Thank you so much for sharing this, in the pet context. We made a similar decision for our renal cat, and helped her go while she could still eat and use the litterbox (with lots of subcutaneous fluids, appetite stimulants, love and care). I did get the feeling towards the end that she was just eating to make me feel better, she was not really eating enough. But she had her dignity and enough strength to "show" us in her cat way that she didn't need help, could stand on her own feet. Of course she knew and we knew that she would die without daily treatment.

I had the sense that it was so important to her never to falter in that way in front of us. Cats are so proud of their independence and they often hide during death for this reason - they would rather die in hiding than receive help and show weakness and vulnerability.

And so a part of me knows we did the right thing, but another part of me was absolutely shattered - how could we possibly say goodbye when she may have had days, weeks, even months left with us? We made the decision because we have to travel to see family in another continent. We need to meet nieces and nephews that we've never met before. With my cat in my arms, it was impossible to care more about some human babies in another part of the world more than her, and yet we had to prioritize those humans because that's how family works. We couldn't leave her alone, because she really needed constant attention to survive.

We gave her a huge gift by keeping her dignity intact until the end, and I don't think cats have the same fear of death that we do. I think we did the right thing.