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Question Involving Animal Euthanasia

Red Steel

Junior Acolyte
Joined
Apr 25, 2016
Messages
55
It's still hard to write or even think about this.

About a month ago we had to say goodbye to our dear old Maine Coon cat named Claymore. He had an aggressive tumor and by the time we learned of it cancer spread through his organs. I held him after he was given the shot. As his heart stopped several dogs in an adjoining area began to howl.

Is this common?
 
I assume you mean, "Is it common for nearby animals to sense the passive death of another animal being euthanized?"

Interesting question ...

I'm unable to locate any info or reports about such a thing occurring either at a vet's clinic or at the pet's home. However, this doesn't prove much, insofar as such reports would be anecdotal and unlikely to be well documented.

The only possible clue I found was in advice given pet owners who ask about having their other pets (i.e., the euthanized pet's housemates) present - either during the procedure or afterward. When there are multiple pets with an established order or interactional habits the sudden disappearance of one housemate can cause noticeable disruptions among the survivors. Here are a couple of examples of webpages addressing this:

https://www.petplace.com/article/ge...uld-pet-housemates-be-present-for-euthanasia/
https://www.homepeteuthanasia.com/preparing/should-other-pets-be-present

FWIW ... According to these and other sources discussing housemates' reactions, it seems that the most common response is checking the deceased and either quietly sitting by or else walking away. In some cases the surviving housemates don't exhibit any interest in the deceased at all. In other words, it doesn't seem to affect housemates much at the time / scene of death.

If there's no common degree of emotional reaction or upset among the deceased's own housemates, I wouldn't assume there'd be much probability of 'strangers' commonly reacting.

On the other hand ... Especially at the vet clinic, other animals (especially dogs) are likely to be on edge and react to any subtle hint of anxiety, emotional outbursts or trouble. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that dogs' keen hearing allows them to pick up sounds of (e.g.) owners' distress from another room and get worked up over it.
 
On the other hand ... Especially at the vet clinic, other animals (especially dogs) are likely to be on edge and react to any subtle hint of anxiety, emotional outbursts or trouble. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that dogs' keen hearing allows them to pick up sounds of (e.g.) owners' distress from another room and get worked up over it.


My wife and I were with him and the vet monitored his heart beat. The vet told us his heart stopped and my wife held him. She said he could feel his heartbeat. The vet gave him another dose. After a few minutes we heard the dogs howl. The vet told us his heart stopped. She checked him again a few times.
 
Cats don't seem particularly interested - they'll have a sniff and go about their business.
 
In the past two years we've had two of our dogs put to sleep, both times at our home.
The first time, Poppy, our female dog who was already on borrowed time, started bleeding internally and we decided it was time.
The vet arrived, and when we were ready, she was put to sleep while my wife held her.
Before she was taken away to be cremated, our other dog Toby, who'd been present through her final moments was given a few minutes to be with her.
We laid her on a blanket on the floor. Toby sniffed around her nervously, as though he knew something was not right. He didn't show any real distress until a few days later when he spent some time looking for her.
In not really sure what animals understand of death, but in this instance I'm sure that Toby understood that something not right had just happened.
Toby was put to sleep in June of this year.
My mother lives in a flat at the rear of our home and has two small dogs who bark at the slightest noise
When the vet took Toby's body away to be cremated my mother's dogs didn't make the slightest noise, which I found peculiar. Perhaps they knew.
 
I had a Schnauzer - actually my sons, but he ended up with us - who had lost the use of his back legs at an advanced age. Took him in to be put down as he was clearly distressed.

Against my better judgement the vet gave him a week on some strong medication in the hope that would fix him. It didn't, and on the next vet visit I insisted. I swear the poor dog looked at me knowing exactly what was happening when the injection went in.

Dogs being pack animals seem to be rather like human couples - quite often if they are of similar age when one goes the others go quite quickly, even if at the time of the first death the others are healthy. It is extremely upsetting.
 
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