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I am grieving for my small 5 year old pet dog who had to be put to sleep a fortnight ago.

He was taking fits which did not respond to treatment and couldn't manage. Also his medication had upset his stomach and he had diarrhoea. During his last fit, which occurred 48 hours before he died, he was in such a frenzy I closed him into one of the bedrooms and he dirtied all the furnishings and carpet.

At the vet he was taken to a back preparation room to be sedated and have the catheter fitted to his leg. There was a delay as he was strong and needed extra sedation and I could hear him crying - he hated injections. I am desperately worried that he thought he was being punished or even killed because he had dirtied his bed. After fifteen minutes he was brought back sedated to the surgery and the euthanol was administered while we held him.

I would hate to think that in his last minutes the little guy thought he had been bold or disobedient and was losing his life because of it. If any of you have experience or insight into situations like this I would be grateful for your help. Thank you.

Hello James, I am so sorry to hear that your little dog had to be put to sleep a fortnight ago. The grief we feel makes us worry about all sorts of things that happened at the end of our precious pet's life. Your dear little one knew you loved him and you only put him in the bedroom to calm him down during the fit he was having. It was somewhere quiet and calm giving him a chance to calm down and get over his fit. I feel your sadness; have been through it myself and have gone over and over different things that happened, but in time that will be at the back of your mind and the lovely times you shared will be your memories; the walks; the cuddles and the love he shared with you. Take care; always here to talk; Penny xx

Hello James,

My deepest sympathy to you. I can relate to this, although ours was a cat. Feeling guilty is one of the main things to cope with. We had our cat Chloe put to sleep about 8 days ago. We felt so dreadful having to do this one last act of kindness, but when in grief you don't look at it that way.

Saying to my hubby after our loss, I could only remember times when I hadn't got cross with her, as she was a fussy eater. I got comfort from his reply. He said "although animals are intelligent, their memory is in the short term. She wouldn't remember those "cross" times, only the here and now. When you accidentally tread on them, they immediately are around you and loving you just the same". I hope this offers some crumb of comfort. It is a truly heart rending time and as a 74 year old, I can't remember crying so much and we have always had cats.

Because we felt her loss so greatly, we adopted a cat yesterday from Cat Rescue. He won't replace Chloe in a sense, but his temperament is the same as hers, and I feel he has been sent to us. I'm not saying get another dog, but if you do, try if poss to get one with a similar nature.

All the best to you for the future

So sorry for your loss. Please don't beat yourself up thinking that your dog thought he was being punished. Animals don't think like we do. I had a German Shepherd that used to scream and make such a fuss while in the waiting room, and as for any treatment a vet tried to do he would howl and make a right carry on. And that was when he was only getting his temperature taken. Some dogs just take going to the vets in their stride, others, like yours and mine howl like banshees. Chances are he was crying because he basically didn't understand what was going on. I can tell you 100% your dog was not thinking he was being punished by you, the only thing he would be thinking is 'I don't like these strange people and what they're doing to me.' Vets don't put animals through unnecessary pain, and once he was sedated he knew nothing he was just asleep dreaming. I have a Border Collie that doesn't care what the vet does to him, injections etc. Not a whimper, but my German Shepherd was the biggest wuss ever, it took 2 vets, 3 nurses, myself and my partner to get a thermometer in him, and the poor dogs in the waiting room, who had heard this great big dog screaming and howling were a nervous wreck by the time he came out, he had terrified the rest of the patients. Please don't think I'm making light of your loss, it's just that some dogs just hate vets regardless of what the procedure is. So, no your dog wasn't thinking you were punishing him, he just hated vets.