> Anecdotally - it seems like a non-trivial percentage of my mom's trips to the vet end in euthanasia.
Part of this could be that pets are limited in their ability to communicate details of their feelings to humans, making it harder for humans to tell the difference between a pet that is acting off because of something that they will recover from without a trip to the vet and one that is acting that way because of something that is serious and is going to go downhill fast if you don't take them to a vet soon.
This leads to vets first going to the vet for a given illness later into that illness than a human with a similar illness would have went to the doctor, hence a greater chance of it being too late.
I’m not a religious or spiritual person, but I assure you my cat told me when he wanted to fight, and when he was ready to go. I’ve never seen a cat so happy as when he saw me again after that long week in the hospital, and likewise when he was on the floor of the bedroom in pain, his face and his little weak voice told me he was ready to go the same as each person I’ve been with in their last moments.
Part of this could be that pets are limited in their ability to communicate details of their feelings to humans, making it harder for humans to tell the difference between a pet that is acting off because of something that they will recover from without a trip to the vet and one that is acting that way because of something that is serious and is going to go downhill fast if you don't take them to a vet soon.
This leads to vets first going to the vet for a given illness later into that illness than a human with a similar illness would have went to the doctor, hence a greater chance of it being too late.