when its time to say goodbye?

Ok,Granted i may not be as in love with animals as some people here are.
I have always cared very much for them, and always did what i could to do the right thing for them (hehe trust me my mother used to get so upset with me for bringing home every stay dog or cat i could find )

after reading some of the posts in over the bridge section. I have a question.
I have seen several family members and friends die. I have always felt a sort of detached from those things when they happned. Later once i was alone i would cry sometime not. But always alone.

however as i am looking back, I now see that at no time was i able to be in the room,
when one of my pets where PTS. the last one that come to mind. there was cat that was not even my cat, but used to stay around the house. all the time, someone shot it, i took it to the vet, but they said there was way to much damange for them to fix it, but i could not stay there when they did the PTS thing. there seems to be like itch in the back of my head, that wants to stop it,, even when i know its the right thing to do. SO how do you deal with doing that?

lol ok that was way to much typing,
oh yea, i cant even watch that animal cops show I think its on TLC
oh sorry mabye that is a little to much a question to ask , but it was just something, i started thinking about

I found to terribly hard when we PTS our last last cat. She was elderly and had rapidly declined and was no longer happy, so we knew it was the right thing to do, nonetheless it is difficult. I cried all the way home. My husband didn't actually cry, but he was very upset. He'd had her for 16 years. It's just one of those unpleasant parts of life that we have to deal with I guess.

My first pet that we PTS was my guinea pig. I had her for 5 years. But she wound up developing a condition where her stomach would fill with air. So I had to put her down.

When I was younger, my mom couldn't bring herself to put our family dog TS, so our dog lived for another year. But during that time, she had bad arthritis, would lose control of her bladder and basically went from bad to worse.

IMO, watching something that i loved suffer when you ultimately knew that it was there time was more painful than PTS. It sucks because after my G-pig I felt horribly guilty for 6 months afterwards but I knew deep down I did the right thing. I couldn't stand to watch her suffer and die.

The first animal I saw PTS was a cat from the rescue, Mort. He has renal failure, and it was the best thing for him.. I know I woulnd't want to live like he was living. He was so sick, that the first needle, (the one that puts them into a sleep, not the euthanisia one.) actually made his heart stop.

Thank God I have never really lost a pet that way. It actually almost makes me cry to think of having to be there if Trout were to be PTS. I can't imagine her not around anymore, but whats worse, I can't imagine saying goodbye forever and wondering what she must be thinking at that moment..I am in tears right now thinking about losing her. Darn this thread.

I pray that when that time comes, I will be strong enough for her. I have to be because that is what will make her last thoughts peaceful ones.