Comments on Dying a Natural Death

I love your blog posts Dr. Falconer. I lost my tripawd, Maggie, to CRF last August. Thankfully, I was able to have her put to sleep at home, in my arms, where she would rather be. She was very tired and needed help to pass.
Tracy & Spirit Maggie

Well, there comes a point when you can't deny that the animal is suffering greatly, and yet instinctively fighting to live despite the obvious.
Not everyone can watch that and rationalize it.

I learned most about the beauty and serenity of death when one of my cats, Felix, died age 21. I sat with him because I knew his spirit was leaving and offered him frankinscense essential oil to inhale which kept his breathing calm and smooth. He slipped away gently. It was a beautiful experience to watch him go and it taught me so much.

As a professional animal communicator I have spoken to many animals as they near the end of their life. As you said, it is different for every animal. My goat Ghost taught me that there is a process to dying. He said it was as important as living. I struggled with viewing him as suffering but he insisted he was okay and in the end died peacefully in his sleep. I have found that often it is the human unwilling to witness the process of death that ends the life sooner. While some animals want to experience this process I have also talked with other animals who would like the pain to end and are grateful for the help. I also have found that many animals leave their bodies occasionally as they transition to death which helps if they are experiencing pain. I had an out-of-body experience myself at 4 yrs old so I understand how this works. Thanks for bringing this topic up. We need to talk more about dying. Perhaps we will fear it less.

What a beautifully written and touching blog, Dr. Falconer. Death and it's process is something that scares me. The knowledge you are sharing here has given me some peace and reminds me that I'm heading in the right direction with my pets.
Thank you so much!

Being a Hospice Nurse myself, I feel if at all possible, a pet should die at home. I had to euthanize my greatest companion recently due to liver cancer. She was almost 17 and had always hated going to the Vet. I did not want her to be frightened when it was time for the journey. My Vet came to my house and Lexie had a peaceful death. I do not have a Holistic Vet in my area, but had educated myself and had many arguments/discussions with various Vets re: what I was willing to allow in regards to my pet's health.
Our pet's are on a journey with us. I think we owe to our furry friends to be present on their final journey.

I lost my beautiful Pembroke Corgi to hemangiosarcoma last year.
I kept getting the runaround from the traditional vets, tramadol, neurontin, rimadyl....no one wanted to bring up the E word, although they were all quick to tell me she had less than a month left and was having difficulty breathing.
Only one vet that I had contacted, who spoke for me for about 10 minutes on the phone (this vet does home visits) told me: "Don't wait too long"
She said she would only need a few hours notice to come to the home.
Unfortunately I ended up at the emergency place after hours, a nightmare experience.
I would advise anyone in this situation to arrange to have a vet come to the home, well worth it.
And decide ahead of time what you plan to do with the remains.

Thank you for posting this. I've always wondered wether or not interrupting the dying process with euthanasia was the right thing to do. After being with several of my cats as they died over the years, it appears to me that animals are intuitive about what is happening to them and not at all as attached to this world as we are. It is a process, and not always an easy one or soft one, but I still think it's better to let them die in familiar surroundings. A trip to the vet is often traumatic for them even at the best of times. Now that I have dogs (very spoiled dogs), I'm sure, that when the time comes, this process will be much harder, for me anyway, and I hope that I choose they right path in the moment.