Is there a statistic concerning how many pets die in their sleep vs. being put down?

[Lisa at Home]

Gosh, that seems like such a harsh subject line. I'm sorry.:(

I'm just begining to wonder if having a pet pass away peacefully in their sleep is just an unrealistic expectation. Because we bring in vets to help with pet medical issues, does that mean that most likely a doctor will be involved at the time of death?

My 17 1/2 yo kitty (that I posted about once recently) doesn't want to eat. (She is also having thyroid issues and maybe some kidney issues.) I got some great feeding suggestions when I last posted about her. But, now she doesn't want to eat the same thing for more than a day.

I don't want to have to make the decision to put her to sleep. I've had to do that with all my other animals. Is it too much to ask that a pet pass away naturally and at the right time?

Two weeks ago I didn't feel like it was the right time for her to go. I'm still not sure that it's time for intervention, but she's closer to being ready than she was.

I want to hang in there for as long as she does.

If you are so inclined, we would appreciate any prayers, good thoughts, and as ever, your wisdom.:crying:

Thanks for listening,

Oh, and I am serious about my initial question....are more pets put to sleep than pass away naturally after a nice, long life?

~Lisa

[newbie]

I wish our last two cats would have went to sleep, it would be so much easier on everyone.

But mine were suffering. It is so sad. I will be praying for your family member.

God bless,
Jet

[Katia]

I'm so sorry for your kitty.

I don't know of any statistics, but I, too wished my 19yo kitty had gone peacefully in her sleep. But, she was having much the same issues as your kitty, along with spells of terrible, horrible, LOUD howling. Simply put, she was miserable and so was I.

So, I had the vet.....you know. But, it wasn't my preference. I just couldn't stand to see her suffer any more. I loved her too much.

I'm so sorry.

[Soph the vet]

I only have anecdotal evidence that pets are euthanized more often than they die naturally in their sleep. They cannot talk and therefore they cannot tell us how horrific their pain may be or how they are suffering in some other way. We are given the responsibility for their care which may include deciding the day that they die. It is never an easy decision for an owner, not even when the pet is old or is obviously having profound problems. Sometimes the decision is made based on economics, treatment is too expensive or it is a surgical disease that the owner cannot afford the surgery to cure. It is the rare pet that walks in with medical insurance. A good veterinarian will help the owner make as wise and educated a decision as they possibly can and will honor that decision whatever it is. It is easier to euthanize a suffering animal than to make an owner realize how much their animal may be suffering. Some signs include not eating (for a prolonged period), not walking or paralyzed, extreme and sudden weight loss, extreme lethargy, really pale mucus membranes, losing control of bowel movements or urination, not able to keep anything down (persistent vomiting), constant difficulty in breathing, shaking all the time. One or two of these or a combo of many lead to the euthanasia visit at my practice.
Lisa, you know your cat the best. You may not know when it is time yet because it isn't time yet....but if your kitty is exhibiting a few of the signs I listed above and you know that treatment is only prolonging the inevitable then you may want to consider your options. I am so sorry that you are going through this. :grouphug:

[cathmom]

I prayed for my dog to die in her sleep - she was 17 and having so many problems. When my twins were a couple weeks old, I had gotten them both to sleep only to walk into my bedroom and find that she had had diarrhea all over the place. She was nearly deaf and blind and was still trying to follow me around - she always followed me. I realized that I couldn't deal with her and newborn twins and so dh and I decided to put her to sleep. I don't think she would ever have stopped following me of her own accord. I was very sad and still miss her nearly 3 years later.

[Amy in Orlando]

No wisdom for you on this subject. But I'll keep you and your dear cat in my prayers.

[clementine]

Just last year we let our 17 yr. old cat die at home. It was sad, but so much easier than having her put down. (We had one put down 1 1/2 years ago).

Our cat had the same symptoms as yours - everything. At the very end she wouldn't eat or drink - but she still made it to the litter box each and every time. The amounts of urine in the box were so tiny - so sad.

But at the very end, she went into the bathtub & laid down. She breathed a little heavily - we all took turns sitting in with her and talking to her. She purred til the very end - that is the most comforting thing to me.

Eventually her breathing slowed and we left her with a nightlight on - I didn't want her to exert any more energy that she had to. We checked on her every 10 min. or so and about 30 min. later she had passed.

I'll pray for peace in your decision making and for comfort for your family - this is the absolute hardest part of having pets. :grouphug:

[Mom to Aly]

I have had a lot of pets in my life, and only one died naturally--all the rest were put to sleep, because the vet always told us it was at the point were it would be more humane than letting them die naturally, as they would suffer.

My brother had a cat that had to be put to sleep last year, and two days later his other cat died naturally--horrible, though, to lose them so quickly.

I have known very few people who have had them die naturally. I would say, either way, just to watch carefully and not let them suffer at all.

I have a good friend who is a vet in CA, and did years of research on cancer in animals as well--he said the vast majority of people do have their pets put to sleep. The risk of their suffering more than we know, and us not being able to be sure that they aren't, is not worth taking, for most people. When they have had so many good years, you want the end of their lives to be good too.

I think I mentioned this before, but, if it comes to that, there are vets that will come to your house, so that they can end their lives in their own home, which I think is so much better.

I hope your kitty does improve. Either way, I will be thinking of you. I have a kitty that is 18, one that is 16 and one that is 14 (plus the baby that is 3), so I am dreading the day too. I hope this isn't it for you. Either way, I can tell your kitty has had a very loving home.

All the best.

[TejasMamacita]

I just wanted to say my heart is breaking for you right now.

I'm an animal lover and I cannot stand the thought of sick, suffering or incapacitated animals.

It also saddens me to think of how sick, suffering and incapacitating it can be to be the loving grieving humans of those animals.

:grouphug:

[Bee]

Sometimes the cats just go off somewhere and never come back.If they hadn't been acting well before then we guess they've gone off to die alone quietly somwhere.I did have one who did that though that we found several days later,still alive,took him to the vet and he survived for another year or 2 after although we spent hundreds of dollars in vet bills due to his chronic upper respiratory issues.All tests were negative for any major diseases but eventually the antibiotics stopped working and I had him euthanized.I have had exactly 1 cat who died peacefully in her sleep.She was healthy one day and we found her the next day...not.
Cancer seems to be the number 1 cause of death for most of my pets.

[Lisa at Home]

The new vet in town will come to your home. If I have any peace in the situation, it's from knowing this.

~Lisa

[Lisa at Home]

But not constant. It bothers me because for once, I don't know what she's "saying." I can't tell if she's hurting, or just trying to converse.

She is really behaving in several ways that I am not understanding.:(

~Lisa

[Elise]

I am so, so sorry.

We just went through this with our 12-year-old dog three weeks ago, and we had to put her to sleep. She was deaf and incontinent and could no longer stand up or walk, etc. It was so hard. I'll definitely be thinking of you this week.:grouphug:

As far as how many pets are put to sleep, I don't know any statistics either, but of the family pets we've had, one cat died naturally, one was put to sleep, and then our dog was put to sleep.

[Lisa at Home]

Strange, that lately the bathtub had become a frequent refuge for kitty. But, similarly with the eating issue, she does not keep with one favorite spot any more than she does with one favorite food.

Last night I was cleaning in the bathroom, and she came in, hopped up onto the counter and lay down and slept peacefully in the sink. She's never done that before.

~Lisa

[Lisa at Home]

Not eating hardly anything and weight loss (she was 4 lbs 4 weeks ago, 4.5 lbs 2 weeks ago, but now she is eating a lot less. I don't know what she'll be when she goes for a follow up this Friday).

Over all, she just seems to have aged so much over the past month where she used to seem to act like a young kitty. I can't really put my finger on each subtle change, but she definitely is a different kitty than a month ago.

Thank you once again,

~Lisa

[clementine]

She did lay in the tub quite often. It's cold & smooth, so that's why we thought she liked it. Maybe it was more because it was a quiet place to lay away from the main rooms in the house....I'm not sure.

When we knew it was near the end, we brought her litter box into the bathroom & kept bowls of food & water there too - just in case.

Please keep us posted on how she (and you) are doing :)

[Tammyla]

:grouphug:Lisa:grouphug:

[Doran]

As humans, we project (rightly so, perhaps) our fears of pain during illness and death onto our pets. We want to protect them from the same things we'd want to avoid ourselves or for our loved ones. While euthanisia isn't an option for terminally ill humans (legally, anyhow), we usually are assured that the person can receive proper medications to make the exit as gentle and pain free as possible. Our pets don't always garner the same level of intervention in the dying process.

I guess my point is that it takes a strong, committed human to make the choice to let a pet die at home, because it's probably not as simple as it seems. Our pets may struggle a great deal before they actually die, and they may be difficult to manage in terms of issues with incontinence, etc. Coming from personal experience, those are difficult things to witness and withstand on behalf of your pet.

Over the years, childhood to now, I've lost numerous pets. Of the dogs and cats I've loved, two have died at home, three were euthanized. The one that left the biggest mark on me was my 12 year old cat who died about 4 years ago. Throughout of his decline, which took him from a 14 lb. bruiser of a cat to half that weight, I never saw the light go out of his eyes. I never felt that he was "ready" to be put down. Just a mere few weeks before, we'd lost his sister - a littermate - who was euthanized. So, it wasn't that we were opposed to that choice. It was simply that for this animal, it didn't seem to be right. He basically stopped eating. He grew so weak he had trouble standing or moving. He had accidents on the floor. It took him weeks to die. One day I had a vet come to the house to euthanize him, and he disappeared (which he'd not done in months). He showed up just after dusk that night, sitting in my kitchen floor with a slight grin and a look of peace on his face. That was the final sign to me that he needed to die at home on his own terms. His last day with us, after days of being kept inside where he'd just lie on the floor and hardly move, he seemed desperate to get outside. We let him out and carried him to the opening of our crawl space. He made his way under his own power, and he died there, alone and muddy, but the way he chose. I never felt that was a cruel choice for our Puck. He taught me so much.

Follow your gut and try to listen to what your sweet cat communicates to you in the ways she can. I feel certain that more pets are euthanized than die at home because it is, often, either the easier choice or the right one.

I'm sorry. It is a very hard thing to live through.

(((Lisa)))

[Jennifer in NH]

I've had to put a few pets to sleep, and others have dies at home. None of them died in their sleep, however! It is always heart wrenching no matter what.... 2 years ago we had a dog, 14 years old..had a stroke..we went to 2different vets and prolonged his life for probably a month...the day hedied I knew it was the day. He howled and couldn't get up...I brought him to our vet and the vet said it was our choice but he would put "bear" down..he didn't think Bear would last 24 hours...I called my husband who was in Virginia at the time (we are in NH)...he loved that dog and wanted to say good bye..so I brought Bear home with my 3 kids (one of them 2 months old) and waited for DH to get home...that day DH's flight was delayed and he tried desperately to get home in time. Bear died that evening just 1/2 an hour before DH came home. It still brings tears to my eyes (a flood actually)...I spent all day trying to comfort a dog in his last hours. I sat on the floor for hour after hour, patting the dog and nursing or just holding the baby... horrible day...Bear was ready to die and I think really would have prefered not to go through that last day of agony. I put the kids to bed that night and heard one last howl...ran down the stairs to hold my dog as he drew his last breath....
Okay, so this rambled and now I am sad...
I hope you can make a decision that is comforting to you.
Jenny

[Lisa at Home]

Your post was both practical and insightful.

It's very important to me be able to follow my own intuition and my kitty's clues. Not having a strong feeling about if she's coming close to her time is the difficult part for me.

We have yet another assessment with the vet this week and more bloodwork. Right now it's still just wait and see.

This particular evening she has eaten more than she has in days and looks a bit more chipper, so who knows.

Thanks for sharing Puck's story, it was very meaningful.

~Lisa