Sukie wrote: >"... So, we are spoiling her and she is going to have some Lasix now >added to her other meds, plus arrangements are in place for pain meds to >be provided when she comes to need those. The testing evidence is that >multiple organ systems are having problems with her kidneys the worst >right now..." I know that this is not going to be a popular post. And please believe me when I say it is no way an attack or a flame against Sukie personally. But I have something I need to say here and it is something I feel very very strongly about. I absolutely do not understand the rationale behind making little ones who are obviously "going downhill" and have been diagnosed with something that will inevitably make their little lives horrendous stay around for our benefit. I have seen this time and time again, where "heroic measures" are taken to keep a furkid in this world far longer than they should have been.. where quality of life becomes a daily routine of medications and inability to get around and pain... where their HUMANS should have made the transition painless and easy. We are the caretakers of these little souls.. the ones they turn to when they are in pain.. when they want to be loved... and we are the ones that they trust. Why then is it so difficult to make the decision to... yes I'm going to say the dreaded word... euthanize ....instead of prolong an inevitable and painful end. If the diagnosis includes multiple organ systems being invovled... and there is reason to believe that PAIN meds will be needed and that there is no hope for a bright future... would it not be kinder to allow these little ones the dignity of being able to remember their last days as ones filled with love.. and feel their "owner" holding them, carressing them.. and helping them on to a better world that is pain and disease free? I for one hate the thought of one of my furkids having their last memories of me and the world they live in with me being one of having medications forced down their throats... living in a drug induced haze still filled with pain and confusion. I've personally seen people hold on to a ferret or another animal long past where its quality of life was functional.. when there was no fur.. no hope... incontinence and confusion...and for the sole purpose of making the HUMAN feel they were being heroic. When its time to let go... when a future is not possible... it is our responsibility to make sure that our furkids, be they ferrets, dogs, cats, WHATEVER, pass with dignity and with as little pain and suffering as possible.... not hold on to them with the misguided thought that we are "spoiling them" or "helping them" by clouding their pain and symptoms with drugs. Its emotionally painful to say goodbye to our furkids.. thats a fact. And in a "perfect world" the best of our fur companions would be able to stay with us for OUR lifetimes but that just isnt reality folks. When is it time to say goodbye? A tough decision, but one we need to carefully consider. DookDancer and her Ferret Collective "Resistance is Futile" The McKnight Clan - Barnum, Bailey, Kami, YokoOHNO!, Clio, Sasha Nanook, Bandit, Swee'Pea, Memphis (missing but never forgetting Smokey, Maggie, Boopsie and Miko) [Posted in FML issue 4344]