Jimmy battled brain cancer from February of 2019 to September of 2019, and as we approached mid September, I had to confront the very real reality that we were losing the battle to this tumor.

Towards the end of his life, Jimmy had multiple seizures daily, was losing mobility in his limbs, circling incessantly and stopped interacting with me and his siblings.

I knew it was time to put him down, but getting to that decision was incredibly difficult.

Congress's eating right now.

Can you hear it?

I didn't want to Dio.

Uh huh.

I didn't want to do euthanasia before.

I tried everything I could to save him.

But I also didn't want to extend his suffering if death was inevitable just because I didn't want to let him go.

So when you're deciding whether or not to put a pet down, there are some factors to consider Now there are quality of life scales that exists out there that you can look at or take quizzes off.

Most of them have very similar variables, but before I jump into that, I do want to take into consideration financial situations.

I know that I'm in a really privileged position.

I was able and willing to pay thousands and thousands of dollars to try any treatment for Jimmy that the vet recommended.

But having worked in veterinary hospitals in my teenage years, I know that that is not an option for everyone.

So, of course, if your pet is terminally ill, you may have to put them down before you feel comfortable doing so.

And if that's the case, it's okay.

I want you to know it's OK.

You could measure your pets quality of life with five of these key concepts.

One.

Do they have more good days than bad?

This was huge for me, and once Jimmy started having more bad days than good, I knew it was probably time.

It's also helpful to track this with a calendar or something so you can gain more objectivity in this very emotional time to mobility.

How well can they move?

Is it difficult to just get up and eat?

Can they clean themselves?

Cats in particular are very prideful animals, So once Jimmy started losing a lot of his mobility, we knew it was going to affect his psyche.

Cats wanna hide pain and be dignified and the inability to do that along with the confusion of no longer having control over their bodies to the humiliation of falling down into their own feces or urine.

It's gonna have a huge negative impact on their mental health on top of the physical difficulty that they're experiencing.

Three.

Are they in pain?

That's a big one, my vet said.

You can usually tell an animals in pain when they completely stop interacting.

They don't do the things they love anymore.

They don't seek you out for pets or cuddles.

If that was their normal behavior prior to illness they isolate usually in a closet or under a bed, they completely withdraw for how well are they eating and drinking?

Are meals difficult?

Do you have to hand feed them or convince them to eat?

Are they rapidly losing weight?

I mean, this is a red flag for obvious reasons, and the final factor five is you.

This one was hard, but a lot of friends, and also a lot of vets that I consulted brought this up.

How is this affecting you?

Are you financially able to support your pet down this road.

Is it a more compassionate choice for the both of you to end the suffering Now?

Does the illness require you to be at home all the time to monitor them?

I work from home, so I was able to be there more often for Jimmy on track his seizures throughout the day.

But I know that this is not a realistic option for people with a 9 to 5.

And I've had a lot of friends who went down the road of trying absolutely everything to save their pet and Onley turning to euthanasia when they had to.

And I can say that they all regret it because even though they suffered, their pet suffered more.

And those friends wish that they had had the strength and the bravery and the compassion to end the suffering for their pet before it got that bad.

And it's hard because it feels like when you choose euthanasia, you're killing your baby.

But euthanasia is and can be a gift I chose in in home euthanasia because Jimmy hates the vet.

I mean, who doesn't?

And I wanted him to be able to just pass peacefully in the house.

And if you go this route, just you know what to expect.

Someone will come.

And there are three injections that they'll dio.

The first injection is to relax them.

The second one is an anesthetic which will just completely knock them out and make them stop feeling altogether.

And the third injection that they get stops their heart.

E was really lucky.

I had a lot of friends come over and support me saying goodbye to my son and I chose to cremate him, and I'll show you, actually, what you get.

Um, e chose to cremate him, and you get You can choose also to get, like, a little pop print like this, and you should take, like, 14 days to get this back.

This is actually Phoebe, my first cat, but Jimmy will come home soon.

And if you're watching this video because you're in the position off wondering, is it time?

First time I'm so sorry you have to make that.

I remember I was Googling I was Google searching when this first happened to me.

And it's just automatically crying like this is such a horrible thing.

So, like I have to deal with.

Um But what I found most comforting in this time is the following words from my therapist, Jimmy found a loving and wonderful mother.

And you that is a part of life that transcends time and gets to be yours Always.

Your time with your pet is yours always.

And you'll know when it's time to let them go.

It's a very brave, compassionate and really hard decision.

But I and your for baby trust that you will do right by them who I'm in a Khanna go adopt a couple of fucking cats and love them for me.

Goodbye.