Sochi was recently diagnosed with cancer and is battling it. His right eye is covered with a film. She was bleeding from her mouth and was refusing her food. Now she stands in her living room in her townhouse, mournfully greeting her family members who have come to bid her farewell.
Sochi climbs onto the leather couch in the living room and lies down. Her owner, Eden Gaines, and her girlfriend's family gather around her. Myers opens his bag.
Mr. Myers explains the procedure. First, Sochi is injected with a sedative to put him to sleep. After 5 to 10 minutes, Dr. Myers will administer pentobarbital sodium. I would euthanize her. But Myers assures her family that Sochi won't feel any pain.
She asks if anyone has any questions.
“Let's go,” she says.
Pet adoptions have surged during the pandemic, with nearly one in five U.S. households adopting an animal and spending far more money on the animal than owners did decades ago. As more and more animals enter our lives, whether as companions, emotional support animals, or beneficiaries of pet trusts, it's important for owners to make their last moments of life as peaceful and pain-free as possible. It is natural to wish.
That's where Myers comes in. In collaboration with Lap of Love, a company that introduces veterinarians to in-home pet euthanasia, she goes from house to house in the Washington, D.C., area to provide euthanasia to animals in grieving families. It offers what the word means: a “good death.” ” In four years, she euthanized 1,500 animals, including cats, dogs, rabbits and rats. Some have been with her owners since her childhood. Some traveled the world with them. There was also the owner's only companion.
Myers has observed death rituals that include prayers, burning incense, wrapping a deceased pet's body in a white sheet, and opening a window to allow the pet's spirit to escape. She has listened to her owners read poems and letters to their pets and cry with them.
“When people hear what I do for a living, it sounds sad,” Myers says. “But it's strangely rewarding. …It gives your pet a peaceful experience. It's the final gift.”
Myers has been surrounded by zoos all her life. During her childhood, she usually had one dog and one or two cats. At various times, she also had two hamsters, two turtles, a guinea pig, a bird, and four chickens. She currently has a 6-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Wren. Travis, a 3 year old pug. Brinkley, a 13-year-old rat terrier and chihuahua. and Pablo the red-bellied parrot.
Just before the pandemic, Myers decided to transition to euthanasia full-time.She was a veterinarian for more than that. After 20 years, pet euthanasia turns out to be less stressful than working in the community. Working in an office while raising two children. Euthanasia at home can be easier on the animal and its owner than an office appointment crowded with other sick animals and distressed owners.
Myers administers the first injection in Sochi's back. The dog was already lying with its head in Gaines' lap, but he glanced at Myers, as if slightly irritated.
Myers used clippers to shave a few inches of one of Sochi's legs and inserted a small IV line. After confirming that her family wishes to proceed, Dr. Myers administers the second lethal dose of the vaccine.
Gaines looks at the spot where the IV was inserted into Sochi's leg.
“It's amazing how much gray she got,” Gaines said.
Myers puts a stethoscope to Sochi's chest. “Sochi has wings,” she says.
Myers puts Sochi on a stretcher and covers him with a blanket. With the help of Gaines' sons, she loads the dog into the car. Ultimately, Sochi will be cremated and her ashes returned to the Gaines family.
Myers says death is a part of life.
“People often comment on what it's like when a human family member dies, and it was very painful at the end, but compared to that, it's peaceful now,” she says.
She says they tell her they wish they could follow the same path.
