A difficult subject re PTS

Feel free to cry, it takes time to grieve. it took me several weeks to let another horse into my old horses stable, but when I felt I could it marked the beginning of a new era...took along time to sort out his rugs and let another horse use them but now I probably couldn't tell which were his, although I still will only use 'his' saddle on horses when I ride them and 'his' bridle is on my daughters competiton horse.
 
Thanks so much both of you. I have to say that the last section of Stella's reply (the signature, I think) really made me smile. The pony I saw PTS was almost thirty years old and had lived a really full and interesting life, bringing pleasure to an awful lot of people. He was so cute and cheeky. I feel a little better thinking what a great life he had and what a pleasure it was to be around him. I'll really miss him though. Found myself sobbing in the car driving back from the supermarket this evening, much to the consternation of the person who pulled up next to me at the traffic lights. :o
Thanks again for the support - I really appreciate it and feel a bit more 'normal' now...
 
izzy18, grief is part of the healing process, it natural to feel the way you do at the minute..rest assured the pain will eventually ease.

I was in an emotional turmoil for weeks when I lost my horse to grass sickness.

I blamed myself for the trauma he went through when he was pts, I questioned whether there was anything I could have done to prevent the onset of his illness, I envied my friends who still had their horses....... but worst of all (and I hate to admit it even now) I even wished it had been one of their horses that had died instead of mine!!!!!!

Luckily, I had good friends and family around me who put up with my mood swings and helped me understand the emotions I was feeling was normal.

My advice would be, don't bottle your emotions, cry whenever you feel the need because holding back will only prolong the healing process. ;)
 
Harvey99, just because it shouldn't happen doesn't mean it doesn't.
In the case of my dog there is no way you could say it was involuntary muscle action, He had double the normal dose but he ws still growling, biting, trying to get away. He was very much trying to stay awake and for was for the most part succeeding. he had had bad experiences with a vet beofre we got him when he lost an eye so there was no way, in his mind, he was allowing himself to be vunerable in front of another one or letting that vet touch his stiches. My dad got his hand bitten through and the vet and I can out with bad scratches. It was a traumatic experience and i never want any animal of mine (or me) to go through that again.
Its a natural reaction to fight naything that will make you vunerable, everytime i've gone under aneasthetic it's taken longer and longer for it to work.
 
Frances and I take a bottle of whisky with us to the site, the digger man gets a swig, the vet is offered one, but never takes it, we take one or two or three and drink to the passing of a dear friend, it helps us! ;) ;)

Then we spend the rest of the day bawling, everyone gives is that space for the rest of the day then slowly, very slowly you can come to terms with it and start looking at photos and the tack etc. as eml says.

Deal with it as you feel you want to, if you want to bawl, do so, for as long and loud and often as makes you feel better. Don;t let any one tell you haw you should feel, they will never know.

We have a spot in a park where a lot of ours are burried. My old horse is burried at the bottom of the "garden". That's nice in a way, but that's not an option open to a lot of folk these days, cremation is so common now, but you can scatter the ashes in a favourite spot.

When all's said and done, and you have got over the dreadfulness of it all, the most important thing to remember that ONLY caring owners do this for their animals, letting them go when the time is right quickly and with as little suffering as possible is the most important thing. Somtimes it is a decision that is so hard to make, sometimes it is one we have little choice over.

Anyone contemplating owning a horse should think very carefully about this subject as sensetive as it is, because you might find yourself in the situation out of the blue and need to deal with is sensibly, surgery etc. can be an option, but it is more often kinder to let them go rather than grasp as straws.
 
No group cremation will give you a much cheaper option. Cambridge Pet Crematorium offer both this and the expensive individual cremation. I don't have individual ashes but can visit the flower beds in the CPC gardens where her ashes were buried on that month :o along with the others. This is enough for me. Have also had other small pets dogs cats individually cremated and I keep all the family together having their ashes interred at the same place:o !
 
I would choose the injection for my horses.

I had to hold a horse once while it was shot. I didn't sleep for 3 days there after, and I had no emotional ties to that particular horse.

Also I used peaceful pets for my lovely mares cremation. They are one of the only crems to cremate a horse whole in this country. http://www.peacefulpets.co.uk/
I paid £600 for her to be cremated and she now lives in an oak box in my bedroom.
 
casey said:
I would choose the injection for my horses.

I had to hold a horse once while it was shot. I didn't sleep for 3 days there after, and I had no emotional ties to that particular horse.

Also I used peaceful pets for my lovely mares cremation. They are one of the only crems to cremate a horse whole in this country. http://www.peacefulpets.co.uk/
I paid £600 for her to be cremated and she now lives in an oak box in my bedroom.
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One of the only ones to to cremate a horse whole !! :eek: What do they usually do?
 
i agree with casey, injection.

I also had to hold a horse that was being shot and i had terrible dreams about it. I didnt even know the horse. It had been invovled in a car accident infront of me. Poor thing was in a terrible state and it had to be done but it still didnt make it feel any better.
 
group cremation will give you a much cheaper option. Cambridge Pet Crematorium offer both this and the expensive individual cremation. I don't have individual ashes but can visit the flower beds in the CPC gardens where her ashes were buried on that month along with the others
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That's who we used.
 
i went through all this back in july. We had Bonnie put to sleep via injection. But i must disagree with the person who says they slip away quietly. Yes they are quiet (coz they are sedated before the lethal injection is given, at least bonnie was) but half a ton of horse crashing to the ground is hardly peaceful. and then you have the vets trying to guide them into the right position when they fall.

Am not ashamed to say we couldn't afford cremation. It was going to be nearly £1000 and the cremation people local to us couldn't pick her up for several days. I didn't want my baby lying undignified in the field for all to see. Even though we'd covered her up. Knowing she was still there was heartbreaking. So we had the local knackery take away her body. I didn't deal with that bit, my OH did and he was very impressed how professional and sympathetic the chap was. They also came within 24 hours to take her away.

It's all well and good debating what's the best method but very often you don't have the time or the options open to you to make those decisions. We were given no other option than an injection. our vet made that decision for us, and tbh, at a time like that i was thankful. All you want is to stop your horse suffering. Doesn't matter how.
 
All you want is to stop your horse suffering. Doesn't matter how.
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I think that's the point Wally made earlier - what matters is that the suffering is brought to an end.

All this info shouldn't make us more rigid in what method we want /plan for, but more able to cope with what we _do_ have to go ahead with. Knowing nothing at a time of crisis is not a good thing.

With our 1st mare, we rummaged about for info and had a good leaflet from BHS "When the time has come" / similar. It said (vaguely) the only sad thing about a long life is the number of animals you out-live.
 
eventerbabe said:
But i must disagree with the person who says they slip away quietly.
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I've only experienced a horse being pts by injection once. The vet held his headcollar tightly at both sides and after the intitial rocking back and forth he guided the horse down to the ground by lowering his head and turning the neck. The horse went down in more or less the same place he was standing, he didn't crash down but there was a thud as his weight touched the ground. The whole experience was all very dignified and stress free for the horse.

After experiencing my horse being pts by the gun and comparing it to my friends horse being pts by injection, given the choice, I'd definately choose the injection for my horses.
 
Last January, we had the misfortune of having to have to PTS our beloved TB mare. The vet came ot the yard, i cold not make it in time, but my Ri was there to talk to her and comfort her.... I was a mess regardless of not having to have been there for that moment. RI advised me not to bring my daughter as this was HER horse and it would be a traumatic experience for a 10 year old to have to see.
 
I dissagree, my son was present at a lot of our horses being PTS, plus the cows and sheep.

He was even there when his much loved Grandmother died, he wanted to be there, and was given every opportunity to choose, home or hospital. He chose as a 10 year old to be with her at the end.

He's 14 now, and really happy to have been there.

Not everyone's choice I know, and not for every one. But I stand by his and my decisions, for us.

He is not a coarse or hard person, quite the contrarty, an empathic, caring teenager.

My brother also allowed his son to be with his much loved grandfather to the bitter end. Again, not to everyone's ideals, but neither have come away harmed, both are happy to speak in warm terms of their lost grand parents.

Same with their lost animals, traumatic as it is, you cannot run and hide from it. Forwarned is forarmed.
 
I agree with Wally. Again, I accept that its not for everyone, but a child's fantasies and thoughts about what a death would have been like (and they will have them) are often worse than the real thing. I'm not sure about the process of a horse's death given the conflicting accounts (I haven't whitnessed one yet), but certainly to see a dead animal or human is often beneficial to children (and adults for that matter), as it looks peaceful and although sad, is usually not disturbing.
 
One of my horses was pts last week by injection. I had already discussed my wishes with the Vet and YO many times over the last 2 years. It was very quick, maybe 30 seconds from the Vet telling me to say goodbye, to her gently slipping to the ground. The Crematorium wagon (Yorkshire Equine) came 45 minutes after the Vet arrived.

It cost just over £400 for individual cremation and I have her ashes back already. On Monday I will scatter most of them in her favourite part of the field whilst I and some of the other liveries toast her with champagne and cry and laugh and cry

Apologies if this is a bit rambling, I'm still crying:o
 
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