Said horse has previous injury that left her only pasture sound. She has just been a babysitter mare for the past few years. Now she has laminitis and had been extremely painful so I made an appointment for euthanasia. Went to spoil her yesterday and found her happy and feeling good. To keep her alive will require dry lot and extremely expensive shoes. Wwyd?
I would let her go while she is feeling happy and good. That’s the best time. Not when they are feeling crummy and sick.
I’m pushing for my laminitic boarder to be put down before winter, when the frozen ground (last year with minimal snow cover) and the ice makes her really unsure and nervous on her sore feet. Owner knows it’s the right thing but isn’t quite ready.
This. Letting a horse go who is feeling and looking good is beyond difficult. You will question yourself endlessly.
Right before I moved away for college I made the decision to donate my 20 year old Arab gelding to the U of IL vet school. He had massive melanomas under his tail, all along his mane, one started to develop in his mouth and a small one was starting just above his eye. At the time I had him and another horse and I knew I could not afford two at college. My options were:
A. Leave him at the current barn and have him be a pasture pet, relying on other people to keep watch over him as I would be a few hours away
B. Try to find him a home where I felt safe placing him
C. Euthanize
D. Donate him to the university and hope his condition could help other horses
He was a fantastic horse and not only taught me, but a few other people along the way. He was stunningly handsome, and when he stepped off the trailer at the university one of the students piped up “Oh he doesn’t even look sick!” (the attending DVM shot her a nasty glare as I burst into tears)
What she didn’t know was that he had started dropping his grain because of the tumor in his mouth. The ones under his tail would break open regularly, smearing his hindquarters with foul black gunk that would leak out. We tried cimetidine for years with no effect, and even had our vet band a couple large ones off. Thankfully the DVM reassured me that if the tumors were that bad on the outside then his insides were probably just as bad if not worse. My mom and I cried the whole way home. The empty trailer was haunting.
For the longest time, and even now and then today, I feel guilty and selfish and question if I did the right thing. Deep down I am positive that I did. Even if I had been able to afford to take both horses it was only a matter of time before he started to drop more and more grain, or before the tumor in his mouth ruptured, or the one above his eye would cause problems. I let him go while he was still seemingly feeling good, looked good, and was proud. It broke my heart, and it was extremely difficult, but I know it was the right choice.
I have an euthanasia appointment for my retired GP horse, set for Thursday. Of course last night he came in looking wonderful, which always makes me second-guess myself. However, lately he’s had more tough days than good, and he’s being maintained on bute this week, so he’s comfortable, but he’s not OK with out the bute. He’s got low-grade laminitis due to Cushing’s, and while treatment with Pergolide might improve things, it won’t change the outcome, and our winters are hard, so I’ve made the decision that he should go in glorious weather, at home, without pain, and without stress.
Better a day to soon then a day to late,euth her while she’s seemingly happy i know hard to do. Have a friend who’s putting down her laminatic horse today,beautiful sunny day. She knows come winter he’ll have a hard time with the frozen ground,that causes him great hoof pain.
she asked me to come over to be with her when vet comes to PTS her horse…She wants to hold her horse BUT needs moral support. So at 1 pm i’ll be with her, to send her special boy over the rainbow bridge.
Hope this helps sorry you have to make this decision,not ever easy.
Thank you for starting this thread. I’m also facing this decision with my 33 yr old. Every time I look at him I want to cry since he’s still getting around ok but is losing weight even with grass available. I’ve decided to euth him once the grass dies off before winter. Some of my friends are making me feel guilty that I want to put him down even though he still looks pretty good. I agree that a day too early is better than even 1 minute too late.
There are much less expensive and more effective ways to treat laminitis than what you’ve been offered.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to investigate any of them. If you’re at peace with the decision and it sounds like your mare has lived a good long life, you’ll get no judgement from me for going with the “better a day early” philosophy.
[QUOTE=heronponie;8800383]
There are much less expensive and more effective ways to treat laminitis than what you’ve been offered.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to investigate any of them. If you’re at peace with the decision and it sounds like your mare has lived a good long life, you’ll get no judgement from me for going with the “better a day early” philosophy.[/QUOTE]
bold mine, agree
i think a ‘day early better than a day late’ is a good philosophy to have, but if the only reason you are euthanizing her is because you feel your only options are “extremely expensive shoes/dry lot” i might see if there are some other options available first.
for instance, was it road founder that caused it, or metabolic? that plays a big difference in the management style needed – not all laminitis survivors have to stay in a dry lot.
I just helped my friend and trainer through the decision to euthanize her 19yo founder-prone love of her life. 4 months of stall rest, meds, SoftRide boots, we finally had the founder seemingly under control but his feet were in such bad shape from white line disease that both the farrier and vet advised that his only options were a major resection or euthanasia. She chose euthanasia, and it was so difficult for everyone who saw him. His attitude through all of this never changed, and he was a very personable, fiery horse, even bucking and throwing things on his good days (typical for him). But bad days were very bad, and his chances of ever being OK were basically zero (after 4-5 founders, we know another would come, and each one had been worse and worse as his laminae became further compromised).
So we put down a horse who looked happy and healthy. But in reality underneath it all, he had no chance at being a normal happy horse. He was on heavy NSAIDs for his final days to let him enjoy it. But because of that, I was able to turn him out to be a horse on his last day. He didn’t suffer needlessly, and that is my most important factor in making these decisions.
You know what the future holds–the horse doesn’t. Best to let them go on a good day, time and place of your choosing, after being spoiled silly.
Also need to consider where OP lives if winters are harsh frozen ground ice. My friends horse who’s being PTS today,even booted with pads or shod with pads isn’t comfortable as in gimping lame…on frozen ground.
She has spent big $$$ to try and keep this horse comfortable in the winter months,one needs to know when it’s time to say enough is enough. Yes her horse is happy and not really to sore,but she know what winter will bring.Maybe it’s months to early, but he’ll go down with dignity today,not while in a crisis and in horrible pain.
I’m going to be in the euthanize camp. YES there are other treatment options you could pursue, but laminitis is (usually IME) chronic, and when it comes back, then what? It’s such a horrible condition; best to let her go while she is still having some good days.
I have one post-laminitic retiree on a dry lot with the extremely expensive shoes (he was looking great and my very good farrier recommended we try barefoot, epic fail) but I think you should do what feels right for your horse. I don’t charge more here for dry lot board (have boarders with the old dude too) so that isn’t a huge expense change in a lot of places. But it is still paying on something when you wouldn’t be. But when mine becomes unhappy I’ll put him down. And you’ve given yours a nice retirement, which is a lot more than many people would do. I wouldn’t think twice about it if you decide that is what is best for your horse and yourself.
I give him bute any day he looks like he needs it which, with the rock hard ground we are having, has been every day recently. He looks very good with the bute, is gimpy without. So I bute him and totally disregard the ulcer warnings. If he gets to where he gets ulcers/is unhappy on the bute, I’ll put him down but bute is cheap, makes him happy, and so far no issues.
He looks pretty fabulous, I would have a hard time euthing him right now but it would not be wrong to do so. If yours is actually suffering at all, I would euth.
Also OK to euth if you can’t afford it, my dude’s shoes are more expensive than my riding horse’s. If I couldn’t afford to keep him in them I’d euth him before I let him gimp around barefoot. Even now, I grimace when I see the bill…sigh. but I have had this horse for 20 years, he deserves to feel good in retirement. When he isn’t manageable, that’ll be the day I schedule the vet.
Well i just got home from being present for a euth,friends horse 9 year old gelding. This is how it went,vet got there,horse was taken out to where he’d be layed to rest. He was heavily tranqed so he layed down.
Friend was given time to say her last good byes,she held it together till horse was heavily tranqed. When she was ready vet gave final shot and he passed very quickly with no struggle. She had his head in her lap when he went on over the rainbow bridge… We both just bawled after, how sad to see such a young horse having to be PTS. He never new what was going to happen,he was happy feeling good,went with total dignity, couldn’t ask for a better end of life deal then that.
Doesn’t make it any easier and it’s still sad to say good bye for the last time.
I came home and went and hugged all 3 of my boys.
I wish there was an easy answer… I think that it almost never fails that when you are considering euthanasia, they will have a good day. Of course, that makes it all the more difficult.
I think it comes down to what you feel you can do for her. It isn’t going to do anyone any good if you are going beyond your means, either financially or emotionally, to keep her alive. Really there is no right answer. I do subscribe to the better too early than too late camp. It gives them a more dignified end that way.
As for what I would do, it would depend on her age, how much time you have, and your financial situation. If money was no object, I would keep her with shoes, if she is recovering from the bout of laminitis. If she is having a lot of pain and not recovering well, or if it will be too much financially, there is no shame in letting her go. You have to consider what is right for her, AND what is feasible for you.
Sending good vibes your way. We’re here for you!
My personal criteria is that “If you have to ask, you already know the answer”. Agree with the others who have said a day too early is better than a minute too late.
Wow. So many of us in this position right now. I am facing it with one of my guys as well. He has developed some really serious melanomas in the last 6 months, including one that is right under his ear. He tore his left front check ligament earlier in the summer, so he has been on stall rest. My trainer noticed that he had been falling onto his knees going out to hand walk, and my vet thinks there is a combination that the melanoma is pressing onto his brain and/or epm. I am agonizing over waiting on the test results. He is 19, and at this point, the melanomas are not going to get better, especially if one is moving into his brain. How much do I need to put him through? Right now, he is still eating and bright eyed, but I don’t know how much longer that will last.
My trainer, vet and I are thinking that this week is probably it. Man, it just sucks.
I understand
I totally understand where you are. I deal with the same issue. It’s very hard to manage this type of horse. It can be expensive too.
My gelding has recovered 3 times but I have to really be careful with diet, etc, The Prascend really helped. Now I am dealing with a corneal ulcer. If it’s not one thing, it’s something else. Whatever you decide, you have my support.
Agree with everything above.
I knew a horse whose owner waited a year too late - maybe two, in my private opinion. The poor little mare was miserable, hour after hour, day after day. It was horrible to watch. So many people tried to nicely talk to the owner, but she was in denial at what was in front of her eyes. She was so used to the mare always being there and couldn’t get to the place where she wouldn’t be.
It was a very painful time before the vet was finally summoned. So the mare was spared just the last part of the death process, which can be prolonged and agonizing with a natural death.
Mine will be spared the hard months and years, when we get to that point. They give us their entire lives - we can give them an easy crossing at the end. You are doing a good thing, OP, even if it doesn’t feel that good now.
If you have one friend who understands, ask that person to tell all the other friends to STFU.
I’ve been there, done that, only it wasn’t my horse. It was one in my care, and the owner agreed with my recommendation to put the horse down. Along came the Save the World Chorus, and the horse’s life was “spared.” He died a miserable death a year or so later. Fortunately-ish, he wasn’t in my care at the time.
Can you tell I’m still bitter?
Definitely, definitely, better that day too soon…
