Sweet Sammy....and my earliest memory of a cat euthanasia

2010-02-12T00:05:00.008-05:00

I am remembering back twenty years ago when I first started working for a veterinarian and one of my earliest experiences with animal euthanasia. A client had a five year old neutered black domestic shorthair cat named Sammy who was diagnosed with renal disease. He was sweet and friendly and his owner loved him very much. Although his renal values were critically elevated and his prognosis poor, the owner decided to pursue hospitalization with aggressive treatments against the veterinarian's recommendations.

Sammy was placed on IV fluids and both oral and injectable medications. He had to be force fed because he had no appetite. His owner came to visit him twice a day every day and she was always anxious for some news of his improvement and after a week of treatments there still wasn't any. We repeated his blood work and his renal values had not improved much and Sammy was slowly slipping away.

In that short week as I was treating and caring for him I grew fond of Sammy and his owner. I listened when she talked about her few short years with him and I watched as she started losing hope for her beloved companion. I answered her questions about euthanasia and helped her realize that there was nothing more anyone could do to help him and it was time to consider letting go. She came to the decision that it was time to put her pet to sleep.

I explained the whole process of humane euthanasia and what to expect. I offered her the option to witness the procedure or just to say good-bye and leave with her last memory of him being alive. We picked out a pet urn for him together. I clipped some of his fur for her to have as a keepsake. She asked if she could hold him with me and I explained that since he had an IV catheter in place he would not feel any discomfort. We held Sammy, we held each other and we cried as the veterinarian injected the solution. Sammy was gone. She thanked me for all I had done for her and Sammy and genuinely assured me that my sensitivity had made a very difficult time a little more bearable and then she left.

Hours later I was still very weepy over the loss of Sammy and the senior veterinary technician assured me that with time I would become less sensitive to the death of animals. As painful as the whole ordeal was the idea that I would someday become hardened to the loss of any one of God's beautiful creatures frightened me. It turned out that she could not have been more wrong and that years later after the loss of many patients and a two pets of my own to euthanasia as a result of terminal illness, I would go on to suffer from compassion fatigue!

I have learned over the years that next to professional pet loss counseling, sharing your experiences with others in similar situations can be very helpful and comforting during the decision making process of ethanazing, cremation or burial of a cat or dog. I invite any pet owners who are facing a loss of a cat, dog or exotic pet or anyone going through pet bereavement to discuss their story on my blog. I also welcome any questions about euthanasia and afterlife pet care.

I will be setting up a pet memorial page where anyone will be welcome to upload photos of their deceased pets. I will also be providing links for goods and services related to pet euthanasia, pet cremation and pet burial such as where to find a quality pet casket, pet cemetery or pet crematory. I encourage questions and I hope you will visit as often as needed.

Pet euthanasia and letting go...know when it is time to euthanize your pet

Sweet Sammy....and my earliest memory of a cat euthanasia