Any time I’ve had to put a pet down, I pay first, then have the vet do it while I comfort my animal. I’ve always felt so bad for the pet owners trying to settle up while blubbering at the counter, can’t stand the thought of doing it then. I just wanna get home to cuddle the ones waiting.
I assume pets recognise death as well, & give them a chance to say goodbye before burial or cremation when I can. It must be awful waiting & expecting your buddy to come home when they won’t be.
Pedro (Siamese) loved the heat of the sun and after he was too sick to go out followed the sunlight around the house and layed on the floor wherever it came in. When the time came, my mobile vet came to the house and I held him in my arms in the sunlight when the anesthesia was administered until he fell off to sleep. The the chemicals that took his life were injected and I held him in a towel until it was over.
Best thing I ever did for him.
That was my situation exactly... then I had to proceed to the funeral home to take care of some details for my Dad's military honors ... They were not a happy three days...