I am an animal lover and have put my dogs to sleep in the past. The last dog I put to sleep was 3 years old. She was a Great Pyrenees and weighed 120 pounds. It is common for large breeds to get bone cancer which is what she was diagnosed with. I had a lot of trouble letting her go. Her cancer caused her to not want to eat and I enticed her to eat with a variety of techniques. In the end I was force feeding her hot dogs which were easier to swallow. Finally, I let go of my attachments and I had my mother-in law take her to the vet to be euthanized as I could not bear to see the ordeal.


I have a Rat Terrier that is of geriatric age but with plenty of life left if the arthritic pain that he suffers from can be controlled. He has been on pain meds every four hours as needed for the past 3 days and is getting better. When does one make the call to euthanize their pet?


There are so many answers and none of them seems right. What would you do?

Gassho, John