by Kyle Thomas

Created on: September 14, 2008

Sometimes euthanasia is the most compassionate option for a pet. It is a hard and tough decision that requires a lot of thought and research.

My husband and I had put a cat of ours down a few years ago who developed major health problems. He started peeing blood and then could no longer pee at all. My husband had gone through this with another cat living with his parents. This cat had to be catheterized quite often and was in pain most of the pain. The cat was suffering even though they were trying to help him out and help him recover. There was no cure for him. This was the only course of treatment. Eventually the cat had to be put to sleep so he did not suffer anymore. When the same problem developed with our cat, we discussed it with the vet and it was a hard decision. The cat did not deserve to suffer though for us wanting to keep him alive longer. So we had him to put to sleep to ease his suffering. It was hard on the both of us to have to do this, but he did not deserve to suffer in the long run.

Not only cats, but dogs may have to be put to sleep as well. I have seen dogs develop health problems where the owners have taken them around and the dogs look miserable. They may a device such as a cone around their neck for the duration of their life or have to be in the vet's office fairly often for a painful procedure. These animals do not deserve to suffer in this manner.

While there may be people who think it is inhumane to put their pets to sleep, it is similar to pulling the plug on a family on a family member. Pets are family too. We had to pull the plug on my mother who suffered from breast cancer and she had been through a lot. She did not deserve to go through anymore pain than she had already been through from the time of her diagnosis to the course of her treatment to all the surgeries she had to endure. She did not need to live in pain any longer. It is a hard decision to give up a family member. They bring a lot of love to the household and nobody goes into this kind of matter lightly. A lot of time and thought goes into what would be better for this family member and what they would want as well.

Pets do not deserve to live in pain when there is not cure or any other effective method to help them in the long run. They end up living an unhappy life that is detrimental to them and to their families. The should be able to rest in peace rather than suffer because of selfish reasons if that may be the case.

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