Those of you with vets who may give you a hard time about this … how far are you away from the nearest vet school?
I wonder, would it work to haul the horse to the vet school for euthanasia so it would be less personal … you won’t have to see that same vet for shots in six months if you have other horses.
Vets spend soendlot of time putting animals down. Animals do not live as long as us. Do think of that if stars in your eyes and thinking of being a vet.
You just call them to say you want to book in to have a horse put down. There is no trying to broach the subject.
I can’t imagine a vet not being fully supportive of an owner’s decision to euth. Usually they face the opposite problem, trying to gently convince the owner it’s time.
I made the decision to euthanize my 5yo gelding just a few weeks ago. He had developed behavioral issues and mild ataxia. The tests were all negative (and we ran them all with the top neuro vet in the US). We had the option to take him home and see what happened over the next few months (as his ataxia was not that bad)…though the vets warned us with the behavioral stuff, usually owners returned within the year after someone was badly injured. He was 18h and 1600 pounds. I knew the behavioral stuff was not “him” as he had never been like that and had always been a sweetheart. There were many moments I thought, maybe he’s not that bad, maybe it is just young horse stuff…but then reminded myself that the vets didn’t even feel safe handling him in an area that wasn’t enclosed…and he was still ataxic. When I went to visit, he was in pain and clearly wasn’t feeling well. I made the hardest decision of my life to say goodbye. We got the patho report back this week…he had bilateral brainstem axon degeneration…he would have progressively gotten worse and more dangerous and there is no treatment. At least I made the decision early and he didn’t have to suffer for months. I admit I had horrible guilt until we got the patho report that there was a cause for the issues…I would have second guessed myself forever had they found no cause, though I would have also realized that ataxia does not magically go away.
I also had to make the hard decision for my 28 yo mare 2 yrs ago, who was just simply getting old and no longer moving around very well. She didn’t have major issues going on (some heaves, some navicular/feet stuff), but she was no longer thriving. I didn’t want her last day to be a medical emergency where she could no longer get up. I agonized over the decision and it took months…but I was at peace when it was done. The decision process was the most difficult part…and I took peace knowing she went on a sunny day in early December with lots of grooming and cookies. Much better than being down in the snow for hours waiting for an emergency vet call.
Sounds like your horse has plenty of medical stuff going on…for me, it’s about their quality of life and also about the safety of everyone around them. I’ve also found that when I start wondering if it “is time” with my older animals then I know there are enough reasons for me to think about euthanizing…if they were doing okay, the thought wouldn’t ever cross my mind. So when the thought does cross my mind, that means on a deeper level, I’ve already been coming to terms that I will need to make that decision soon.
Thank you again, everyone. I really appreciate the kind comments.
My pony is nervous around vets/ strangers, and is also very needle shy. No amount of desensitizing work I’ve done in the past has helped this. I know if she was rearing and getting upset about the shot, it would make the whole situation more horrible. Does anyone have any experience with putting down a needle shy horse? I did just get some Dorm gel from my vet for when we have to do vaccines - I guess it could also be used before she got the injected sedation?
I put down my beloved mare a year ago. She was 8. She had cutaneous lymphoma, of a form the vets rarely see. But despite that, she was overall entirely fine. We did lots of various treatments - everything short of chemo. We showed, and won.
One day, I noticed that her left hindquarter was losing muscle tone.
Within a week, she looked skeletal on that left hindquarter. She was never openly lame. Ran around with her friends, kicked all the geldings asses.
I didn’t know what was wrong, but in my head I knew that whatever it was was the final straw for her. She had lived a hard knock life, 47 races (sometimes weekly for a month or two), and then came to me to be a trail/show horse. She had done her time, she had struggled with daily needles and prednisolone, foot issues, etc. I promised her right at the cancer diagnosis that I was not going to allow her to go down in flames, I was going to send her out like the badass that she was.
And I did. Fat (with the exception of that one hindquarter), glossy, mane pulled, and tail looking its best. I put wild pheasant feathers in her hair and send her over the bridge. They stopped the biggest heart in the world that day.
I don’t regret it, not for a minute. She had been through so much, and no matter what the outcome of the atrophied pelvis was, she didn’t deserve to suffer for a bit more.
Hugs to you, OP. This is never easy. Our job is to take their pain, their suffering, their unhappiness, and bring it onto ourselves as our burden to bear.
Yes, definitely talk to your vet about sedating her before they even pull down the driveway. This is a very reasonable request.
Is she okay if you give her injections? I’d personally rather give dormosedan IV or IM, as it’s more consistent. But yes, if she’s bad about all needles for everyone, that sublingual stuff is great.
I’ve heard that dorm can also be given a finally according to a local vet. Mine is fine for oral but because it’s absorbed through mucus membrane he said that they recommended that approach for headshy horses, if that’s also a concern. Dorm seems like a really good option to make the process less stressful for everyone.
Is that supposed to be “anally”? That’s really interesting, if so!
Thanks for that catch. I was trying to say vaginally. I didn’t think to ask if rectally was also an option.
Wow! Good info to file away. Thanks!
When my horse got to the hospital for surgery, he was put in one of the circular padded recovery rooms because he was throwing himself around so much. The resident internist was trying to sedate him while we waited for the surgeon. He was totally fine with needles usually but I use this example because he was out of his mind at this time. She wound up basically just stabbing him in the butt with enough sedative to have something happen so that they could get him comfortable enough to give more in the neck and get the catheter in for surgery. Most sedation can be given IM, it just takes more/longer. But that could be a way to get started so that she becomes less needle shy. Then more sedation. Then the big needle.
I’ve done it, no regrets. Still miss and love the horse. Myself and the horse are both happier and safer now. Not the ending I wanted but by far the best option we had.
I’ve never had to make that call, but in your case, OP, I agree with everyone else - your pony’s quality of life is the important thing here.
Cushing’s can be managed, but not forever. We often put old horses down in the fall, so they don’t have to struggle through the winter (especially if we know they’ll lose too much weight, or may go down and not be able to get back up). Your scenario is the same thing - you don’t want her to suffer through the summer, instead of the winter, is all.
Pick a nice day, load her up with treats, and let her go peacefully. Do talk to your vet about the sedative first, though - I know from experience that a needle-shy horse (and one immune to Ket on top of that) is no picnic and it’s nothing I’d wish for anyone to ever go through. Run through it with your vet so that the game plan is in place and everything goes as smoothly as it can that day.
My partner had a healthy 23 yo paint mare. She slipped in the pasture one day and completely tore a ligament. It would have been many months of total stall rest before hand-walking would even be allowed, and then several more months of rehab before she could be pasture sound. He opted to try the stall rest. A couple days in, the mare was completely neurological. She was having seizures and no longer had the will nor ability to stand. Obviously, nothing could be done at that point and the last couple hours of her life were hell on earth. Vet concluded that she likely sustained a spinal injury in her fall. My partner really regrets it and he feels like it was selfish to not give her a last good day and send her over the bridge instead of opting for the stall rest. Even without the spinal injury, she would’ve had such a long, rough road ahead of her. She would’ve had minimal quality of life for the foreseeable future. Maybe if she was out there grazing today he would feel putting her through that was worth it, or maybe he wouldn’t.
It doesn’t sound like your pony has a great quality of life either. We owe them the best existences we are capable of providing. Just because their issue(s) won’t actually kill them doesn’t mean they’re not suffering.
This x 1000
Not a horse but we are bringing our oldest dog to the vet on Saturday to go over the bridge. He’s happy, still eating and drinking well, and on good days has no trouble getting up and down the stairs and even down the block and back.
He sleeps peacefully on a bed next to my daughter’s desk from about 9am-3pm every day, and sleeps all night in her bed under her blankets.
But on bad days he is stiff and in steady on his back legs, and has fallen down our stairs several times, despite our best efforts to block them off.
He has dementia and paces for hours in the late afternoon / evening - not in an agitated or upset way, just wanders back and forth from the door to the living room over and over again.
He’s reached the point of life where he’s lost the tone in his sphincter muscle. Poop just falls out of his butt and he doesn’t even know it’s happening. No big deal - we have hard floors so we pick it up and disinfect the floor. He pees in the house daily. Same drill.
He has very few teeth left and needs his food soaked.
Some days he seems very aware of his surroundings, others he forgets that he can walk through an open door, or just randomly stares at the wall for an hour, lost in his own little world.
He could well live another year or more, but will inevitably keep declining physically or mentally. The question was how bad should we let his quality of life be? Do we wait until he’s showing more signs of pain? Is agitated and upset because of dementia? Can’t walk up stairs or gets hurt falling down them?
The decision for us was easy - let him go peacefully and easily now while he’s happy and fairly comfortable. Hard on us, but easy on him and the right thing to do.
In advance, but I’m sorry for your loss. He sounds like a great pup, and a lucky guy to have such understanding and conscientious owners.
I am 11 hours from the nearest vet school, and that’s in the US, so a no go right now.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!!
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