Veterinarian and award-winning author, Andrew Peacock talks about losing our friends — our animal ones, and accepting loss. He has a new children’s book available, One Brave Boy and his Cat.

Enjoy!

Lizzi

Accepting Loss

by Andrew Peacock

Perhaps the most difficult part of having an animal in your life is that fact that you will likely lose them. The average life expectancy of a human being is about eighty years. When we compare this with the thirteen years that an average dog lives and a cat’s allotment of sixteen years and a horse’s thirty, it’s clear that we will normally be around much longer than our pets.

When I was in vet practice, I made it a point to discuss mortality with anyone who asked about the possibility of bringing a four-legged companion into their life. Many prospective owners seemed unprepared for the likelihood that they would have to endure the death of their pet. I tried to explain to everyone that losing your pet is part of the deal. Unless something goes terribly wrong our pets will die before us.

The death of animals is difficult for us to deal with, but euthanasia is even more problematic. Both owners and vets have a hard time with the concept of intentionally ending the life of a beloved pet.

 

Every veterinarian can tell stories of owners who refuse to come to grips with the reality of unbearable suffering in their injured or sick animals. No one likes to see anything die, but there are times when death is preferable to intractable anguish and pain.

Perhaps one of the advantages that animals have over humans is the possibility of euthanasia. How many times do we hear of people who suffer greatly for years when they have no wish to continue living? In recent years many countries have taken the controversial but humane step of discussing or legalizing assisted death.

These questions are difficult and animal owners may be surprised to learn that euthanasia is often as difficult for vets as it is for owners. Recent statistics suggest that veterinarians are the most prone to suicide of any profession. Performing euthanasias is often cited as an important factor. Consider that vets are often present for the birth of beloved pets, follow them through a life of health and illness and then are asked to actively end their lives. Not many professions involve such stressful realities.

I think that it is important for us to start dealing with this problem by talking about it. Parents need to explain to children that their pets won’t be around forever. Veterinarians need to have similar frank discussions with their clients of every age.

In my recent book, One Brave Boy and His Cat, available on Amazon, here, I tell the story of a family who visited me with a gravely injured pet. When it became obvious that their cat couldn’t survive its injuries, the parents asked me to lie to their young son about the animal’s prognosis.

We all know stories about families that tell children untruths about their elderly pets being moved to a farm when they’ve really died. In the actual encounter that inspired the book, I explained the cat’s situation to the boy and he made the decision to euthanize his pet. In the end the child handled the cat’s demise much better than his parents.

The point of the book is that it is important for us to be truthful about the death of animals. Children should not be lied to and they should be given credit for some understanding of death. If we are all more honest about this difficult topic and talk just a little more, perhaps we can all handle the loss of pets better. It’s my hope that One Brave Boy and His Cat will be an opportunity for families and vets to start this discussion.

One Brave Boy and His Cat is available on Amazon, here.

 

Thank you so much, Andrew, for your lovely discussion on accepting loss. We appreciate your blogging with us today, and thanks so much to you readers for visiting!  

You can learn more about Andrew on his author page here!

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Happy riding and vetting!

xx

Lizzi Tremayne