I think some people keep their ailing or aged pets alive too long. They are thinking of how painful it will be to lose their beloved pet, but maybe not thinking that the pet does not have a good quality of life and it's best to let them go. We recently had one of our cats get some sort of liver disease and she was fading slowly but surely... losing weight and listless. My DH spoon fed her baby food and yogurt and even squirted syringes of water into her mouth. He asked me one night "Why am I doing this?" It broke my heart to tell him that he was keeping her alive because he loved her so much he could not let her go. The next day, we took her to the vets together to put her to sleep.

I sent him to this site for a little comfort: http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm

I think we need to do what we have to do to get over our grief of losing a pet, but I don't think we should keep them alive when their quality of life is gone. The ultimate love is to let them go and have peace.