Problems With Putting Animals Down

Discussion in 'Pets & Critters' started by Mary Stetler, Oct 26, 2022.

  1. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    Not sure If I ever told this story here.
    My farm animals are pretty much pets and my white ewe, Amber, was not doing well. I called the vet to put her down. I went into the stall with them, closed the gate and the vet said, "I will need you to get down with me to hold her." It turned out she didn't struggle but he had trouble keeping the wool separated to inject her. I lowered myself down, holding onto a half wall and the vet seemed concerned. I had known him for a long time. I don't think he wanted to pick me back up.
    After Amber was gone, I pulled myself back up using the same wall. We talked for a while.
    He said there was no pick up service for sheep because of some disease they could carry. And he LEFT!:eek:

    Sheep go from being cute fluffy animals to maybe 140lbs of literally dead weight. My heaviest piece of equipment was a wheel barrow. My husband didn't do farm. And I did not want to involve my children in the disposal.
    I do wish I had a video camera standing by as I could have won $10,000!
    What to do. We have a garden wagon, a pretty big, yellow, plastic box on good framework. After some thought about, I am good but not that good, that I could lift and move a body that size, I decided to bring the wagon into the stall as it would fit, line it up next to the body, flip the wagon on its side and lash the sheep to it. Then I could just flip it back over and pull it out to her resting place.
    So, I brought the wagon into the stall, lined it up next to the body, flipped it on it's side, lashed the sheep to it and pulled...
    Nuthin. Hmmmmm...pulled again and this was when I could put my back into it.
    Nuthin.....Oh COME ON!!!
    I put my knees against the wagon, feet a bit forward and GIT UP MARY!!! Pulling as if I mentally slapped my own butt.
    While pulling with all this old mare was worth, my feet both slipped forward and the wagon came upright, finding me under a wagon full o' dead sheep.
    Maybe I should have put this under Faye's tall tales? But it's true
     
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    Last edited: Oct 26, 2022
  2. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    That's a good story Mary. I can just picture it. Sounds like something I would try. So did you bury it?

    This was always a problem with our goats. I managed to end up with not a single one buried on our property. But I still have half a hole dug intended for the first one that died.
     
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  3. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    I was fortunate that at the back of the property there was a wooden frame set into the ground. Maybe for mulch? But it has served as a crypt with some additional soil for each addition.
     
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  4. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    That is a good solution. A lot of people do that now. I wish we had thought of that.

    Here, you could request a necropsy (autopsy) at the Vet School in town with a referral. They tell you what the animal died from, if possible, and any other health problems it had. It was cheaper than hiring someone to dig a hole in our rocky soil, and provided a lot of useful information.

    Of course you still had to get the animal into the back of your truck and take it in. Some of our goats were near 200 lbs. I figured out you could lean this old 12' gate up flat against the tailgate of the truck and slide the goat up into the bed inch by inch.

    It's still out there. Anyone is welcome to use it for me if I keel over near the barn.
    upload_2022-10-26_13-34-0.png

    Then our vet practice started handling disposals themselves.
     
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  5. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    Mary, you made it through one of the hardest parts of raising animals. Only farm animals we have are chickens for eggs. But if times ger hard we may want to raise them for meat. Jake has had to dress and clean for meat so he can do it.
     
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  6. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    My dog is on his last legs and is slowing dying. While I can put down most animals, I just get too attached to my dogs. I will have to address him this week somehow, either by vet or by some other means. We also have the problem of what to do with the body in the winter. The ground is frozen, so burial is very difficult, and I have a hard time taking them to the dump. When our old cat died a couple years ago about this time, I built a pyre and cremated her, but that is difficult to do with a dog as they are so much larger. I don't think my little tractor will dig through the frozen ground and snow. Pondering my options.....
     
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  7. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    So sad and so hard to lose one. We put one down because of age and I just can't do that again. I do remember asking God to heal my motyher or please take her, she wouldn't let anyone near her but me and family, so I took care right down to taking her last pulse and turning off oxygen. I know since its an animal its not the same of course but they have to die naturally around me. I may change my mind someday.
     
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  8. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Putting a pet down is the hardest thing ever. I remember when we had to put down our little Yorkie, Spike. The vet assistant came to take him from me and I told her I was going with him. She said, "most people don't want to see it." I replied, "I am not most people and he is not dying alone." So I held him while he got his leg shaved and the shots administered; he looked into my eyes and slipped away. We elected to have Spike cremated, though he only weighed about 9 pounds.

    Similar situation with my precious little Harry. We stayed with him until the end and brought him home to bury in the backyard with his favorite toys and blanket. He is buried next to our black Chow, Bear. She was quite large and burying her was a chore.

    Don, your vet likely provides cremation services. I'm so sorry you have to face this.
     
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  9. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    That is a very difficult time, I know. My last four cats were in their twenties when that time came and, each time, it was hugely difficult to make the decision. One was nearly twenty-nine, and she was the most perfect cat I ever had. There comes to a point, after switching from regular cat food, to cat food gravy, to baby food, that I had to confront the fact that it was time. Thankfully, my vet will come out to the car to give the injection so that their last moments don't include sitting in a waiting room with dogs and strange cats. But it's not easy. In reference to the OP, I can hardly imagine the added pain of dealing with physical hurdles on top of the emotional ones.
     
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  10. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    This song was written and sang by a man who had to put down his dog in 1935.

     
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  11. Teresa Levitt

    Teresa Levitt Veteran Member
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    oh no...i am so sorry...you could build a fire there in memory of him and consecrate the ground where he'll be buried...all my condolences..
     
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  12. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    That is what we did today. We built a fire over where we intend to bury him tomorrow. We have vet appointment for tomorrow afternoon if he doesn't pass on his own before then.
     
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  13. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    Sorry about your dog Don, we have lost many but it doesn't make it any easier to lose the next one. We thought we lost Molly last month from a stroke but 'miraculously she came back seems better than she was. Of course that seldom happens.
     
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  14. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    Maybe a chest freezer? Even a broken one can keep scavengers out till spring. We had to keep daughter's dog's body through winter. I had her build a crypt of bales of hay (or cover with other material like sod?) to keep the dog from thawing to early. A critter did make it through that but we had time to figure out what to do.
     
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  15. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    It is done. It was not as bad as I envisioned. The vet we found offered "At-Home Euthanasia Service" but it would cost at least $300 for her to come to our place and the injection would be on top of that, so we made an appointment and loaded the poor animal on Chux in the back seat of my wife's car and drove in. They had a special room and all the amenities, including a jar of chocolate labelled with a sign that stated "No dog should go to heaven without tasting chocolate!" I found that an interesting add-in, although our dog hadn't been able to eat anything for several days. Toby was sedated and then euthanized peacefully. A paw print was taken in clay and given to us labelled with his name. We managed to bury him in the frozen ground with the help of the tractor and a pre-dug hole. The first time we have not had a pet in our home in 30+ years.
     
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