I remember the time when a very friendly and loyal dog was attacked by an infected animal and contracted a disease which I guess to be rabies. He stayed under the barn for days on end seemingly sulking and unable to move or eat or simply have a life. My grannie had no option but to dispense with the animal by surreptitiously creeping up to him and struck him with an object and that was the sad demise of this particular pet. In reality, consulting the vet on how to administer treatment would not have made much of a difference since rabies is a viral disease and the remedy for such is to vaccinate the dog against it. But in retrospect, I thought it would have made more sense to dispatch the dog humanely like by using strong sleep medications to confer a painless death. Have you ever faced a situation where you had to dispense with a pet?
I have a sad experience with euthanasia or mercy killing. Come to think of it, that was almost 10 years ago but it seems that what happened is still vivid in my mind. Jedi was afflicted with renal failure as evidenced by her growing tummy like she was pregnant. She couldn't urinate. She's always panting as if very tired. And her eyes was teary. Obviously she was in pain. The vet had ruled out surgery because Jedi was already 10 years old and an operation may just add to her sufferings if ever she could overcome the operating table.
We summoned to vet who arrived at 8am with his instruments of death. He explained that there are 2 shots - first is the sedative so our dog would not feel anything. Second is the lethal injection that would put her to sleep. But when I looked at Jedi who was in the living room, my heart broke and my tears flowed. I cancelled the plan. The vet left. But Jedi's condition was getting worse and obviously she was in terrible pain. Then my husband tried to convince me about the lethal injection to end the sufferings of our dog. I relented.
I held Jedi when the vet injected the first shot. Jedi stood up and went to her cozy place beside the computer table in the living room. I followed her and caressed her until the time came for the second shot. Slowly, Jedi looked sleepy. I held her head on my hands, continuously caressing her body. I don't remember but maybe in 5 minutes, Jedi was gone... peacefully.
