How do you know when it's time to say goodbye? My girl Charley has the beginning symptoms of satin syndrome as well as severe dental disease. Her vet said that we are basically headed down the road to euthanasia. I just don't know how soon I should do that. She isn't eating or drinking on her own...I've been syringe feeding her critical care and water for the past 2 months (she was occasionally eating at least treats and pellets during the beginning but rarely does anymore). She shows interest in hay when I refill it but can't actually eat it which I feel terrible about...I don't know if I'm projecting but I feel like it makes her sad that she can't eat it. I can't not give her cagemate/sister hay though because it wouldn't be fair to her either. She's still eager to eat her critical care but I don't know if it's cuz she's hungry from not being able to eat on her own or if she actually enjoys it. I feed her multiple times throughout the day but I've hardly been able to keep weight on her...even when I doubled her critical care amount she didn't gain a significant amount of weight. A lot of the time if I'm not interacting with her she just sits in the same spot in her cage. I honestly don't know if letting her go now is better for her or if keeping her here until she doesn't show interest in even being syringe fed is better.
I'm concerned that I'm keeping her alive for my benefit because I don't want to lose her and putting it off prevents that. I'm also concerned about deciding to put her to sleep soon...I'm worried that it isn't her time and that maybe I'm considering it because having a loved one depend solely on you physically for their food intake is both emotionally and mentally exhausting and that maybe I subconsciously just want to get it over with.
I am genuinely at a loss of what to do. I lose her either way, I just don't know which option is better for her. I never expected to be having to make this choice when I first brought her to the vet. I feel like I haven't had enough time with her.
BIG HUGS
It is very difficult when it is entirely up to you to call the shots because you are usually very torn.
Please put your own desires and conflicting emotions to the side and evaluate how much normal species behaviour your girl is exhibiting in terms of eating by herself, moving around and being interested in her surroundings. That is usually the benchmark by which quality of life in animals is measured by. How much pain do you think our girl is in that you cannot cover with drugs?
Don't look at it as your own piggy but take a step back and look at it as if was somebody else's. It is more difficult when you have to syringe feed than when your terminally ill piggy is still able to et on their own.
This will hopefully help you to clear your mind a little and cut through your own emotional tangle to help you make any necessary decisions, as hard and as heartbreaking they are. We cannot tell you what you have to do; only you as the owner can do that.
We can only give you the instruments to make as unbiased an evaluation as possible so you can come to the solution that you can live with best for the long term. There is a time when it is too soon because your pet has still enough quality of life, there is a certain time span when you are free to decide either way as long as you put your pet's interests before your own and there is a time when it is too late and your pet only exists because they are being kept alive at any price. The problem comes when you as a loving owner feel highly conflicted about letting go because you fear the pain it is going to bring you and you do not want to let them go.
I have seen my dad fight for three years with extremely painful terminal bone cancer which by the end had affected all bones of his body. Satin syndrome is taking a similar route in terms of pain. How good is your pain medication and how far do you want to take it into the really big stuff that comes with major side effects? How much do you think is fair on her and where would you draw the line for yourself if you were the patient? It is better to think about it now.
I know very well that these are all very tough questions because they require stark honesty with yourself but when you love deeply and find it hard to let go, then it can really help you to work out what really counts for you and your pet, and where you stand on the different aspects. Especially with something a painfula and nasty as satin disease.
This will in turn empower you to make a decision you can stand by through the inevitable soul-searching that comes with any euthanasia where the full burden is on you, so you come out at the other end still feeling that you have done the best you could under the circumstances and you can make a sort of peace with yourself eventually for the long term because you know deep down that you have made the right choice when you put all your chips down and counted them and have not failed your beloved one.
Until then, concentrate on making every day count and special with a little joyful enrichment activity. This doesn't mean spending lots on treats and toys but spending quality time together consciously with very simple things; enrichment is so much more on so many different levels. You can pack a life time's worth of love into a very short space of time and create lots of precious memories by sharing some fun time together.
Grieving is not all doom and gloom. There is laughter and giggles there in there as well. Start with blessing every day she is there to greet you in the morning. Your emotional tangle is the result of your grieving process having started now. It is the second worst moment in the whole process. But the more you acknowledge this, the more of the grieving you can do underneath and the easier a ride you will have afterwards when you have only got the pain of the loss to deal with but you won't suffer any feelings of guilt or failure because you
know that you have done your best. You do not grieve any less whichever way; the dynamics just differ when looking after a terminally ill beloved one. And it is in your control just how sweet or bitter you make the remaining time - that is the hidden blessing in looking after a terminally ill piggy. It gives you much more control if you accept the situation and turn it to your advantage. That is the one big lesson I have learned from my dad's struggle with cancer. It has stood me in good stead with my piggies.
Please take the time to read these links here. I hope that you will find them helpful even if they do not make the easiest of reading. But then this is not an easy situation.
A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs (See especially chapter 4: When is the right time to say goodbye?)
Signs of Pain in Guinea Pigs
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
My thoughts are with you.
