Danielle wrote about her recent experience with euthanasia and touched on a
point Ferretguy overlooked: ending our ferrets' *needless* suffering.
 
Ferretguy wrote about doing all that is necessary to give our guys:
>just one more day of life through, chemo, surgery, and/or whatever it
>takes to see one more day of life.
 
At what point is this selfish, needlessly putting our loved furkids through
unnecessary pain?  Yes, I agree that pain is a sense, just as pleasure is.
However, is it really in our fuzzies' best interests to put them through
unwarranted suffering?  I recently helped two of my furkids across the
bridge.  Frisky was in end-stage renal failure and would not even permit me
to force-feed duck soup.  Five weeks later, her mate, Shnookums, went into
seizures that were accompanied by an unimaginable groaning, from what we
believe were caused by his lymphoma.
 
With both of my guys, I did not ask "did it end too soon?" but rather "Did
I wait too long?" Did I put them through needless suffering?  Both Frisky
and Shnookums went downhill within a matter of two days, and with both of
them I wonder what quality of life they led during their final day.
 
Certainly, I fail to see the point in euthanizing an animal that has any
chance for a *quality* life (by which I mean one with minimal pain and
distress), when chemo and/or surgery are options.  However, I feel that to
willingly make an animal suffer "for just one more day of life" is to fail
to acknowledge the gifts of companionship and love they have given us.
 
Megan
Missing Frisky and Shnookums
[Posted in FML issue 3393]