We quail at euthanasia, and we should, because it is murder. But euthanasia is also mercy and compassion when only suffering remains. Most of us will have to face the end of a beloved animal’s life. Here’s how to look at their body, mind, and spirit needs.
It’s the worst thing we face as a multi-species family: the death of a beloved animal. How do we decide between euthanasia and allowing them to die naturally?
While we should turn to the veterinary community and the growing pet hospice movement for advice, we should be wary. These professionals don’t always recognize that animals have souls. That means they can fail to give our animals a voice in their own care.
We who live with animals as family members and intelligent equals can change that dynamic. When the body is impossibly broken from disease, injury, or old age, we can support the dying process by allowing our loving hearts and animal communication to listen to our animals—and to ourselves.
Body, Mind, and Spirit and Animal Euthanasia
All multi-species families need good veterinary partners who share their beliefs on quality of life and care. Unfortunately, technology has moved beyond us, often pushing intervention without the insight to say “enough.” Without choice and compassion, we can end up pushing the body beyond what is physically possible, emotionally endurable, and spiritually useful.
Body Needs. As your animal declines, do your own research, listen to your team, and monitor specific bodily needs, including diagnosis and prognosis. A quality of life tool commonly called the HHHHHMM scale allows the practitioner (and you) to objectively score a list based on how much pain the animal is in, whether they are eating and properly hydrated, if they are hygienic, how happy and interested they are, how mobile they are (including whether you can help them move), and the quality of their days. Use it as a baseline; add your intuition and observation and your animal’s insights into the mix.
Mind Needs. What else do you noticing, including your animals’ “tells”? You know how they express emotion, from uncertainty to worry, depression, and joy. You’ll also notice the gradual declines that your professional support team doesn’t because you’re there 24/7—and you’re family.
Discuss everything you know and notice with your animal. Explain how you feel, what’s going on, what’s coming, and options. Like us, our animals worry and get confused, so if possible, give them time to prepare. Ask what they need, want, and feel. Sure, you can seek out a professional animal communicator as an objective intermediary. But never doubt that your animal already hears you—and that you know.
You can see the end of your animal’s life by looking in their eyes. That look is unmistakable: it’s knowing, resigned, waiting, contemplative. When you see it, you may have days or weeks, but the end is near. Look for it. React compassionately.
Spirit Needs. All souls choose the body they need to do their work for that lifetime. That work involves soul growth toward unconditional love—self-love regardless—and doing that body’s specific job. The end of life is that body’s final opportunity for soul growth. Do you know why your animal chose to be an animal? It wasn’t to be your teacher or guru, but what? Should you know? Ask your animal—and their spiritual team.
How does their job reflect on how they face death? Remember, the end of life pushes buttons: bodies are programmed to survive. Understanding the animal’s body, mind, and spiritual needs can be the key to helping both sides let go—and move on.
Making a Choice for Euthanasia
Many people, including veterinarians, believe that animals live only in the present. That is reverse anthropomorphism. People who don’t understand that animals recognize past, present, and future and can think, feel, and make choices miss the value in how animals will choose to die and what they experience. These people lose the authority to speak to it.
What will an animal choose? Some say, “No, not today.” Others say, “I could go, or I could stay.” Others say, “Now today.” Others want to “walk the mystery,” to experience the dying process—and want their families to witness.
Your veterinary team won’t see that. Granted, veterinarians love animals and want to heal them, so euthanasia is hard to accept (and partly explains the tragically high suicide rate among veterinarians). Listen to your team, then to yourself, and to your animal. You will know.
Our society hasn’t been open to dying since technology stole reason from us. When faced with the end of a beloved animal’s life, when you’ve done the research and consulted your veterinary team, ask yourself what you can afford, what you can do, what you (and your animal) can stand. Explain it to your animal: they understand. Listen to what they want—and need.
Sometimes watching a death play out is soul damaging for you and for them. For example, loading the dying up with drugs to mask the pain is cruel; it confuses the brain and the choice. Sometimes dying is both beautiful and spiritually uplifting. At others, it’s sudden and steals choice. As hard as it is, death is part of life and should be honored for what it really is: the exit of a soul from that body. When death should occur is the question we ask with Euthanasia.
As we examine body, mind, and spirit for and with our animals at the end of life, we need to understand wise choices to promote values that allow grief and compassion to kindly say farewell. To make dying easier by honoring, celebrating, and preparing for it, however, it occurs.
The last gift we can give our beloved animals is the peace and serenity of a good death. Euthanasia is an option, but a considered one. Find out what your animal wants, how far it can go without losing its way on its soul journey. Know that whatever choice you make together will work because you’re family.
We quail at euthanasia, and we should, because it is murder. But euthanasia is also mercy and compassion when only suffering remains.
May the human-animal bond teach us that technology has its limits, that suffering and pain are not acceptable, that death is to be honored and respected, and welcomed when all hope is lost. That we can make Euthanasia what it really is: love sorely tried, and triumphant.
Originally published in OMTimes.com magazine: https://omtimes.com/2020/11/euthanasia/