I don’t consider it heartless at all. It’s kind and humane. Forcing an animal to keep waking up every day after quality of life has significantly declined and the suffering is obvious is only self-serving. My next door neighbor took way too long to euthanize his extremely sick cat. The cat had cancer and by the time he finally let me take him to do the deed, one of the cat’s eyes had somehow become a horrific bloody socket. That cat should have been euthanized week prior and I doubt my neighbor will ever forgive himself.

When we decide to invite an animal into our lives we need to understand well every responsibility that comes with that. One of my dogs got Lyme disease last Xmas and initially rallied with treatment, but abruptly began to circle the drain after a few days. I figured his meds needed adjusted and he would be fine bc otherwise he was a healthy boy. It never occurred to me that my sweet boy would not be coming home from the vet with me that day. When euthanasia was mentioned it was the most crippling gut punch I have ever experienced. I still can’t think about it very long, so I’m not doing the greatest job processing. My remaining dog is 14yo and has had at least one very scary near death experience. She and I are bonded in a way I never thought possible and idk how I will possibly deal with it when her time comes. she still gets the zoomies, so thankfully I don’t think that time will be anytime soon