It is never easy to say goodbye to your beloved pet. However, something we don’t often enough discuss is how difficult it is to make the decision to say goodbye. Perhaps, even more so around the festive period. 

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In some cases, we have real clarity and our pet is acutely suffering or suffering with an untreatable disease, which means in many ways the decision is made for us. However, often the decision is not so clear. Our pet is ageing and is not as well as they once were but we don’t have clarity. 

How do we assess quality of life? How do we know when it is time? 

The five freedoms are a structure that is often used in many situations to help us assess an animal’s welfare. The five freedoms are: 

  1. Freedom from hunger and thirst 
  2. Freedom from discomfort 
  3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease
  4. Freedom to express normal behaviour 
  5. Freedom from fear and distress

Using this framework helps us to look at many different aspects of our pet’s life and welfare to make a more informed decision by looking at the broad picture. 

There are also online tools widely available, often based on the same principles, to help you decide.

However, it is not a panacea.

Everyone’s ethical line is different. How much chronic pain is acceptable? How much alteration to normal behaviour is liveable with and for how long? An important factor to consider in making these decisions is your pet’s perspective. Do you believe animals are able to look forward to an event? Humans might hold on to be able to attend an event such as the birth of a grandchild or their daughter’s wedding. If animals can’t do this; how does this change their perspective on mortality? Probably they don’t have the same amount of guilt and trepidation about ageing and coming to the end. How does this impact our decision making?

Personally, I believe part of our responsibility as an owner is to provide our pet with a good, timely end that preserves their dignity and minimises their suffering. There is no doubt that people’s and vets’ morality and ethics diverge about this. How much treatment you pursue and when you make the decision for euthanasia is an intensely personal decision.

The festive period is a time that can cause significant disruption to normal routine for our pets

This can cause distress to some older pets. So how can we minimise the impact on them? 

  1. Creating a safe space

Creating a safe space for your pet to go if the house is busier with guests is important. This includes setting boundaries so that they can get away from the noise and busyness. It allows them space to rest and can also protect them from interactions with children or other people they may find frightening or unsettling. 

  1. Try to keep as much routine as possible 

Boring as it sounds and stressful as it may be during the festive period maintaining as much normal routine as possible is reassuring to many older pets. Ensuring they have sufficient exercise and normal meal times can provide stability in a time of change.

  1. Noise Phobia 

If your pet is reactive to noise (e.g., fireworks) then exploring home management, desensitisation programmes, supplements and behaviour modifying drugs may be useful in reducing stress over this period. 

  1. Stress Relieving Supplementation 

A variety of pheromone-based diffusers, calming supplements and calming sprays exist that may be helpful to use following discussion with your vet to support your pet over the festive period. 

The festive period is sometimes a time when you get the whole family together and this can precipitate a discussion about the welfare of your family pet

Getting everyone on the same page at the same time can be testing but hopefully the five freedoms provide a framework to help your family think about the situation. It is worth also discussing what are situations (e.g., not wanting to eat, unable to enjoy a walk) that would precipitate you to make the decision for euthanasia are. It is often easier to do this ahead of time rather than in the moment. 

Remember, you are not alone in this decision making. 

Please reach out to your vet both for support and guidance in the decision-making process. Remember the decision is yours but a vet’s input can be helpful in assessing the situation perhaps more objectively than you can. Remember you have options to reduce stress for your pet over the festive period and that if you need support in this then your vet is there to help with that too. 

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