Life with A Lab Over 10

[MontananDakota]

Yes Annette47-I agree with other dogs knowing...Dakota knew for a very long time that Montana was sick-she could smell the tumor I think which was there for a few years. And in the days leading up to the end-she knew and that was my 1st signal that it was coming quickly. She still looked for him the day I came home without him. For days even after she was not herself. She needed to adjust to life as an only dog because she only knew life with Montana.

Hugs to you and anyone going through this-it isn't easy at all. We have to be thankful for our time with them.

[Snowshoe]

With all three that we’ve lost, we took them into the vet clinic rather than finding a stranger to do it at home. None had ever felt particularly stressed about being at the vet’s though. In all of the cases, the remaining dogs didn’t seem to look for them at all or show more that brief signs of mourning. I think it was a combination of they were really very sick when we took them in, most likely already in the process of dying so the other dogs knew what was happening, and I noticed with Mulder, that Chloe sniffed my hand that I had been petting him with when he went very thorough, sighed and lay down, so I think she could tell what had happened just from that.

Me too. They knew the Vet and the Vet that would come to the house is a stranger to them. My only concern at my VEt's is who is with me and is that person (OH) going to get all worked up and distress the pet. Then we took the body home.

I feel sorry for Vets who do house calls. My neighbour is one and PTS really distresses her. I wonder how much more of her business is PTS for pets she never met before. Now that I think of it, is that legal? To dispense advice or meds the Vet must legally have conducted an exam of the animal. CAN they PTS an animal just met?

[Annette47]

CAN they PTS an animal just met?

Well, with Jolie, we took her to the emergency clinic/24 hour hospital just because as much as I hate to say it, it fit with our schedule better to let her go on a Sunday than wait until the Monday (she stopped eating on Saturday so we knew it was time). They hadn’t met/examined her before but we gave them her history (diagnosed splenic tumor), told them she was no longer eating and they had no further questions, so I don’t think it has to be a thorough exam.

[Kleb]

We are fortunate that our vet clinic does come to the house, so our BoJo and Kendal were both familiar with the vet doing the procedure. She told us what was going to happen and then allowed us time with them. They were sedated and again more time if we wanted. Then she asked us if we wanted to proceed. With Kendal I so wanted to say no, it's not time. I still feel almost a year later that he might have been comfortable for at least another someone. Talked with a fellow dog lover at work and he said if you had been thinking about it for awhile it was likely best. Our vet also said that Kendal was in pain and it was okay to let him go.

[outrag]

Different trains of thought on the in home service I guess. I for one thought it was a huge benefit. The Vet office we were going to at the time were in fact the ones to come out to the house. Tanner never even left the living room and was in a relaxed down position. I do understand the "emergency room" option as a viable alternative if the dog is suffering or schedules don't align.