Hardest thing I\'ve ever done

[johnboyjjb]

Don\'t read this if you get squeamish

It is past my bedtime and I cannot sleep for the acts I felt commited to doing today. Two weeks ago my pet rat Porsche was noticed to have a lump forming. My wife announced that having a pet rat in the house was one thing but when it started to have lumps it was time for it to go. So I setup an area outside the house and the rat seemed to adapt nicely. For two weeks I have been feeding my rat and caring for it outside and I noticed that it kept getting thinner and thinner though it was eating all of its food. Today when I went out to check on her she was not very playful and very weak. I picked her up and noticed that two ticks had been feeding off her and removed them. I flipped her over and smelled a stench. Her lower belly had either had a different parasite crawl under her skin and start feeding or were consumed and were eating their way back out. Maggots had started to feed on her and she wasn\'t even dead. I desperately tried to clean her up but after removing the ticks and maggots and washing her up I could only remove one of the parasites feeding off of her innards. She had not appreciated the effort involved in removing the first one and the second was in a much more sensitive area. After 45 minutes of working on her I finally decided I could not allow her to live as the host for a parasite being slowly consumed by this bug nor could I continue my efforts.

Now I have had pets die before; my hamsters Shelby and Cobra passing during the night, and having my cat Aston put down last November were both difficult experiences. But who has a rat put down? I don\'t even know who would do it. The most merciful killing I could will myself to do was breaking her neck.

My heart greives for this stupid three dollar pet. My hands feel dirty.


I miss my friend.

John

 

[Primeval]

I can only imagine how hard that must have been. I have not had a pet for years, but I know I always was hurt just by my pets being in pain let alone having to take the action you did. Hopefully time will lessen the pain.

 

[DennisMech]

I have a feeling this isn\'t going to turn into a happy OT thread

That\'s so awful. I think your probably did the right thing, if choosing a rather scarring way to end it\'s life. I hope you can see the better side of it more clearly someday. :~(

 

[U4-Welcome]

If it makes you feel any better, I\'m sure you made the right choice.

 

[Astonia]

I too think you did the right thing. It must have been awful, but it was the only way to go. I can\'t even start to think about how I would feel if something like that happened to one of my cats

 

[Sturmhalo]

Only thing that could be done at the end of the day. You couldn\'t let the poor thing suffer anymore.

 

[Gypsy]

I once found a butterfly with a broken wing on my bathroom floor. It was fluttering about and struggling to get back into the air again but couldn\'t. I didn\'t want to leave it to die so I took it in my fist and crushed it. It was just a butterfly but it made me sad and ruined my whole day. I can only imagine what it must have been like for you.
To think having to do this to my cat...I believe I couldn\'t and would have the vet do it for me.

 

[airhead]

It is sometimes very tough to do the right thing. It is very amazing to me how attached I can get to an animal. My wife & I had a dog (Dougan) for 16 years from before we were married until the kids were like 6 & 8. Taking Dougan to the vet the last time and holding her as she past away hurt as much as losing a family member. Your hurt will get better and your pet is no longer suffering. You did good.

 

[Mosch]

Sorry, johnboyjjb. That sounds really awful. And I don\'t really think it would have been harder with a more expensive pet.... after all, it\'s not the dollar bills you liked

 

[ipaintminis]

i had pet mice before, but you did the right thing, poor guy.

i went out and got a totally different companian to take my mind off of it, (ex. i got bunnies)

 

[johnboyjjb]

Zoom Zoom, my kitten, curled up with me and purred me to sleep. Now she is busy chasing her tail around the cat post. How can we get so attached to such stupid creatures? (Of course Tooshy probably asks herself the same thing about us men)

 

[ipaintminis]

yeah i get attached to animals too

3 dogs
1 cat
8 fish
1 ferret

crazy huh?

 

[Errex]

Been there. Done that. It is certainly something that will haunt you for as long as you live.

But it\'s the least we owe to those creatures we chose to care for, that when the time comes, their end will be as swift and painless as possible.

 

[Wren]

I think you were very brave to do what had to be done to end your pet\'s suffering. It was hard enough for me to stay with my ill cat as she was put to sleep, and both my roommate and I went through a long period of grief afterwards. Some people didn\'t seem to understand that, and were very dismissive saying it\'s just an animal. Most of those people had never had a pet.

Maybe the reason we get so attached to them is _because_ they\'re \'simple\' animals. Relationships with people can be so complex - trying to interpret what they\'re not saying, filtering judgements past opinions of politics, what car they drive, how well they paint, or whatever else. With animals, it\'s all instinct, temperment and response to how they\'re treated. They don\'t care if you aren\'t fashionable or didn\'t pick up the tab the last time you went out. They are just themselves, and when we\'re with them we can be just ourselves without fear of judgement.

 

[finn17]

We\'ve all been there John.....

It does put a crimp in your day/week/life.

I wont say you\'ll get over it because you wont, but it will recede in your memory.

 

[tooshy]

Hey John....u made me cry It may have only been a pet rat, but these creatures that we bring into our lives are every bit as important as the people we surround ourselves with. Sometimes moreso, because they depend on us so much.

I\'d move heaven and earth to ensure my animals were safe and happy. I really can\'t imagine what it must have been like for you to do what you did, but I respect that you had the balls to do it. Most people would have flushed it or disposed of it in some other manner.

The smallest animal we\'ve taken to the vets was a terrapin - it was really unwell and so tiny and had to have liver injections. We had to have him put down eventually, after paying out over £60 for everything, but as Finn says it\'s not about the cost. You just do what you have to do to ensure a creature doesn\'t suffer...

Now where\'s a hug smilie when you need one....

PS Keep thinking of Michael Jackson\'s record Ben now....

How can we get so attached to such stupid creatures? (Of course Tooshy probably asks herself the same thing about us men)

You know me too well......

 

[frenchkid]

Yeah I have a cat, and I\'m really atached to it. Hop I\'ll never have to take her to the vet.
Sorry for your lost, but you probably did the right thing.

 

[yrret]

I had to put my rat down

His name was Thor.
At the time it was one of the hardest things in my life. Unfortunately, life has worse moments in store probably.

Although it sounds strange, I believe it is better to have a few moments at the end where you are agitated, and your life force is burning brightly, than to listlessly drift off to oblivion suffering.

Don\'t think of it as suffering think of it as working on all gears.

Terry

 

[mickc22]

Feel your pain.....

.....we\'ve had 3 rats die on us, similarly with the lumps, (not the parasites, fortunately) all we could do was make them comfortable, it was hard to watch them in your lap gradually fade away.......
I guess it\'s \'cause they dont ask anything from us for their devotion...
we\'ve got a soppy old blonde Lab now, she\'s lovely, whenever you come home, whether you\'ve been 5 mins or 5 days, she\'s ALWAYS glad to see you & when she wags her tail (a lethal weapon btw), her WHOLE body wags too, she always cheers me up her name is
Bella hope she can help

-Mick

 

[ipaintminis]

we had a cat named skyler, beautiful cat, wonderful disposition, but she developed liver cancer...and we had to put her down...verry hard

once i found a baby rabbit, cutest little thing ever, named it lucky (cause i had found it) fed it like every 3 hours, the works, and i held it in my hands and it just died, just like that, no warning, just died...that was really hard for me. :~(

i need to move on to a happier thread now....