Euthanasia, Help me to accept I did the right thing Options

[sheps mama]

I am new to the forum & don't know if I am using it properly, please bear with me. I have just lost my precious Old English Sheepdog, Shep. He was 14 1/2 years old and I don't think I will ever feel normal again. The vet advised us over a month ago to put him to sleep as old age was wrecking his body. He was having problems walking at times but his spirit was willing - it was just his body that was letting him down. He was clearly suffering froom old age but because we were with him all the time, it seemed very gradual to us and not as bad as the vet made out. We love this boy with every bit of us and now the pain is just too much to bear. He was the most loving, giving creature and now I feel that I have let him down just when he needed us most. We did the inevitable yesterday and I feel like someone has ripped me apart from the inside out. I have cried, screamed and shouted and nothing is making this feeling of overwhelming guilt & sorrow go away. How could I have believed that we were doing this for his good? I held his head in my hands as he slipped away and now his face is haunting my every moment. I knew I would never ever be ready to accept that it was his time but now I feel that he wasn't ready either - the way he looked at me as he slipped away - I will never ever forgive myself. I feel that life has just lost it's sparkle and I will never here or see my precious boy again. Can someone please help me believe that we did the right thing before I lose my mind altogether?

[Kim R.]

The thought that helps me the most and I am being repet*itive is that Daisy, like Shep and all of our furbabies, would have lived and died whether I had known her or not. She was on this earth already, with a congenital liver defect and the life expectancy of a dog with such a condition, when I met her. (She actually outlived her life expectancy by many years)

How very true that is! I never really thought about it that way, but when I do, it gives me a great sense of comfort and pride. I was able to give my girl the life that all furbabies deserve, yet, sadly, few receive. There is no telling where she could have ended up (since I found her as a shivering, wet, ball of fur huddled in the corner of a pen at our local animal shelter), and I am eternally grateful that it was with me....thank you for this comforting thought....