This message is from: "Carl & Sarah Nagel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Dear Catherine, We just went through that this summer. Our older mare, Jonetta (June) was 25. She had been fine ... enjoying "quality of life" even tho she had heaves, they were controlled with medication, and she wasn't suffering. She was a terrific horse, perfect for her job as my daughters horse. The next week, she caught a virus, it turned into pneumonia and everything went downhill fast. At the end of three weeks, it was obvious to us that it was time. A more experienced person might have known it right away, but it took me at least one week to realize that she wasn't going to recover. My vet was incredibly instrumental in helping me realize it was time to put her down and she assurred me that she would not euthanize June prematurily. Once she told me June was actually suffering, we did what we had to do. When you find yourself in those situations wondering? Ask your vet, work closely with them. They will help you. Also, often you just "know". You can tell by looking in the horse's eye ... you can see when they are ready and when they are still fighting. I have found this to be true with cats and dogs as well. Good luck and God bless you for taking in those rescue and damaged animals. Along with the heartbreak, there are often very rich rewards to be gotten ..... Sarah Nagel -----Original Message----- From: Catherine Lassesen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tuesday, December 07, 1999 6:28 AM Subject: Quality of Life >This message is from: "Catherine Lassesen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Hello, I would like to hear comments PLEASE. It has come to the time when we >(all of us at the farm) are talking about quality of life in an horse. For >me it is always a hard time deciding when to put a horse down. And since we >do rescues and tend to have an older horse or "damaged" horse. We face the >choice more often than the normal farm. But it is always still a hard one. > >What is your thoughts on when it is the right time to place a horse down? >How far should we go to "save" a horse and when is quality of life >considered good, bad or indifferent ? > >Thank you , >Catherine Lassesen > >
