Pet owners are proud of the care and love they give their animal companions. They will go out of their way to make their pets happy, ensuring they get the best food, plenty of toys and lots of attention. But when it comes time to say goodbye veterinarians reveal that many doting pet parents are failing their loved ones.
Their emotional messages are going viral online after one cat owner tweeted a conversation she had with her veterinarian.
Jessi Dietrich has a cat named Rick. She explained to Bored Panda that her cat nearly died from a UTI blockage last year; an emergency surgery saved his life. But as result of the surgery he gets infections regularly. He’s not in pain from them, Jessi says, but he needs to go to the vet a few times a month for regular check ups.
One day, she was talking to Rick’s vet and asked him what is the toughest part of his job.
She tweeted what he said:
“Asked my vet what the hardest part was about his job and he said when he has to put an animal down, 90 percent of owners don’t actually want to be in the room when he injects them. So the animal’s last moments are usually them frantically looking around for their owners, and to be honest, that broke me,” Jessi
“And for this reason, I’m literally gonna be cradling my [cat] Rick when his time comes with all his favorite toys and endless ear scratches at the ready, regardless of how distraught I am.”
“Didn’t mean to break everyone’s hearts, just wanted to raise awareness! I’m so sorry.”
Asked my vet what the hardest part was about his job &he said when he has to put an animal down 90% of owners don’t actually want to be in the room when he injects them so the animal’s last moments are usually them frantically looking around for their owners &tbh that broke me
— jessi dietrich (@jessi_dietrich) July 27, 2018
More than 100,000 people have retweeted her heartbreaking PSA since then. But Jessi’s vet wasn’t the only one who has observed the heart-wrenching truth.
Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital agreed and shared what one vet wrote about leaving pets alone with strangers in their final moments.
“When you are a pet owner it is inevitable, the majority of the time, that your pet will die before you do. So if and when you have to take your pet to the vet’s office for a humane pain-free ending I want you all to know something. You have been the center of their world for THEIR ENTIRE LIVES!
“They may just be a part of yours, but all they know is you as their family. It is a [hard] decision/day/time/event every time, there is no argument against that, and it is devastating for us, as humans, to lose them. But please, I beg you, DO NOT LEAVE THEM.
“Do not make them transition from life to death in a room of strangers in a place they don’t like. The thing you people need to know that most of you don’t is that THEY SEARCH FOR YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THEM BEHIND!”
Just_uss227 also responded to Jessi’s tweet with revealing what happens at her clinic, which seems a gentler way to approach the emotional moment.
“I work as a tech at a vet clinic. I’d say 80% of owners want to be there! But we give them an injection to make them sleepy first (basically surgically anesthetized) so the transition is that much smoother. And when owners don’t want to be apart of the actual euthanasia, they stay for the sedation part so at least they are with them until they are sleeping. Makes everything so peaceful (well as peaceful as that can be I guess).”
She added, “It breaks my heart when the families leave but when they do, we have the doctor and a few techs in the room talking to them and making sure they are loved when they pass.”
It is sad what they reveal, but they are words every pet lover should take to heart.
Share their messages with your friends and family so they can remember them for when the time comes.
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