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Re: [RC] [RC] Blind in Two Eyes - Karen Sullivan----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard Bramhall" <howard9732@xxxxxxx> . She has severe arthritis and a host of other problems. She is barely hanging on. I give her seven pills each morning to keep her going. I've built a cart to haul her around in cause walking's getting kind of tough. I'll continue to do this until her very last day. She sleeps a lot and quite often I lay next to her to listen to her breathe. I'm greedy; each moment I spend with her is more valuable than the last and I won't cut any of it short. I just cannot be the one to make that call; that has to go to a higher power. Life is too darn precious and if the creature is still able to draw a breath they deserve to continue doing just that for as long as they possibly can. cya, Howard (not a Saint) ________ *Well Howard.....it seems to me that if you were putting this creatures life in the hands of "a higher power," you would not be stuffing pills down it every day. Not seeing your dog....I have no idea how much discomfort or suffering this animal is in. I have no doubt that you are doing everything to make the quality of her life as good as possible. However, are your fears of loss more important than the pain this animal might be in? It's a theoretical question. I have had euthanized an elderly dog with an extremely bad hip, and a cat with advanced cancer. Both times I was a total wreck in tears...and held them while the injection was given. BOTH TIMES, I looked back and wished I had done it SOONER! Neither was enjoying life any more and I feel both were in a lot of pain. I could have eased that sooner.... I have a pug that is coming 6 and the absolute love of my life. He has a collapsed trachea, bad hips and bad teeth. I truly cherish each and every day and moment. I have never felt quite this way about any animal. But, because I love him so much, I hope I can see the day when he is in so much pain he is not enjoying life....and give him the gift of the release from it. We do have the choice to do this, and far too often, people prolong the pain and suffering of the animal because they are too weak to follow through You might want to read what Julie Suhr has to say in her book, TEN FEET TALL, STILL., under the chapter "When a good horse dies." I will not quote her, but she has some beautiful words to the effect of being able to ease the suffereing of an honored animal..... Karen ============================================================ The very essence of our sport is doing the trail as quickly as practicable, while keeping one's horse fit to continue. Taking the clock out of the equation makes it another sport altogether. The challenge is how to keep the sport what it is while honing our skills (both as riders and as those in control roles) in detecting where "the edge" is for each horse so that we don't cross it. ~ Heidi Smith ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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