PET LOSS. The heartache of putting a pet to sleep…
For as long as I can remember, my family had a pet cat. A stray that walked in one day and adopted us. Some 15 years later, when it became old, ill and immobile, the time came to put it down. I will never forget my heartbreak. With the tears, I cried when the vet rendered the cat unconscious. Shutting down its heart and brain functions with euthanasia shot in the leg.
Pet is a family member
The cat had become an integral and irreplaceable part of my life. I felt unconditional love for it. Saying goodbye as it gently passed away in my arms was one of the most difficult tasks I have ever undertaken. And I have never kept a pet after that.
Those last moments
But I did it. A lot of pet owners don’t. Most don’t want to be in a room with a dying animal. Most leave because they simply can’t bear to see their pet leave. They don’t realize that it’s in these last moments of life that their pet really needs them. They forget that they were the centre of the pet’s life.
What Pet owners must-do for losing Pet
And now a Facebook post by a vet says that pets also have last wishes. The last thing their old, tired and sick eyes do is to look for their owners before going to sleep. They are frightened. They don’t want to be parted from their owners. And die in an unfamiliar room with a stranger. Being with them, holding and petting them can be comforting and make it easier.
But staying in the room with a pet as it passes away is far easier said than done for a lot of people.
They feel guilty about putting it down. But they must know that this final parting is as devastating to the pet as it is for the owner. Staying in the room can put a pet’s mind at rest in its final moments. Otherwise, the vet says, the traumatised animal frantically looks around for its owner. So to all pet owners, I have this to say. You know your pet will die before you do. And just as terminally ill people pass away more peacefully when surrounded by family, so do pets. Don’t leave them in their last moments. Be with them till the end.
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel Someone who has interviewed almost every role model this country has to offer as of now. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist. With over three decades of journalism in leading publications including the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is widely known for his brilliantly penned interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him. In the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat. Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. In a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work, Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward.
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