:C Tough Decisions with Pets

Hey all,

I'm having to make a tough decision whether or not to try surgery for a mass in one of my snakies. She's been in and out of the vet's because of a probably unrelated skin issue and I thought all the medicating and handling was putting her off her feed for the months that we were trying to fix it. She did start eating a little bit before stopping & developed some kind of hemotoma mass that I mistook for an ovulation bump. (No I've never bred her, but she laid eggs in her water dish previously, so I waited a week to check her out again and no eggs). Sadly, even the vet accepts that putting her down might be kinder at this point. I'm so depressed and don't want to put her through even more stress and pain. The cost is way less of an issue than making her suffer longer. Also frustrated by how well they hide it when they get sick. I hate that sometimes loving someone means helping them go easy, or watching while they slowly go downhill. I think I believe that it's better to euthenise and not make a pet suffer because you are hoping them to pull through. I don't know... it sucks either way, but to me, good times spent with my pets and friends are better than making things last longer. I guess personally I'd rather choose a rich a short life over a long lonely or pain-filled life. Those people an animals who live to the fullest are my heros and I'm having a rough time imagining my tough, ravenous eater of a ratsnake having to recover (or not being able to) from intense surgery.... I'm pretty much on the side of letting her go while she probably isn't suffering, or not prolonging her pain if she is. I'm gonna miss her a lot. Just wish these decisions were more clear, or easier.

thanks for reading you guys are awesome & have done so so much for us..... :C

I'm so sorry to hear you (and the snake) are going through this, it's always a tough call to make. Sounds like you are in the right frame of mind though, it's never easy to watch those we love and have cared for have to suffer.

Jessi you are such a good person to think this hard about the decision, but I agree with you it is hard to see your critters suffer. I'm so sorry about your snake's illness

Thanks, that means so much right now. As much as I wish surgery would just fix everything, I've seen animals as well as people go through procedure after procedure and the risks are scary to me. It helps to know she's had a good life before getting sick. She was a rescue, and I kind of made her fat at one point because I felt so bad for the poor thing. Ripley's a good girl and I want her to have some peace. I'm so sure it's going to be a long recovery and I've never met anyone whose snake did very well after something like this. I just wish snakes had more things we could do to spoil them that didn't involve food. I know what I'd do for my cat & dogs and just wish there was something special I could do for her last week. Snakes are hard because they really don't do or get affection and special gestures in the way other pets can :C

I think you've made the right decision, based soley upon love, respect and the best interests of Ripley and not because you want to selfishly keep her for as long as possible. It's so difficult to accept, but it has to be the best for her and we all know she was lucky to have a care-taker like you.

My 9-year old dog had to have surgery in March ... she produces lots of tumors that, even though benign, do not stop growing so have to repeatedly be surgically removed. It's getting very expensive, and I had questioned if euthanasia might be more logical since even now she's got at least 5 more to go. In the end, there's no way, since her health is good and she's the best dog ever. I'll just keep eating Raman noodles and tomato soup, lol.

You can see just how pleased she was with me

Not criticising anyone's decisions here, we all have very different standpoints, but I don't think you should feel bad about deciding to euthanise an animal before letting it go though many or difficult surgeries.

I'd like someone to do that for me if it came to that - we give our animals mercies we deny ourselves.........

Aw, what a sweet face! I agree about her, if she's only 9 and otherwise healthy there's no reason not to do the best you can for her. I don't want to say dogs have it EASIER than herps when it comes to these sorts of things, but at least you can give her treats and cuddles to help her feel better, as well as gauge her pain levels. I honestly still have a hard time judging reptile behavior and would rather be kind and let go. I'm going to try to have the vet come to my house next saturday and then she can be somewhere familiar and die in her own cage where she's generally content... jeez. Sucks still because she always gets riled up after being taken out, hoping it might make her sleepy and a little more chill. :C Double-sad...