I think I need a doggy psychiatrist

This thread is making me very nervous about my dogs. Duke is 10, and I'm hopeful he'll be around for a few more years. But Cricket will miss him terribly when he dies. We all will, actually.

He's getting cataracts, and when the vet was examining him, he said "when it's time to put him down..." I was choked up when he said that. "Put him down?" He's still a puppy!
 
WTH? Why would your vet even say something like that? Donna don't be nervous. Ten isn't young but he's not at death's door either. You've got plenty of time w/him.

Sheesh a couple of cataracts & the vet has you making funeral plans. What a dumba$$.
 
I don't think he meant it like that. I think he was just trying to get me to think "down the road". I can't remember the exact conversation, but it had to do with low the progression of the cataracts would so gradual, he wouldn't notice it. And it may have been something like "by the time you put him down, his eyes..." That kind of thing.

No, my vet is a good, caring doctor.
 
Why would the vet assume that he will need to be 'put down'(an aweful term,IMO)? Was he suggesting that you should do so when he loses his sight? Animals can adapt quite well to blindness. I once had a blind cat, and she got around just fine (except for a few times when she too-hastily ran out from the litter box area, and ran into a wall.)
 
Good, caring doctors can say the wrong thing. Problem is they see many, many patients & have to desensitize themselves to a lot of stuff.

I just think it's inappropriate for him to even mention it at this stage in your dog's life. You shouldn't have to think about it--all you should be thinking about is how much fun you'll be having w/Duke during the next few years. :)
 
No, he definitely wasn't suggesting that I should put him down because of his eyesight. In fact, he was suggesting that Duke's eyes really shouldn't be an issue to him as long as, when they do start getting bad, I make sure he's not near the road alone or I don't move the furniture around in the house.

I think he was just trying to say as nicely as he could, that by the time Duke dies, his eyes will be at such-and-such stage...It seemed like he was trying to say that Duke would grow old and his quality of life shouldn't be affected by the cataracts. But, many times, dogs that get very old do have to be put down.
 
I started thinking about how I was going to have to put down my Hillary when she hit her 8th birthday. I find it's better to face the facts than run away from them. She is almost 13 now and I am so happy she is still with us but my personality is such that I have to prepare myself for the inevitable.

Each of us has our own way of dealing with life and death.
 
Seriously? You started thinking about putting your dog down 5 years ago? Wow. Of course death is inevitable, but that's kind of like planning for your parents' death when they turn 60. :eek:
 
Laura,

I faced the fact that dogs aged much faster than humans and that she wouldn't live past 14 or 15 years of age, if I was lucky. And, since I take such good care of her, she probably wouldn't die of natural causes and I would have to put her down. About that time my best friend had to put her 11 year old dog down, so I saw what she went through. I actually did some grieving at that point and it was about that time we added our other dog, to try to force Hillary to exercise more and possibly extend her life span.

I do better if I prepare for emotional upheaval. Hey, I knew I was going to eventually divorce my first husband...it just took me 21 years to prepare :)

And, as far as planning for your parents demise. People would be in much less misery if they made sure their parents affairs were in order than to wait until they die. Things like Wills and Living Wills, and being added to bank accounts. DH and I already have our paperwork in order and my daughter on bank accounts...just in case. I don't want her to have to sort through a mess when I die. I think it's part of showing our children how much we love them.

My father left my mother and us in emotional turmoil when he died because we had to make decisions for him that he should have made himself. I'm not doing that to my child.

Did I mention I am a realist :eek:
 
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