having a pet put to sleep

At what age do you consider appropriate for a child to be with a pet at the
vet's office when it is put to sleep? If it matters in this situation, the
child has grown up around animals, both healthy and neglected/abused
rescues, so she has seen death. I have a rescue that we haven't been able to
"fix" and my 6 year old wants to be there when the vet puts him down. It's
an iguana.
I am almost done with this trying to save animals. People are so mean and
ignorant and it only hurts when you take in a critter and you can't work
your magic on it.
--
Marie
~The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of
tolerance comes when we are in the majority.~
Ralph W. Sockman

"MarieD" wrote:

At what age do you consider appropriate for a child to be with a pet at the
vet's office when it is put to sleep? If it matters in this situation, the
child has grown up around animals, both healthy and neglected/abused
rescues, so she has seen death. I have a rescue that we haven't been able to
"fix" and my 6 year old wants to be there when the vet puts him down. It's
an iguana.
I am almost done with this trying to save animals. People are so mean and
ignorant and it only hurts when you take in a critter and you can't work
your magic on it.

Why does she want to be there?

I don't know how they do iguanas. How likely is there to be thrashing
around or violence of some kind? I've heard that people have done
this with their mammalian pets and have had both good and bad
experiences.

So it depends on what she thinks she can do or see, and how likely it
is for that to happen the way she thinks. It may be just scientific
curiosity.

"MarieD" wrote in message
...
At what age do you consider appropriate for a child to be with a pet at
the vet's office when it is put to sleep? If it matters in this situation,
the child has grown up around animals, both healthy and neglected/abused
rescues, so she has seen death. I have a rescue that we haven't been able
to "fix" and my 6 year old wants to be there when the vet puts him down.
It's an iguana.
I am almost done with this trying to save animals. People are so mean and
ignorant and it only hurts when you take in a critter and you can't work
your magic on it.

Vets may have their own policies regarding this. Six is a bit young, but
here is our recent experience, as we have just had to deal with this issue.
One of our beloved cats, Biddle, after enduring a year of surgeries, UTIs,
and numerous vet visits became very , very sick last week.. Our youngest
son, E , 11, was his "person". This cat bonded with him right from the
start. We brought Biddle home at 7 weeks of age, and for the last four years
they were best buddies. Biddle *loved* E. He loved everyone, but loved E the
most, it was just crazy how much this cat loved him!
After falling sick, and two days at the veterinary hospital , it was clear
that he wasn't going to get better. He was in heart failure, and it was not
fixable. I had sent E to school before calling the vet for a status report,
and when she said he wasn't going to make it , I decided to go to school and
get E, if only to say goodbye before Biddle was put down.
DH and I told E that it was his choice whether or not he wanted to be there
when Biddle passed. He said he didn't want to be. When we got to the vet, we
went into a quiet room, and they brought him in on a nice soft blanket. When
Biddle saw E, he tried his best to sit up and go to him, and started to
purr, even though he was so weak.
:-( We talked to him , patted him, and told him what a good kitty he was
and how much we loved him.
After a while, I asked E if he still wanted to leave the room whe it
happened, and he said no. I went to get the vet, and when poor Biddle got
the injection, E was the last thing he saw before he passed.
It was terribly sad, and we cried (are still crying) a lot, but it would
have been even more sad if we had not been there. I explained to E that our
final gift to Biddle was to be there for him, to repay him for all the love
he gave to us when he was alive. He understands that.
Responsible pet care means that you are there for your pet from the
beginning to the end, and that is a very important lesson for children to
learn.

"dejablues" wrote in message
...
It was terribly sad, and we cried (are still crying) a lot, but it would
have been even more sad if we had not been there. I explained to E that
our final gift to Biddle was to be there for him, to repay him for all the
love he gave to us when he was alive. He understands that.
Responsible pet care means that you are there for your pet from the
beginning to the end, and that is a very important lesson for children to
learn.

That is what I'm thinking. I have also tried to teach my children that pet
care is not just for when they are healthy and happy and that sometimes it's
better for the animal to die than to have to live when "their body stops
working". My 6 year old said she wants to be with Iggy on his last day.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I do believe it's meaningful that we
are with them when they go.
I'm still torn up about the need to do this, this is the first time for us.
Marie

"MarieD" wrote in message
...
At what age do you consider appropriate for a child to be with a pet at
the vet's office when it is put to sleep? If it matters in this situation,
the child has grown up around animals, both healthy and neglected/abused
rescues, so she has seen death. I have a rescue that we haven't been able
to "fix" and my 6 year old wants to be there when the vet puts him down.
It's an iguana.

Thanks for everyone's input. My daughter decided at the last minute not to
go but is attending his burial.
Marie

"MarieD" wrote in message
news
"MarieD" wrote in message
...
At what age do you consider appropriate for a child to be with a pet at
the vet's office when it is put to sleep? If it matters in this
situation, the child has grown up around animals, both healthy and
neglected/abused rescues, so she has seen death. I have a rescue that we
haven't been able to "fix" and my 6 year old wants to be there when the
vet puts him down. It's an iguana.

Thanks for everyone's input. My daughter decided at the last minute not to
go but is attending his burial.
Marie

That sounds fine. I think the burial is important.
I forgot to recommend "The Tenth Good Thing About Barney" by Judith Viorst.
It's a very well-done little book about the death of a cat from a child's
point of view.

"MarieD" wrote in message
Thanks for everyone's input. My daughter decided at the last minute not to
go but is attending his burial.

Aww, I am sorry your family has to go through that.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)