It has almost been a year and half since I lost my buddy, Kyra. Don’t get me wrong, I love the cat, Kuroi, too. But playing with another dog is a little more fun then chasing the cat around the house. I have big paws to fill, taking over writing for Kyra, she was so wise and such a great big sister. Now that I have had time to grieve I wanted to talk about what euthanasia really means and things to think about as a pet owner and how us other pets cope.
Euthanasia means “good death” in Greek. It is unfortunately something most pet parents have to consider at some point in their course of pet ownership. I know when I watched Kyra getting sicker as she aged, my owners were keeping track of the bad days vs the good days. Euthanasia is never an easy decision, for the owners or for the other pets in the house.
After your pet is euthanized, you have to decide on after care arrangements. This can be cremation where you don’t get the ashes back or private cremation where your pet is cremated by themselves and you receive their ashes. We have Kyra’s ashes. Or you can choose to bury your pet somewhere like a family farm. The grieving process looks different for everyone, us pets included. Sometimes we will whine and smell all of the places that your pet used to like to sleep. We can also choose to not eat for a while after losing our friend and housemate. On the other hand, we can go about our daily activities as if nothing changed. I think that I did a little of both. Being a small dachshund, I smelled all of the places where Kyra used to lay, then I took over laying in those nice big beds. I didn’t miss a meal or become depressed. I know my owners were very sad and I tried to be stoic and comforting to them. They also consoled me and made sure that I had plenty of attention and redirection.
Losing a pet can be so painful for everyone involved. We are so lucky to be able to be companions for humans, it is so important that our people are there for us when we may be nearing the end.
Until next time- Sir Watson the Wiener Dog
