Reply #28: Ditto!

[hamsterjill]

I always feel guilty, but one of the vets that we use sat down and talked with me one day and told me that she felt the same way. She can put down someone else's pet, but she cannot be present when one of hers is being let go. We both agreed that in our cases, it is because we very much want our last memories of them to be with them running around, etc.

What I'm really trying to say here, in a clumsy way, is that it is the care that you give them, the love that you give them, the ache that you have once they are gone. That is what is important. Whatever decision you make for the final few minutes is a hard personal choice - either way. But it is the lifetime of love that is truly important.