Saying Goodbye to Charlie

Every pet owner will one day face the inevitable decision to euthanize their pet. For us at the Richview Animal hospital, the decision came recently when we collectively decided it was time to humanely euthanize our beloved clinic cat Charlie. Charlie was found by clients of ours when he was just 5 weeks old along with 4 other brothers and sisters.  The staff at Jane Animal Hospital fell in love with him and named him Charlie for his “Charlie Chaplin” mustache.  He was a tiny furball with paws and a competitive appetite for food with our other resident Odie.  Charlie had a talent for opening bags of food.  He was therefore sent to Richview Animal Hospital where the food was always under supervision and he could not sneak some extra meals.  He didn’t mind though.  He was happy and Richview Animal Hospital now had 2 black and white felines they loved patrolling the premises.

Charlie developed diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease and then stopped grooming himself so his fur had to be shaved. He started having trouble taking the stairs and spent most of his days lying in his bed at the front reception area. Although he still seemed happy, his quality of life was declining.  So the decision was made collectively in Charlies best interest to send him over the Rainbow Bridge. 

The decision of euthanasia is never easy. People often ask us how we handle such an emotional and difficult decision. We tend to look at the positives of this process. The most important one is the ability to minimize a pet's suffering. This becomes the foundation for our outlook on this process. Pets give you years of companionship and loyalty and although many of us would prefer the romanticized version of dying where the pet passes away peacefully while asleep, the reality is that this tends to be the exception. We also have a moral as well as a mandated duty to minimize suffering. However, it is still the most difficult decision people make about their pets. Once owners have elected to proceed, we set aside a special time and room for you to have some privacy when you come in. A catheter is placed in one of the front legs for easy IV access. Sometimes we will sedate your pet beforehand so they are relaxed and not anxious. When it is time to euthanize, the veterinarian gives an overdose injection of a type of anesthetic so they fall asleep first and then their breathing stops and then the heart stops. They are not aware of any of this and appear to just fall into an eternal sleep. As the pet owner, you can chose to be present, and hold your pet through out the process or one of our team members can hold them.  Sometimes there are muscle twitches afterwards and their eyes remain open. They may urinate, defecate or take a reflexive breath afterwards even after they are no longer with us. This can be alarming but is normal and natural.  This is all part and parcel with passing from this life.  

For Charlie the sedation hit him fairly quickly. In less than five minutes he was "drunk" and lying dreamily in my arms. April inserted a catheter into his left front leg. Donna, Lisa and the gang all gave him a final kiss on the forehead and we all hugged him as we sent him over the Rainbow Bridge together.  Charlie is gone now but forever in our hearts – and hanging in a picture urn on our wall.

April and the Richview Animal Hospital Team