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nrhareiner
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Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 154
Location: Ohio
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 Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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You are telling me you cut off the legs of a deer before you bleed them???? If so then how do you do it??? Legs are the last thing cut off a deer not the first. Yes there is not alot there to use for good eating but they do have their use. I keep the meet off of them what little there is to feed the dogs. They get a partial raw diet and venison is very good for that and what is on the legs works well.
Heidi
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nrhareiner
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Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 154
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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One thing I will say about floting teath. At that age he probable did not have any. I have a 28 yo Poco G-daughter. She is getting to the point I am thinking about putting her down. At this time she gets around prity good eats well and can get up and down. I have her teath checked every time the Equine Dentist comes out and he will not do her teath. He said that they are prity good and having to tranq her to get them done would be worst then just letting her go. She eats well and the feed she gets (Equine Sr, Mashed alfalfa cubs, Alfalfa Hay and grass) keeps her looking prity good. When the time comes that she can not get around up or down and/or can not eat or keep weath I will get out the back hoe and have the vet out.
You will know when the time comes. You can look into their eyes and see it. I also have an 18yo dog who is really getting to the point I think he will be put down soon. He is loosing his teath. Although he eats very well. Needs help at times getting up but once he dose he dose prity good. He has not given me that look yet although it has come close a few times.
It really is a hard thing to deside but you just have to believe it really is the best thing for them not for you.
Heidi
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Linda_D
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Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 212
Location: Jamestown, NY
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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| nrhareiner wrote: | | It really is a hard thing to deside but you just have to believe it really is the best thing for them not for you. |
Well said, Heidi. You do it because it's best for the animal even though it breaks your heart. |
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horsetrainer89
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Joined: 31 Dec 2007
Posts: 267
Location: Iowa
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | You are telling me you cut off the legs of a deer before you bleed them???? If so then how do you do it??? |
Well, it is the first part after we gut them out at the site we shot them. Then take them home, hang them, saw off their legs and start to skin them, and then cut off the meat we want, and feed the rest to the dogs. That's that way we do it, but their are several ways to do it. That's just the method my hunting party uses and we can move pretty fast most of the time. |
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bullsie
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Joined: 26 Jan 2005
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 10:20 am Post subject: |
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Getting back to the 'issues' of horses.
"Say something happened to you today, would you seriously have that horse put to sleep at 10 years old?" I agree that that is a reasonable decision.
One must realize that when horse slaughter shops closed they 'processed' over 100,000 horses a YEAR (who knows how many in the USA were closer to the Canadian and Mexican plants and went there. And no records are kept on the number whose owners shoot them, 'free' them, starve them, waste-away etc.). One must also realize that horses are still shipped to Canada and Mexico for processing. One must also realize that the likely hood of having a good home when the animals life ends, is pretty slim. Yes, euthanasia is not so bad, irregardless of the age, when the odds of a horrible death - not necessarily in a slaughter house - are pretty high. |
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ingallsra
Yearling
Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 4:06 pm Post subject: Re: Difficult decisions |
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| dctrainingandlessons wrote: | I'd like opions on this subject.. One that hits home with all of us sooner or later as horse owners and lovers.
How do you feel about euthanasia with older horses? Do you feel they should be skin and bone and lame or sickly before euthanasia? When do you feel is the "right" time?
I've been debating this idea for the past year, since one of my oldies just isn't himself anymore, and the other is lame. The first is 22 and up until the past year looked 10, but now his age is catching up with him and he's developed a sway back and just can't keep weight on anymore. He's still in good shape, but before where he used to be a porker, he's now more lean, although he's never shown ribs in his life and not now either. He just doesn't have the same glow that he used to, or the life in him that he had. I think he's also getting some arthritis, and seems so much more cranky than usual. He was my first horse and is a bit of a trouble maker by nature, very few other people can ride him and he's a handful to handle at times as well for others.. Of course selling him isn't an option, I'd rather jump off a bridge than take the chance he'd end up in a lesser home than mine. I know that it may sound selfish to some, but I don't want to see him get to the point where he can't chew food, and needs to be on daily meds for arthritis. I'd always hoped that this horse would go out with a boom, stay as proud as he'd always been, how I remember him.. But he is aging and while I'm not saying in the next year, I am thinking toward the next few years...
The other had a broken knee 3 years ago from a severely neglected home. He was my 2nd horse I owned and had to sell him due to college. While he's sound for light rides, mostly around the yard, on cold or wet days he's hardly sound enough to jog in the pasture on his own free will. He's happy and needs his hay regulated because he tends to get too fat, which isn't good for his arthritis. He looks good at 21, but you can see his age in him.
These two have been almost life-long buds and are together 24/7. They are both pretty much retired at this point and really only just stand around and eat and reign over the big 10 acre pasture together. Their life with me has been the best years of their lives and they are pampered and loved and don't go without anything. I don't want to have to watch them go down hill, to get so old that they suffer or can't enjoy themselves, which I know if selfish on my part.. But I made promises that they would be here until the day they die and I don't want to be the selfish one who keeps them here for myself. I don't want to be the person that waits until something happens to make the decision. But at the same time, I don't want people to point fingers at me like I'm the bad guy for putting down a horse that could still live on senior diet and wetted down alfalfa cubes. I see that so much on the internet with rescue sites and the like, people who keep them hanging on because they can't let go and give them their dignity. The truth is, both these horses are PROUD, they are full of themselves, and personality wise are very "free". When they're done being clipped, they prance around the pasture like kings, and fight over who gets groomed first. I don't know if I'm putting human attributes to them, but it seems that they know they're aging, and are losing that spark about them more and more. Another thing is that they seem to develop more jealousy.. Physically they can't go for miles upon miles out on the trail, but seem very bitter toward the horses out here that get ridden often.
Does anyone have any opinions or words to help me with this? Like I said, I'm talking (hopefully) years here, not days or months, but I want to be prepared and ready when the time comes. |
I think you ask a very valid question. And I understand where you're coming from completely. Here's my opinion. Our animals can't choose their end--we have to choose it for them. When my horse reaches an age when he's going downhill and there's no hope for improvement, and especially if he's becoming uncomfortable, I will put him down. I'll actually be facing that very thing with my old, loyal dog in the next year or two. Choosing to euthanize your horse under your circumstances doesn't make you a horrible person. You strike me as exactly the opposite--you obviously care very deeply for your old friends.
Here's another thing to consider. The cost to keep a horse is increasing astronomically and it doesn't help that the slaughterhouses are closed (I'm not trying to start a slaughterhouse debate). Now instead of a horse being shot in a slaughterhouse in the U.S., it will either be shot in Canada or knifed to death in the neck in Mexico. The horse market, which was full of unwanted horses before, is now even more saturated. More and more horses will just starve to death because there is absolutely nowhere for them to go. I'm going off on a tangent, but my point is this: it's becoming harder and harder for people with aged and unusable horses to maintain those horses, and they're often doing it at the expense of then not being able to afford a usable horse. You're spending money to care for two horses that are aged and unusable.
Only you can make the decision of the appropriate time to say goodbye to your horses--but it sounds like you know what you want to do and that you're doing it for all the right reasons. It doesn't mean you love them any less. It means you love them enough to consider the possibilities. Good luck to you whatever you decide. |
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Dawn
Active Member
Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Posts: 303
Location: Northern CA
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| Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:57 am Post subject: |
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My opinion...when we have had old horse's it becomes about quality of life. If they can comfortably get around in a pasture: Lay down, get up, eat their feed and remain fairly consistent doing those things...they have a good quality of life. Would I ride these horses...NO. would I expect them to run around the field like a racehorse...NO...I just want them to be consistent with what they normally do. When something starts to fail...can it be treated or is the treatment going to create a situation where the quality of life will be less; but the quantity will be more...it is at that point when I seriously start thinking about putting a horse down. I don't think there is an age formula that you can use...rather it is observation over a period of time, knowing your horse and working with the same vet who can hopefully help you make the right choice.
Just my opinion. |
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ImaTexasPeach
Yearling
Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I'm a Veterinary Technician by degree and licensing. I can tell you that is the one question that owners come in looking for a definative answer on. In my opinion, it is a quality of life issue. In my mid to late 20s, most of my lifetime pets were getting up there in years. Any of my animals that had crossed the bridge up to that point had gone of natural causes. Even though I'd held the hand of clients and friends who had to make that decision, I'd never had to actually do it myself.
My horse that I got when I was 13 had a bad colic when I was in college. I spent weeks by his side and I begged and borrowed enough money to take him for a 5,000.00 surgery. While they were doing the surgery they did find some small masses in his intestines, however the biopsies came back inconclusive. His colic incision was from sternum to sheath. He had a long hard recovery, but a year later we were riding again! Almost two years after the surgery he developed the typical melanomas under his tail that grey horses get. I took some samples in, we looked at them in the clinic and sent some off. Unfortunately the melanoma ended up not being the benign kind. We did some treatments, eventually they felt like it had spread to his brain. While he appeared physically OK on the outside, the veterinarians felt like the cancer was metastasizing. His colic incision scar also began to deteriorate and it had a small hole where it was dehiscing. (opening) Even with all that faced me I struggled with what to do for my old friend. (Wow, I'm REALLY emotional writing this, that horse and I had a very special bond.) Not only was his prognosis grim, it would have required a substantial financial investment and more long hard recovery that the vets felt would not work. The horse was 17. He was loosing his sight and potentially needed an enucleation. He just was not himself most of the time. Every now and then there would be a small flicker of the horse I knew, but for the most part he was lost. A vet friend of mine came out and euthanized him for me. It was very peaceful. She sedated him and he laid his head in my lap and just went to sleep. Did I do the right thing? Should I have attempted treatment? Sometimes I don't know. The day we put him down he was having a good day. Of course, I tried to reason with myself and my vet friend that he looked "better" that day. She told me "Good, then you will remember him that way instead of down in the pasture, or hurt from his incision opening."
Over the next year my 22 year old cat also deteriorated as well as my 17 year old great pyrenees. In 2007 my 16 year old chessie also suddenly deteriorated and we put her through some treatment, but ultimately her quality of life was gone. As with my horse, it was hard decisions. Even with training and experience helping other people through it, it's different when it's your own pet.
Wow, that was long, sorry. I guess I miss my friend, and what I am saying is that is a hard decision, but I think that ultimately you will know. |
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