THE number ONE reason an animal becomes at risk...
Carol · Jan. 25, 2009
for rehoming, surrendering, or euthanization.....is incontinence and it becomes an even bigger more complicated issue if it happens to be a saint's animal.
the incontinence could be emotional or behavorial, it could be due to illness or age...whatever...it does not matter...as soon as they start pissing or crapping in the house...sooner or later, they are almost always out of there one way or another.
so let's be honest about it, let's not blame the animal and make them pay the ultimate price and pretend they are gone for a bunch of other reasons. let's just own up and say..."can't deal with this."
and then please...be smart, know limits and accept them, in the future.......stay away from cats, senior animals in general and a lot of little dog breeds....don't make the same mistake twice.
if a person cannot find a way to deal with body waste in a low stress, respectful and compassionate manner...then do not go there, especially in senior care because the animal at some point is going to lose.
we do not euthanize incontinent animals...we do not care if an animal is continent or not. we do not allow our adoptive or our foster families to euthanize incontinent animals either. so fostering or adopting from saints means that either you are ok with incontinence issues, now or in the future..or you are ok with returning the animal to us if at some point it becomes an issue.
there is no middle road on this, no negotiation, no getting around it one way or another, no coming up with other excuses to cover up the real issue. know thyself really well and know saints really well too. there is no use in pretending that eventually the time won't really come...if they get old enough, it most certainly will....and no saints animal... past, present or future will ever be euthanized for incontinence...it is just not ever going to happen.
i have no problem with people reaching their limit and being unable to take a step further...but see that limit coming and get that animal back here BEFORE they have no second chance.
we need to be fair, be kind, give them a chance at finding happiness somewhere...it is NOT their fault....if they could help their incontinence, trust me they would.
we need to think long and hard about what senior care means...cuz an 8 yr old might be fine in that department but might have a real house soiling issue at fifteen. and not fair to stress out an ancient one because we forget that bladders and bowels grow old along with everything else.
we need to be honest and avoid the old wives platitudes....i have lived with HUNDREDS of incontinent animals...it does NOT embarrass them, it does NOT upset them in the least, it does NOT strip them of their dignity...it is a natural part of aging and they get this, it is no big deal.... UNLESS...it upsets a human....then it stress's them out because they just stressed out someone...and THAT strips them of their dignity, THAT makes them feel embarrassed because loud and clear, they heard someone say..."this is not good" and they understood.
incontinence is a vicious circle...the more it happens, the more upset and unhappy everyone gets...why be unhappy? why make the animal be unhappy...why even think for a second that ending their life will make it all good?...honestly, it just makes them dead.
let's make it fair, let's make it right, let's not worry too much about mistakes and breaking hearts, let's just try to keep them happy and alive....it really is ok to bring them back and let me worry about pee and poop and happy....i am really good at all of that...it's a weird and funky but uniquely useful gift....it is why i love what i do.
once a saint always a saint and that means forever safe from the unhappy risks of incontinence issues.
One of your best posts. Still can't understand people for whom death seems a perfectly rational solution to pee and poo around the house.