When is the right time to say goodbye?

When is the right time to say goodbye?

As a mobile veterinarian I get to do a lot of at home euthanasia, therefore I get asked the above question on a daily basis and despite hearing it a lot, answering it is never easy. To determine someone else’s quality of life can be a very hard task, especially when this someone cannot express in words what they are feeling.

I try to use parameters such as the ability to perform basic life functions – eat, drink, defecate and urinate – on their own to determine if there is quality of life, and therefore have an objective way of measuring it. For example, a pet that has always been food oriented and now has no interest whatsoever in food.

Another criteria I usually consider when deciding if it is time to euthanize a pet is its level of pain. Despite all the possible treatments available and undertaken to make the pet comfortable, is the pet still in discomfort or pain? Is the pet suffering from a condition or several conditions that it won’t recover from, despite all efforts? And the tendency is to continue to deteriorate?

Each pet and pet owner is different from one another. Different people will draw lines at different points. For some owners, having to attend to their pet’s needs and nurse them several times a day is something possible and they may be willing to change their lifestyle and routine to accommodate for this. But for some people, this is beyond of what they can do for their pet, either because it’s physically impossible or emotionally distressing. For example, a large dog that can’t walk and therefore would require assistance from its elderly owner to carry him around the backyard, several times a day, in order to do its business (defecate/urinate). The owner’s physical and emotional state also have to be taken into consideration when answering the above question.

It’s never easy to say goodbye to a loved one, but fortunately we have the option of euthanasia, and halt the suffering a beloved pet might be going through. Only time to help heal the void left behind and unfortunately, for a while, there is going to be that question in your mind, was it the right time?