The downside

Though it could be considered an upside. The {insert-perspective-here}side of being a vet is that one day you have to put down your own animals. My mum texted me this am saying one of the guinea-pigs (turned out to be Salt) was off his back legs. Poor chap can’t get about much, though he’s still eating etc. We’re giving him overnight with a large dose of steroids, but if he’s not any better tomorrow morning then I’m putting him to sleep – he may be ok in himself but he’ll quickly run into problems with urine scald, flystrike, etc.

Though of course I like them I’m not as attached as I am to pets that live with me, and the detachment of vetness kicks in – we either break down and become completely incompetent, emotional wrecks, or we remain pragmatic and calm – I suspect the latter in this case.

The difficult bit is what to do about Pepper. He’s never known life without his brother, I can’t have another guinea-pig, especially as my mum mostly cares for them now, and I’m not sure if I can rehome him as he’s an old uncastrated male (unsuitable for castration as too old, unable to live with females or most other males). On the other hand, putting down a otherwise healthy animal is on dodgy ethical ground, even if it is to save them from grief. I’ll probably let him be, and wait and see how bad he is.

The “upside” is that Salt won’t have to go to the vet’s seeing as he lives with one, and all he’ll know is a tiny injection with sedative and then dosing off in his own hutch with his brother next to him. And Pepper will get to see him afterwards, something that seems to help them cope a bit.

This entry was posted in still waffling. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to The downside

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *