• 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

Specialist Possible Vestibular Episode?

Hey so, got her teeth checked today and we got the all the all clear from Vets regarding teeth but, were recommended humane euthanasia.
Which, I personally agree on but wanted to discuss with my husband. So I took her home.
He's not agreeing on it as he thinks she isn't suffering but I'm coming at it from a preventative of suffering down the line. So I had to tell Vet that we weren't doing it today. I honestly feel a bit sick and stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm so scared of her ending up needing to be rushed down to the Vets when the time comes, when she's in distress and panicking whereas if we do it at a time when she's like this, it will be kinder to let her go.
My husband feels that she hasn't let us know when her time is and we shouldn't take away her last few days of life because of the unknown.
We had a bad euthanasia from a previous heart pig who, in my opinion suffered unnecessarily due to this exact same reason and it's stayed with me. I don't want the same for Dora.
Any advise would be welcomed.
 
Perhaps you both could make a pro-con list, reasons for euthanising, reasons for prolonging.

Can’t eat hay/grass. Could potentially have another episode, one of which could be worse. Not actively eating enough for herself. But then she wants to live. And there is a chance of improvement.

She may want to live, but how long can she last if she can never eat hay/grass again? It’s the main part of a piggy diet and so is a necessity. My boy wanted to live but couldn’t physically eat despite wanting to so we euthanised. There is a chance of improvement, but then also the chance of it getting worse and the situation you fear could happen. If the vet thinks euthanasia then that suggests that the vet believes chance of improvement is slim and does not offer a significant amount of quality of life.
I 100% would not know fully what to do if I were in your position. How is Dora now?
 
Also: I wouldn’t say she’s not not suffering. Her natural instinct is to eat hay and her entire body is wired around that. Teeth, digestive system, etc. If she is unable to then there is an element of suffering there, whilst she may not be in any obvious pain, there could be digestion discomfort from not being on the correct diet
 
She's losing weight - she now weighs 349g. She's still taking syringe feeds but that's about it. I was quite firm when speaking to my husband there and I really think that we should get her euthanized while she's like this. He's not having any of it.
 
I genuinely don't think she's going to get better at this stage - I thought that it was the teeth that were the problem and this isn't the case so now I feel like this is the right decision is to let her go peacefully.
 
Just caught up with this thread. I am sorry to hear your girl is so poorly.
my feelings on this subject are the same - if the vet agrees there is little chance of recovery then it is better to let her go a few days too early while she is happy than wait until it is clear she is in distress and then becomes an emergency pts - that won’t be good for her or you to see
Thinking of you and your girl
 
So she isn’t eating for herself, meaning without your intervention she would starve to death. Chances of improving are slim, so much so that the vets opinion is to call it a day.
Why doesn’t your husband want to euthanise?
 
He feels like we're being selfish because we've been staying up with her 24 hours a day for the past week and a half and doesn't see why now is the time to do it when, he thinks in that logic we should have done it when we took her to emergency vets.
He feels like if she's been suffering all this time, what does a few extra days mean to her.
I don't feel that we're being selfish at all, I would rather her go with dignity now than again in an emergency situation. I know this Vet that we're taking her to, loves her and will be gentle with her in her time of passing.
I genuinely thought that she would get better in the long term but, she's not and won't.
Our vet said that if we were normal clients, she wouldn't have let me take Dora home this morning, she would have kept her there until my husband came and joined us so, that in itself tells me what her opinion is and what's right for Dora.
I don't personally feel as though we've taken her too far but it wouldn't feel ethical or morally right to let her go on knowing how our Vet feels about her.
 
Isn’t it more selfish to keep her alive? The point of not euthanising to start with was the prospect of improvement, realistically improvement hasn’t been made as she is unable to function properly (eat hay). Therefore to keep her alive when her body is unable to function properly is completely selfish as there is no reason for it. At the start there was a reason - recovery, but now there is no reason as recovery is slim. What does he expect to happen in a few days? If he thinks a few more days won’t hurt, does he expect the problem to completely disappear? And then is he happy to euthanise after a few more days if it doesn’t? If your vet wanted to euthanise there and then, then it should be done and your husband is acting against the advice of the person who knows best. I really hope he comes round to the idea of it, I just hope he won’t hold it against you when it does happen - which it seems like it inevitably will
 
I went to the clinic and got her put to sleep. She went so so peacefully and looked so relaxed and settled it put me at ease a lot. I know I've done right by her ♥️ thanks to all who commented on this post and supported me ♥️
 
I went to the clinic and got her put to sleep. She went so so peacefully and looked so relaxed and settled it put me at ease a lot. I know I've done right by her ♥ thanks to all who commented on this post and supported me ♥
I’m so sorry, I didn’t see the notification for this! I just can’t back to the thread in case I’d missed anything.
I hope you are doing okay in spite of your loss, I hope you find comfort in knowing you did the right thing. The saying better a week too early than a minute too late really does ring true. I’m so sorry for your loss, whilst it was expected it is devastating none the less
 
Back
Top