[thankfulheart]

We have a guinea pig who is almost 8 years old We got him and his brother at 10 weeks old. His brother we had to have pts a few years ago due to a fast growing cancer. Our remaining old fella has been declining for several months now. I've been syringe feeding him critical care 2 to 3 times a day for that time. He's still eating hay and some pellets but his weight was just dropping so much he needed the supplement. The exotic pet vet we see said that he may have something going on with a tooth or root but without putting him under and checking him out we can't know...and even if he did, we can't really afford that anyway...he isn't in good enough health to do it anyway if we could. She said it would be too hard on him. He's on a daily pain medicine that up til now I've felt had helped keep him somewhat normal. His weight has dropped significantly, he's not walking well and he seems to have a lot of pain in his feet. He's gotten weaker and today fell over on his side trying to jerk the syringe out of my hand. (he likes the pain med lol) He seems to still live for his greens and scarfs those down fast. He sits and drinks in front of his water bottle most of the day.

I'm leaning towards calling in the morning to see if I can bring him to be pts. I keep thinking "but wouldn't it be better for him to go in his own little cuddle cup in his own home"..then I feel guilty. We just had our very special old dog pts this summer and even though he was suffocating from a tumor in his chest..I felt and still feel so guilty at times for taking his life. It's so hard and every time I have to make this decision for one of our furry loves it is so hard, as I know it is for everyone.

I did not go back with our other piggy when he was pts. He was in such bad shape and I do't think he was aware. With this one, I'm worried he will be scared or it will hurt him...after reading how it's done I don't know if I can hold him through it. I don't know if I should take him or keep him on his pain meds and let him live out whatever time he has left here...but I don't want him to be in pain or suffer and I'm afraid he is since his feet seem so painful.

My almost 12 year old had a really hard time with our dog this summer..and now is really fighting the idea of having her piggy pts. She has loved him so much...treated him like a little king of the castle for years. He's quite spoiled. She just wants to make sure he won't hurt when it happens. And she prefers it doesn't happen.

Anyone have experience with euthanasia with a guinea pig?