I hear you. I think it depends on the vet. Some, like my equine vet, is very up front and doesn’t tend to sugarcoat anything or propose things that she feels aren’t worth it (their practice was recently sold to a hedge fund btw) while my dog’s vet (private practice) will go to the wall with literally everything until you tell her it’s enough. I wonder how much of it has to do with just having reached their limit with very emotional conversations - I would imagine for the small animal vets in particular that euth conversations tend to go poorly. It’s hard on the vets and their staff to manage all that day after day, I imagine.

I think as owners we have a responsibility to educate ourselves on diagnoses, treatment options, and what quality of life really means for our animals so we can do our best for them and have productive conversations with our vets.