• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

It's her time to go. Passing away... what to do? :(

I phoned the out of hours vet but you can’t speak to a clinician unless you make a video appointment and pay £25. The person I spoke to other the phone said if they’re not in any discomfort it’s up to us what we do. Suggested if she’s warm and peaceful that’s a nice way to go but I’m worried that she’s been like this most the day and she could be like it til the morning.

She tried to drink from the water bottle just now so I held it for her again and she had a short drink then walked half the length of the cage to go in another tunnel.

My boyfriend’s home now. We’re trying to figure out if we’re going to say our goodbyes and take her to help her over the bridge. Then we can have a good cry and try to process things before work tomorrow.

It’s just so hard because she looks peaceful sleeping, warm in her tunnel and it’s tipping it down with rain and cold outside. Even though I prepared the carrier with lots of warm fluffy bedding and hay to put her under, I feel mean taking her out to be cold go in a bumpy 20 minute car ride to nearest emergency vet. It upsets me to think she might be scared or confused. To wait in a bright waiting room for triage, be touched by a stranger then taken through to the back room by this stranger without us or her friends in her final moments. Then they’ll put her to sleep.

But is it fair to have her wait and lay there not eating for however long it takes? And we won’t be here tomorrow for 14 hours so if we didn’t take her tonight and waited to see if she still here in the morning, we’d have to go to the vet around 5 in the morning.
 
Its hard what to do I put myself in your shoes but if oreo is comfortable and not having a hard time breathing shes in her comfort of her home and family again I'm a new piggy mommy but an experienced animal owner dogs fish lizards kids etc
Its what you think would be the most comfort for her sending lots of hugs right now I'm sorry
 
Take a break. Make a hot drink and then sit down.
Think about both options and see which one you feel most at ease with.
Whatever you do will hurt your heart, you are already grieving.
Pause, breathe and you will make the right choice.
 
:hug: :hug: I'm sorry you're going through this, I had the same with Winifred back in February.
She refused food and medicines on the Saturday morning and I hoped she would go peacefully during the day, but she didn't. I brought them into the warm house at dusk to keep an eye, then sat up with them on my lap. I told her not to hold on for me, but in the end I had to leave her and go to bed. She passed some time after that, so about 24 hours after the process started I guess. I kept asking myself if I should go to the emergency vet for pts, but I wanted her to go peacefully at home with her friend, like you not with a rough journey on a cold night at the hands of a stranger. It's so hard to know what is best. I hope Oreo passes peacefully at home before you have to make the decision xx
 
So we took her to the vet and helped her on her way over the bridge. We both had lap cuddles with her and she seemed so peaceful we questioned it until about midnight and then decided although we hoped she’d go peacefully, if it was choosing between going to the emergency vet in the night when it’s quiet and roads are clear or rushing in the morning if she was in pain or still around, knowing we would both be out for 14 hours, we would rather know she was at peace before we went to bed. I didn’t think we’d get much sleep either way.

During lap cuddles her breathing was a bit slower but I know how long Nugget was like that and it was so slow so we decided to take her.

We put the snuggle safe under fluffy beds and covered her with a light blanket so she was snug and comfortable. On the way there we felt content that we were doing right by her and ourselves by not gambling how she would be overnight and in the morning.

While there it wasn’t the best experience. They took her from us at the door to put her on oxygen. Then the vet spoke to us too long about why we were making the decision and that we had a responsibility as owners. I guess she was trying to be reassuring but we obviously took her there because we know all that. She didn’t seem as peaceful when we were saying goodbye and waiting for them to take her through. Then when they brought her out afterwards so we could see her at peace they brought her out too early. She did some movements and shivered and although I know it’s normal it wasn’t what we needed or wanted to see. And although her body was relaxed, her eyes were wide open, not relaxed like all our others we saw afterwards.

I’m trying to put that out my mind and hold on to how relaxed she was on our laps. Makes me doubt a bit if we did the right thing because she didn’t seem relaxed at the vets before or after but I guess she is at peace and pain free now. :(

I know it’s probably better she is now at rest but it makes me think I did wrong by her that she wasn’t relaxed at the end. But if I left her all night she could have been in discomfort. She did have some signs of discomfort, I think when weeing because she peed some blood three times towards the end.

I’ve started the cycle of going between numb and pure anguish :( going between wishing she was here but not how she was. I would have kept stroking her relaxed on my lap like that all night if I could have been sure she was okay and not in discomfort but I don’t think she was with the process being drawn out.
 
I'm very sorry that the experience was a bad one for you. Let's hope that Oreo didn't perceive it in the same way because she had slipped far enough away already. And that's very likely.
Sleep tight sweet Oreo.
Take care of yourself!
 
Thank you. We spent so much time and energy looking after her this past month (and before that) that I feel lost this morning. I’ll be alone for half the day and don’t have people I can talk to about it. So I’m scared to be alone with my grief. I’m scared to see the cage without her in it.

My brain keeps showing me images and small video snippets of her. I don’t know what to do now. Whether I go down and sit with the girls and look at photos and videos of her to see her again, try and process it and maybe stop my brain from doing that constantly or if I try and busy myself with other things.

It’s not my first time going through this but I don’t ever find grief any easier to navigate even when I’ve anticipatory grieved for a long time.
 
I am very sorry that it wasn’t a nice experience at the vets but you made the right decision in helping her cross the rainbow bridge. She could have carried on for hours and like you say, you and your boyfriend are at work for 14 hours today, it would have been a long time to leave her.

I’m still going through the process myself of did I do right by Ella but we make the decision out of love and take heart that Oreo is at peace now and not suffering. It’s what I have to keep reminding myself otherwise I wouldn’t make it through the days (((hugs))) xx
 
Claire W said:
I am very sorry that it wasn’t a nice experience at the vets but you made the right decision in helping her cross the rainbow bridge. She could have carried on for hours and like you say, you and your boyfriend are at work for 14 hours today, it would have been a long time to leave her.

I’m still going through the process myself of did I do right by Ella but we make the decision out of love and take heart that Oreo is at peace now and not suffering. It’s what I have to keep reminding myself otherwise I wouldn’t make it through the days (((hugs))) xx
Click to expand...
Thank you :) yeh there’s no way we would want to leave her all day today. Even though she could have been warm you don’t know if she would have needed something or been sad being like that.

I’m just trying to hold on to how peaceful and warm she was on our laps before the trip to the vets. Hopefully she felt peaceful as she drifted over the bridge.

I didn’t feel I got the closure I needed afterwards. You’re meant to see them relaxed and at rest. Although my boyfriend said she looked peaceful. To me she didn’t with the twitching and her eyes wide open like that :( I wish they’d brought her out a little later so her eyes were relaxed.

If only you could have a vet come to you and do it so it’s the best of both worlds.

I took my boyfriend to work, got some salad and veg for the girls and some easy food to see me through the next couple work days. Sat here watching the girls have their veg medley and eating hay. Now to get ready for work :(

I just don’t know where to put myself if I do my training here in the room with them or in the office so I can focus and try not to think about her for a bit. I feel like she deserves me to think about her and not try to push the situation from my mind. But I know I’m being silly because we have her everything we ever could her whole life. I just wish the ending was different and she could have gone quickly and peacefully in our arms in our warm home last night. And her last memories weren’t in a bright strange room with a stranger. :(

I just can’t believe she’s not in the cage with them. How can you be so aware that she’s gone, she’s dead. I saw her little body with no life in it. And yet I still expect and hope to see her happy walking out of a tunnel to me. Because I had 6 and a half years of her doing just that. Without fail. Every time one of us came in the room she was looking up from her tunnel then coming out to greet us. Always thinking we might have something for her. It sounds silly but the others don’t do that. They might look at you. But not in the way Oreo did. As soon as she knew you were around she was up and looking up towards you and if you didn’t give her something, she’d chase you wheeking. Even in her last days she ran after me with a her soft wheeks.
 
RIP Mama floof. Our darling Oreo. You will never ever be forgotten. I hope you carry all the love we have you with you over the bridge and are popcorning and running pain free like you did when you were just a baby all those years ago.

One of my favourite photos of her from within the past 6-12 months, in one of her “hay nests” she made herself. She’d curl up in a ball in the warm and go to sleep. She just looks so healthy and happy ❤️
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0455.webp
    IMG_0455.webp
    126.3 KB · Views: 4
  • IMG_0456.webp
    IMG_0456.webp
    32.4 KB · Views: 3
I’m so sorry you lost your beautiful girl, she will have known just how much you loved her sending big hugs

Sleep tight little Oreo 🌈
 
They leave such a big hole in our hearts when they leave us. You did absolutely the right thing by Oreo, she knew she was loved. Be kind to your self as you grieve for her.
Sleep tight sweet Oreo.
 
Fluffbabies said:
Thank you :) yeh there’s no way we would want to leave her all day today. Even though she could have been warm you don’t know if she would have needed something or been sad being like that.

I’m just trying to hold on to how peaceful and warm she was on our laps before the trip to the vets. Hopefully she felt peaceful as she drifted over the bridge.

I didn’t feel I got the closure I needed afterwards. You’re meant to see them relaxed and at rest. Although my boyfriend said she looked peaceful. To me she didn’t with the twitching and her eyes wide open like that :( I wish they’d brought her out a little later so her eyes were relaxed.

If only you could have a vet come to you and do it so it’s the best of both worlds.

I took my boyfriend to work, got some salad and veg for the girls and some easy food to see me through the next couple work days. Sat here watching the girls have their veg medley and eating hay. Now to get ready for work :(

I just don’t know where to put myself if I do my training here in the room with them or in the office so I can focus and try not to think about her for a bit. I feel like she deserves me to think about her and not try to push the situation from my mind. But I know I’m being silly because we have her everything we ever could her whole life. I just wish the ending was different and she could have gone quickly and peacefully in our arms in our warm home last night. And her last memories weren’t in a bright strange room with a stranger. :(

I just can’t believe she’s not in the cage with them. How can you be so aware that she’s gone, she’s dead. I saw her little body with no life in it. And yet I still expect and hope to see her happy walking out of a tunnel to me. Because I had 6 and a half years of her doing just that. Without fail. Every time one of us came in the room she was looking up from her tunnel then coming out to greet us. Always thinking we might have something for her. It sounds silly but the others don’t do that. They might look at you. But not in the way Oreo did. As soon as she knew you were around she was up and looking up towards you and if you didn’t give her something, she’d chase you wheeking. Even in her last days she ran after me with a her soft wheeks.
Click to expand...

I am very sorry 😞 but take heart that Oreo was a happy piggy right up until the end.

My piggies have always been placed back in the carrier wrapped up when they have been brought back to me and then my husband has buried them covering their faces so I’ve never seen them but I’m sure Oreo was at peace

What a beautiful piggy she was ❤️ her friends will be grieving for her but this should only last a few days as they learn to adapt to life without her x
 
I just wanted to pop back and thank each and every one of you for your support during a very difficult time seeing Oreo through her last day and her journey over the rainbow bridge. I appreciate you all so much for taking the time to reach and reach out with your love, support and experience.

Although it's raw and painful, I will make a new thread in the loss and bereavement section about managing what comes after a death as it's no longer a health and illness subject.

Sending my love to you all. Maybe I'll see some of you over there. Holding all of you going through any illness or loss in my thoughts and hearts. ❤️
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top