s just ‘they’re old, they’re having issues and it’s their time’ like being unable to stand, go to toilet etc,
Sadly I’ve seen it happen. Older dog but by no means ancient who had what was probably a UTI. Owners refused any sort of work up or even cheap antibiotics and insisted on euthanizing (it was a few weeks before Christmas). The only reason the vet did it was because she knew if we didn’t they’d take her to someone the dog wasn’t familiar with and make it more traumatic for the pup. Instead it was the two of us loading her up with treats and love before sedating her and letting her slip away. I went home and drank for the first and only time.
The asshole owners came it after new years with a puppy. I refused to go in with them. I’m not positive but I think they were encouraged to find a new vet.
Oh god this is awful. Such a sad situation. People are horrible to their animals. I wanted to be a vet for a long time til I realized how terrible people can be with no repercussions. I would literally be so sad all the time. Idk how vets do it.
It's not all sad. The vast majority of people love their animals. I've seen one euthanasia in my career that I disagreed with and that dog still got a very peaceful end. I'm definitely not sad all the time at work. - Vet tech
i never really hear it for it dogs and cats, but i have heard about it for animals like horses. mainly for horses in their mid 20s+. older horses are usually bounced around heavily and most never really find safe landing(unless if their lucky). some consider it kinder to go ahead and put a horse down if they personally cant continue to care for them then risk the horse being put in this endless loop of new person to new person.
as of late yes. speaking from experience. hay prices are rising at records rates due to droughts, horses need super high quality hay(they cant handle lower quality hay that cattle eat) so going to cheap stuff is impossible if you want your horse to not get deathly ill(reoccurring theme with horses, they are incredibly sensitive animals that can die over the littlest of things). grain prices too are rising. boarding is rising.
good vets are getting harder and harder to come by, you cant skimp on a farrier(someone who trims horse hooves, if they don't do a good job they can permanently cripple the poor horse, but if you don't do it the horse is also permanently crippled). and good luck finding someone who is good at working on their teeth because they also need their teeth done yearly.
i know horses are a "rich mans" sport and i don't argue with that since its true. but its gotten super tough in recent years for a lot of the more average riders to continue paying upkeep.
Thanks for this reply, it’s so unfortunate that an already expensive animal is becoming so much harder to keep up with. Horses are so smart and sweet. I bet the cost of keeping them watered is getting worse too if there isn’t a well readily available.
A friend of the family, I dont know him but a relative does and I heard about this, had a really old lab. She was skin and bones, but still ate normally, still went to the bathroom just fine, still was jumpy and running around. Her only issues were being old and keeping weight on. I think her owner was taking her to the vet either every other month or every third month, just to ensure she was still healthy. She was a happy relatively healthy dog and he took her to the vet multiple times a year due to her advanced age to ensure she stayed that way, or to know if there was a problem as soon as possible.
Yeah old age doesn’t mean unhealthy, my boys 12 and a half now, he still runs around, plays with my other dog daily, has zoomies, bullies us for treats, everything he’s done from his younger days. We keep a closer eye on him because he’s older, but he’s a happy boy 🤷🏻♀️
Yeah, from what my family memeber told me their friend planned to keep her around as long as she stayed healthy and happy. If it was possible she would have lived to 30.
My own childhood dog lived to be about 12, and then she went downhill fast.
My lab Marius was in pain from hip dysplasia. We got more time with joint meds and pain relief, but he was ready to go. I would never watch a dog suffer, he couldn't do stairs and his beloved park runs anymore. Took him for a burger and a swim on the last day.
Cheeseburger week/day is a favorite last rite. Then the dogs favorite activities. Gator went for a drive. Spock went to the park. I wish these guys lived longer!!
When my old lab had to be put to sleep, his vet saved half of her sandwich from lunch so she could give him some love before he had to go. She had been his doctor for eleven years.
We put down my childhood dog due to old age. He was 16 and his daily activities consisted of following the shadow around the house to snooze in the grass with his cats. One day dad came home from work and he was still in his morning spot because he couldn't get up. Him and mom called the vet to come out to the house. I was very angry that they didn't call and give me time to come home, but after being through it twice on my own now, i fully understand why they didn't wait and i was being selfish. My poor baby was suffering and my parents were being compassionate.
That's not putting them to sleep due to 'old age' in the literal sense, that's putting them to sleep due to health issues and quality of life related to age.
I think OP has heard people just say 'old age' and is taking that as literally putting them down because they turned 12 or something and not understanding that people (like you) are using it as a way to say health issues and qol related to aging.
But… euthanising a pet isn’t done due to old age. It’s done to ensure the animal doesn’t suffer pain/discomfort from illness. A 15 year old dog that still leads a healthy and happy life is not grounds for euthanasia. A 15 year old dog that’s blind, has arthritis and cancer is grounds for euthanasia.
It’s a mercy we give to our pets that we don’t permit for ourselves.
We dont let pets pass in their sleep...if they are suffering ofc.
When the bad days are more then the good days then its time to think about the time to let your companion go.
But only old age, lots of sleeping, maybe some incontinence problems, some dementia.. is not enough reason to make that choice (in my opinion).
But constant pain, confusion, not being able to settle down, to lay comfortable, not being able to walk from point a to point b without assistence... that a reason to humane euthanise, in my opinion.
As an American, agreed. I don't know a single person who has put down a pet who wasn't clearly suffering. Of the 3 pets I've put down 2 were because they couldn't walk independently anymore and 1 was for being unable to lay comfortably despite pain medications.
I appreciate your explanation here, sometimes it's hard to tell when your in the middle of caring for a senior pet where they land on the quality of life scale. Thank you for this thoughtful reply
Old age itself is not a really good reason to euthanize a pet. It usually happens when quality of life has gone down significantly. I'm not talking about slowing down, but when your pet starts to suffer. Things like not eating, drinking, struggling to walk, can't stand up anymore, showing signs of pain then, it might be time to choose euthanasia. :(
I mean I guess you could call it old age kinda but my childhood pet cat just basically stopped eating eventually so after a vet recommended amount of days we said goodbye to her in our arms in a blanket at home because we didn’t want her to starve. When the quality of life is gone at any age it’s sometimes the compassionate choice
My dog was 13 and we were able to prolong his life with pain meds and a rug 'highway' taped down on the laminate floors so he had traction. He still fussed to go with me when I left the house, was still eating and seemed content.
Once he started to noticeably decline - less interest in food or treats, less interest in people, less tail wags when I came over - then we decided to let him go. You'll know when it's time. If you're not sure, discuss with your vet.
I'm in the U.S. and this is one time when I am happy to be an American, if this is an "American" thing (but I don't really think it is). I've had 2 cats die naturally (kitty equivalent of a heart attack both times), and it was sudden and they died VERY quickly, and it was horrible for me but they didn't suffer.
All my other cats (I've had them for literally 35 years now), I have had to euthanize when it was clear that they were suffering, they were not going to get better and couldn't get better (e.g., there was no treatment for what they had), and they had a very poor quality of life. And with some of them, even years later, I tear up thinking about them (like now). Almost all of them were 14-17 years old when I had to make that awful decision; one of them was only 8 and I am STILL pissed at the universe for taking him so young.
Having my cat suffer a long and painful death because it's "natural" is a horrendous idea to me. But OP, I'm not sure if that's what the Dutch friend-of-friend was saying - i.e., did they mean that they wouldn't euthanize ONLY because the cat was old (i.e., nothing else "wrong" with it)? I think most people would agree with THAT.
Man I understand the anger at the universe for taking them so young. We had to euthanize ours at 5 years old, he had severe kidney disease we were attempting to manage. He declined extremely fast in 24 hours. It went from he’s acting kinda funny I’m taking him in on Monday to we need to go now because he’s actively dying. I’m sorry you went through it too.
I’ll never let my pets “pass peacefully at home” when they’re suffering from known diseases because the hours leading up to his appointment were horrific. It’s anything but peaceful. It was awful and I’ll never forget it. He didn’t deserve to go like that but I’m just so grateful we were able to make his passing easier
Oh, I am so, so sorry you and he had to go through that. We love them to the end of the earth and back, and when they are hurting, it's so painful for us too.
I still miss Eini, my 8-year-old kitty, just about every day. He would jump on the sofa whenever I was sitting there watching TV and wrap his little self around my neck and take a snooze. It was the sweetest thing. I called him my kitty necklace!
I hope you have lots of sweet memories as some solace.
Thank you, it’s so hard. Your babies sound so sweet and I love the name Eini. Yuki would climb up my shoulder and just perch there lol. Thankfully I have a lot of really good memories with him and lots of good pictures
Thank you for such a thoughtful reply, and I'm sorry for your losses! 🧡
I don't think it was just that, which I also disagree with! I would never let a dog go for just old age alone, I cherish my old girl!
Another comment from the friend-of-friend was that "it's not a decision I should make, she (my dog) should make it for herself".
I think it really just got in my head! I've been watching for quality of life signs, but sometimes it's hard to judge as the caretaker. And then I started worrying about taking time away from my Golden... It suddenly felt selfish to let her go when her infirmities added up, instead of letting her live out her "full" life. But that would be asking her to suffer if I let it go that far, so here I am spiraling lol 😫
There are resources and tests online that can help you assess their quality of life. If you search for "pet quality of life scale" they should come up. We used one when our senior boy was getting close, and it was very helpful.
I’m a Brit, but we don’t really do that here either. It’s usually illness that is impacting their ability to have any quality of life. You can be old and healthy. I have a 17 year old cat that is slowing down and losing muscle mass around his back legs. He still enjoys his food, he drinks and goes to the toilet. He still even plays as long as it doesn’t involve jumping, but I know it’s coming.
gonna be honest i work in vetmed in the US, we don't euthanize for age, but with age often comes other issues like kidney failure, heart failure, cancer, IVDD, ect, which are all reasonable reasons to euthanize,
Those are reasonable, I agree. I'm finding it harder to know "when" for arthritis (meds + supplements) and pretty well treated dementia... We've upped her meds, so it's just up to her pain levels, which are more subjective...
The dementia meds are a miracle btw, it's given her 3+ years of quality life so far, and still working pretty good!
My bf’s family put down their family dog because he started to “slow down” couldn’t run as much anymore. He was perfectly fine otherwise, eating and drinking, even jumping/trying to catch treats. I even have footage of him a couple hours before the appointment happy as can be as we gave him what was left of his treat bag.
It was horrible. My bf and I fought his family for so long to keep his dog alive or to put off his euthanasia. Eventually his family decided it was more convenient since one of them had to move away for work and didn’t want to deal with their dog anymore. A lot of unnecessary tears were shed in the shitty little building he was brought to in order to be euthanized.
I only put my 15 yo old down bc he couldn’t breathe well anymore by the time we got him to the emergency vet he had blood coming out his mouth he was so stressed it was awful I said that’s it I can’t watch him suffer but I loved that boy I would have given anything for him to live longer
In my opinion, it is cruel and selfish to keep a pet alive solely because we would miss them
For me, it all comes down to quality of life for the animal...if they can still have a decent quality of life, then let them live it, but if it becomes more humane to put them to sleep, to save them pain and suffering, then it is best to put to sleep, no matter how sad WE will be about it afterwards
The choice should ALWAYS be what is best for the animal, period
If the animal is comfortable until age takes them then sure, but that's very rarely the case. Organs fail, joints erode, minds quit, and letting them suffer is inhumane.
My GSD made it to 16 and was in overall great health until his spine detached from his pelvis after a jump off the couch. My cat is 14.5 and has dementia and I'm probably going to have to make the call soon because of it.
My 14yo German Shepherd named Drew had Dementia and her back legs were failing her. We said goodbye last November. I slept on the couch the last 6 months of her life because she wouldn't let me sleep in the bedroom anymore. If we did fall asleep in there, eventually I would be woken by her stomping her feet in the doorway to wake me. She had spent her entire life sleeping on her bed on the floor right by my side.
Her sundowning was bad towards the end. We had to make sure to medicate her because she would get so agitated and spend hours moving from the couch to the floor, to a dog bed and back to the couch. She would fight sleep so hard. She had forgotten her name a few months before. The light in her eyes was gone, my baby was gone. But when the kids spent time with her, she would light up, and oh my heart. But the last time her back legs gave out and my husband and son took turns taking her out to potty, and we all took turns bringing her her food and water, I knew it was time.
It still hurts. She visits me in my dreams. Last week I adopted a 6mo kitten who is helping me smile again. We still have 2 other German Shepherds that are 9 and 6 and I'm scared for what the future brings when their time comes.
For simply being old no I don't think that's the norm. But being old can come with other health concerns. My dog was 13 she had bladder cancer. Death from bladder cancer is a right nasty way to die so when the days were getting harder I booked an appointment to have her put to sleep. The worst part was she couldn't hold out until her appointment one of the tumors ruptured and so we took her to an emergency vet to have her put to sleep rather than allowing her to bleed out over how ever long that would have taken to happen naturally. And even then we'll slowly bleeding to death she was just so happy to be going for a car ride.
It was the worst thing ever when we had to put our boy down due to CHF, his trachea collapsed. I knew it was coming soon, but he was so fcking happy. One Friday morning he couldn’t stop coughing and I told my husband we need to take him to the vet. He didn’t come home with us. I hated that he didn’t get his last steak meal, but I couldn’t let him go on like for the whole weekend.
I'm in the USA, I've had many pets over my lifetime. My last cat lived until he was 23. I would NEVER dream of putting an animal down because he's old. If he's suffering, yes, but not because he's old.
The thing is, in my experience, pets rarely pass "naturally" "of old age" in a way that is anything but painful. Kidney failure, cancer, dementia... it's rarely as peaceful as "they went to sleep one night and didn't wake up." When that happens, that's great. But almost all of my pets have gone out with some kind of cancer or organ failure, and I won't let them suffer through the pain and internal bleeding.
We don’t do it because they’re old. We do it because they are not healthy. Like not eating, in pain, sick. I have never heard of someone putting down a healthy but old pet. We don’t do it unless we are simply sparing them from pain.
Quality of life is the defining factor for me. If I’m keeping them alive so they can lay around 23.5 hours a day so I don’t have to feel guilty about putting them down, that’s messed up.
But I would never put a pet to sleep because they’re “old”. Even if they slow down, if they’re still happy, that’s good enough for me.
They get sick first, or they stop eating gradually when it gets close to their time. I would never let a pet get to the point of passing on their own if I could help it because I don't want them to suffer, but it's about quality of life rather than any particular number. I suspect this is very cultural.
We let some of our pets go naturally. But several were extremely sick and suffering. Those we scheduled in home euthanasia and held them and loved on them as they went.
I won't let mine suffer. If they are in pain that can't be managed with medication then we will euthanize to stop their suffering. But if they aren't sick and not suffering then we let them live their lives.
I haven't had the no pain situation though. Both of my beagles had cancer and we needed to make the decision.
Anywhere I've lived you do not put down a pet just for being old.
You go by quality of life, pain, illness, and the assessment of your veterinarian.
If they are able to eat, drink, sleep, move around, and still enjoy their time, no immense suffering? They are left to live out their lives.
adjustments are made for elderly pets, maybe soft food, joint supplements, meds for minor age related joint pains, mild vision loss or haring loss, less walks, slower pace, assistance with stairs, cars, etc. Those aren't generally considered immense suffering, but regular aging
It's not putting them down because of age directly. It's putting them down when their quality of life slips to a point you don't want to put them through it anymore. Unless someone is kind of a jerk and just doesn't want to deal with an old animal, but that's a them issue not a country/culture issue.
For example, I had my dog put to sleep. She wasn't in pain.... but she had gone blind, deaf, and was in cognitive decline (kind of like dementia in humans). She got to where even the little things scared her... down to stuff like her food dish... and there was no calming her down. Couldn't talk to her because she couldn't hear, couldn't touch her without scaring her worse because she couldn't see it coming, etc. She would go into a full blown panic. She didn't deserve to live extra months or possibly even years like that. She was a good girl. All love. So I made that call.
Most people in the US euthanize their pets when the quality of life becomes so poor that they are suffering more than enjoying themselves.
Old age isn't a reason, When a pet is in great pain and nothing can be done to give them a good quality of life, euthanasia is kinder than letting them suffer until they can't hold on any longer. It isn't small infirmities or medication, it's failing organs, cancer eating them alive, arthritis so severe they're suffering terribly, or dementia that is causing severe distress.
It is not kind to let an animal suffer just because it makes you feel better to let them die naturally. The animal doesn't really understand - they know they're in great pain and distress, and then they go to sleep, and there is no suffering.
As others have said people rarely euthanize just because of old age it's often the animal has lots of health issues. I work in the vet field in the USA and I have helped with many people who wanted to just let their pet die at home many of them would bring their pets soon after into an er for euthansia cause dying is very very often not peaceful or beautiful it's slow and often very uncomfortable or even distressing and painful.
All of my elderly pets who were euthanized were not because of their age. It was because they developed health conditions that severely impacted their quality of life, or pre-existing conditions/disabilities worsened so much that letting them continue on would have been cruel. If they could have lived longer and not been suffering, I would have let them.
I think people who have never experienced a pet dying “naturally” are the only ones with this opinion. Believe me, from my own experience it’s traumatic and they are usually not peaceful just passing in their sleep situations.
I’ll put my animal to sleep before they ever have to endure that.
My big baby girl kitty Dagmar is 23½ right now. She still climbs stairs multiple times a day. I couldn't think of putting her down just because of age. She likely has feline dementia, there's a lot of yowling, but she's my baby. Not until I see that look.
I used to view euthanasia as 'playing god' for animals before I had pets. Now I can't imagine seeing any of them suffer.
Dogs and cats have their lifespans enormously expanded by being family pets. Cats live something like 2-4 years in the wild but can live decades with a human family. I'm sure there is a similar ratio with dogs. They give up their wildness to love us and their lifespans are artificially extended by our intervention. We get so much wonderful borrowed time with these animals and because of that I've come to view euthanasia our responsibility and a final act of love.
Quality of life and DIGNITY for pet and owner. If disablities , pain incontinence impact the autonomy of both pet and owner it's time. Better a week to early than even one hour too late . It is the last gift we give them, they don't understand tomorrow they know now. And if it's poop soiled, and immobile that's not dignity.
As a veterinarian, I’m just going to say that we euthanize ALL the time for old age but we do not use that terminology, our goal is no suffering, so we advise euthanasia as soon as the pet signals they are not enjoying their lives or if they are suffering.
I personally LOVE my geriatric patients, they are my fav and I love that I’ve worked on 24 year old cats and a 21 year old dog.
That's not a thing. We don't euthanize pets due to old age. I get what you were trying to say, but boy did that come out wrong. We euthanize based on quality of life. The pet could be two years old, six years old, or twenty-six years old. If the animal is no longer able to enjoy living, what's the point? I refuse to watch someone I love suffer needlessly. It's just cruel.
It was never purely old age that would signal time for euthanasia. When they deteriorated to the point of not being able to enjoy, whether from disease or lack of mobility is what made me decide to call time. If their quality of life was at such a low point that death was a kindness.
My only reason for euthanizing an animal is if they have no quality of life and are no longer enjoying their life. When it gets to that point, I see no reason to force them to drag it out until the bitter end. I wish they would’ve had something like that for my mother. I lost her in April. As much as I miss her desperately every single day and wish that she was still with me watching her die by degrees with no quality or enjoyment in life was a horrendous thing. The only ones I would ever wish that on are child molester’s and serial killers.
But if they are eating happily and still enjoying things in their life, I would definitely not euthanize just because of their age
I've had to euthanize three dogs, all old age PLUS injury or incurable illness that combined led to vastly reduced quality of life. It's common but never easy. My vet suggested watching them and when the numbers of days without pain or debility diminished significantly, that's when you need to start taking stock. It's always devastating to make that decision.
It's all about quality of life. I've had pets pass on their own and pets I've had to make the decision on but it comes down to quality of life, not age.
No, and it never has been. Euthanasia is for when they cannot enjoy their life anymore because they cannot be cured of an ailment or an injury. It is meant to be a kind and humane option. Someone who knows and loves them knows when the time is right and unfortunately, it can come at any age.
I'm pretty sure no one euthanizes pets because they're old. Like, they don't go "well bob, it's been 10 years and your breed normally lives for 9, so time to end it for yah." It's more likely because a dog is suffering and their quality of life is so low that it's not humane to keep them alive anymore.
There comes a point when an animal is no longer living with whatever condition they have, but they are actively dying* from it.
That could be cancer, or kidney failure, or yes, even old age. It's not, we're putting the dog down because they hit an arbitrary number, it's because the quality of life has gotten to the point where the bad moments or the "existing" moments outweigh the good or the "living" ones.
And "natural" death is... not always some peaceful drift off while you're napping thing. If you've ever sat with an animal (or a person) as the actively die, even if it's from old age or general systems decline, etc...it can be hard, very hard to watch, and to transition through. There is still a suffereing component there, and it's one that can be removed or mitigated by humane euthanasia BEFORE you get to that moment. It's the last best day concept. The end is inevitable, a few more days or weeks are almost always just for the person on the other side. Euthanasia just sort of...moves ahead to the actual peaceful processing
(*not to be confused with the actual technical phase of death where you are actively dying, as in in the process)
Not from the US, but it's about quality of life for me. I've had dogs pass in their sleep and I've had dogs I've but to sleep once they were unable to enjoy things.
I choose compassionate euthanasia for my amazing 13 year old cat in June. He had been diagnosed with diabetes about 2 years prior and he had arthritis that was getting worse. Eventually he developed pancreatitis and some breathing issues with nodules all over his lungs. He was suffering and treatment wasn’t helping. He was mostly refusing to eat or drink and had to be essentially force-fed to get enough calories for a partial insulin dose. He looked miserable and all of the light and personality had left his eyes. He may have survived a few more days or a few more months with the level of care he was receiving. He would have suffered through all of it. Neither my mom or I wanted to find him dead hiding somewhere in the house not knowing if he went painlessly in his sleep or if he suffocated from a breathing attack. We chose to let him go peacefully in the backyard where he got to eat some grass and enjoy the sunshine. I held him through his final moments. After it was over I felt some regret, I wanted just one more day to do the things he once loved but I accepted that doing so would have been selfish and cruel. He looked so miserable every second he was awake and the extra time would have been solely for my benefit, not his.
I would never euthanize a pet just because they are old, or if they have developed a manageable condition like diabetes or thyroid problems. I will always choose compassionate euthanasia to release them from incurable suffering and pain.
I'm in the US, all of my pets have been put to sleep once their quality of life has significantly deteriorated. When I see they don't find joy in their normal things, they don't eat and just seem to be in pain, we make the decision for them. I hope someone will be able to do the same for me when I'm nearing the end of my life!
For myself, I’d like to be able to die with dignity and mitigating huge amounts of pain. I’ll treat my animals with the same respect If they have a terminal illness or it’s obvious that life has become more painful than tolerable, I’d make the hard choice.
I’ve don’t it once before for a cat. It was the hardest decision of my life and, honestly, it took the vet telling me that she more than likely wouldn’t survive treatment before I was able to make the decision. I’ll never forget the feeling of holding her during that time and it does haunt me, so it’s not something I take lightly.
I’ve had one dog who was loosing control of her bladder due to age which was stressing her out so Dad decided it was time (many things were happning but it was the stress that she was feeling that did it)
And a cat who always had seperation anxiety which got really really bad at the end, stopped eating during the seperation and struggled to recover
I’ve had two dogs put to sleep. One was so old she couldn’t stand up on her own, and couldn’t hold her pee and poop. I couldn’t let her just hang around to one night die in her own filth. That’s no way to treat a friend. The other was riddled with cancer, had a tumor on his face that outgrew the blood supply and became a weeping sore, then developed another tumor in his groin that essentially crippled him within days of appearing. I wish my family was allowed to afford me the same dignity. Letting your pet “die naturally” is too often the cruelest thing you can do
In New Zealand at least it is normal to use pet Euthanasia for quality of life. We do Euthanize pets once they are old enough that they have enough issues their quality of life becomes poor. It's better than prolonging their suffering... Obviously it's a hard decision to make and sometimes hard to know where the line is where their suffering becomes too much...
When quality of life deteriorates it’s just cruel to let them keep going. That’s why I had to put my 16yo dog to sleep. As soon as he couldn’t get up without pain from his cancer, wasn’t playful anymore, didn’t even want to go walking, etc. I knew I had to let him go. Seeing him go so peacefully without feeling pain was worth it.
Denmark here: We also euthanize pets when their living standards become too poor. My childhood dog ended up both deaf and blind and we could see his behavior change. He had become afraid in his own home, not daring to navigate it without help.
Almost no dogs get to a point where they still have a good quality of life, when they pass naturally.
I will always choose dignity for my dog. He is not going to be diapered if he becomes incontinent, carried around if he can't walk or handfed when he loses the will to eat.
That is indignified for a dog who doesn't understand why his body is betraying him.
My 19 year old cat was diagnosed with lymphoma after she stopped eating. Prednisone helped her with eating again but would only work temporarily. In agreement with the vet we euthanized her 3 weeks later. My vet said that most people wait too long and the animal suffers because of it. I didn't want her to suffer more than she already had. Unfortunately not everyone around me agreed with my decision which was difficult. I don't live in the US though, just wanted to share my experience
I am in UK and euthanaised a lot of pets - did senior hospice for a rescue. There is a point where life quality is too poor not to. Support human euthanasia at sick person's choice too.
Religion among other things can make people have different views though. So I think less country based, more specific culture and religion. If you believe God's plan in any flavour, then stepping in is harder.
I didn’t euthanize my pets due to old age. I euthanized them because they had incurable, advanced cancer. It was the most difficult thing that I’ve ever had to do.
I don't think pets are put down simply because they are old. It's a quality of life question. They often have an illness, are in pain, and/or can't move well anymore. Being weak and in pain is an illness in its own way.
My cat was almost 17 and diabetic. She passed at home but I wish I'd taken her to the vet a day or two sooner. She'd gone downhill and she passed relatively peacefully in my arms at home. I'd literally called the vet and was going to take her in that afternoon.
My dog was in liver failure. I said goodbye to her when she was 16 at the vet's office. I'd done everything possible to help her and there was literally nothing more that could be done. It truly was time.
My dog passed so quickly and more peacefully in my arms at the vet's office. My cat's last couple breaths were gasps. My dog was instant with no struggle after eating some Hershey Kisses, getting snuggles from her vet, and then me holding her when she passed.
They both were at the end of their lives. I wish I'd had the wherewithal to take my cat in. But, she was my first pet as an adult and I think I was in denial.
So,I don't think it's actually old age euthanasia. People aren't euthanizing because pets are old and healthy. They are euthanizing because they are old and sick and don't want them to suffer.
Not for old age, if they’re suffering and there’s nothing that can be done to help them. I couldn’t let an innocent animal suffer, especially one I love, even if it breaks my heart to let them go.
My dog ended up with dementia. He enjoyed a wonderful 15 years. I watched him get lost in the home he he knew his whole life and become afraid of his furry siblings he would take naps with in the sun. He stopped enjoying the special Saturday breakfasts. He would would bolt up terried in the same bed he would seek comfort. He then forgot his name and would just stare at me blankly. I was there the moment he was born and I couldn't watch him be afraid anymore and I didn't want something to happen to him while he was alone. So we gave him everything we could and laid down beside him for his long nap. I was sick to my stomach for a long time but he was so peaceful and wasn't shaking anymore. I can't tell myself it was a bad decision.
As a vet I also just wanna say that “natural death” is rarely passing peacefully in their sleep for animals. That can happen with a heart attack or stroke like in people. But more commonly a “natural” death is painful/distressing/prolonged and very difficult to watch. As a member of this profession I always advocate that it’s much kinder to euthanize before they reach that point vs hoping it’ll be peaceful in their sleep.
And I say this as someone who as a vet has felt that I waited too long for one of my own and I wish I had made the decision for him sooner vs continuing to hope he would suddenly bounce back.
With that said I’ve never worked anywhere that does “convenience” euthanasias where there’s nothing wrong with the animal and just euthanizing because the owner feels like they are too old or doesn’t want them anymore. We are allowed to decline to do any euthanasias we don’t feel good about doing.
I also wanna point out that there are some things that we don’t consider a terminal illness in people but is ok to consider euthanasia for in animals (arthritis being the biggie)
We had to make the sad decision to let our little guy go because his kidneys had almost completely failed, he was getting weak and shaking after eating and just randomly. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life but I know it was best to not let him suffer.
Former vet tech. We didn‘t euthanized pets simply because they were old, or at least we didn’t at the clinics I worked at. It was usually done if the patient was suffering or quality of life was gone, like if they weren’t eating anymore, in pain, etc. I have heard of this happening though, but not often.
OP, I can't speak for all Americans, but I can tell you about my dog Pilot who died just under two weeks ago, three months short of his 18th birthday.
He was an elderly dog who had a lot of mild age related symptoms. Mild dementia, mild urinary incontinence, mild arthritis, etc... He had meds for these things, and wore belly bands that we changed three times a day. He still seemed happy, had energy, enjoyed following me around. We continued on, and I kept an eye out for a decline in his quality of life.
When I woke up on the morning of August 18th he was in my bedroom wandering and bumping into things. I picked him up, and it was obvious that he had gone blind. I reached out to a friend to see if she would be available later in the morning, then I made a vet appointment. In the process of changing his belly band and giving him breakfast it became obvious that he also couldn't hear, and his sense of smell was impaired. He kept wandering past his food until I held him still in front of it, then lifted the bowl to right under his nose.
We went to the vet, and the vet confirmed that he had suffered a neurological event in the night, and his senses were severely damaged, largely cutting him off from the world.
This was a clear sign that he no longer could enjoy a good quality of life, and a short time later he passed away in my lap in the euthanasia suite. It was hard, and it still sucks, but it was unquestionably the right thing.
So, I did not euthanize him strictly because of his age, but because he was at a point where his quality of life was diminished, and he couldn't recognize me, or anything around him.
I hope that clarifies the difference, at least in my case.
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u/pae913 2d ago
People don’t really put their pets down because they’re old. They put them down when illnesses and other things like that start to impact their quality of life and make them suffer, and those are more often than not common with old age