i am sorry for your loss
I used to be a veterinary nurse so have helped to pts lots of animals, never once have i thought the decision rushed or incorrect. UNTIL i had to make that decision with my own dog - he had kidney failure, to the extent that his vomit was basically urine The thing is, we COULD have put him on a drip for a further 24 hours and he might have rallied and had a few more months, but i knew from experience that he would most likely only have a week or two. I have goosebumps thinking about this as this is the first time i have really spoken about the guilt i feel about this. I cried so much, i didnt think it possible to cry so much (for some strange reason i cried more than when my father died) It was the guilt you see, because it was MY decision to say, no, he has had enough - what made that decision for me was, standing in the vets he just looked up at me, and his eyes were saying "I've had enough, please let me go". So, i cuddled him and told him we would go chasing squirrels and cradled him whilst my friend gave him the injection. I sat with him for an hour afterwards, i had to be "helped" away. I just sat there saying "i shouldnt have done it, i shouldnt have done it" But now i know, i so did the right thing, i would have only been keeping him alive for me and DP and that would have been selfish.
As i said, i have had to help with this more times than i care to remember, but every time it has felt like a positive thing to do. It is the final kindness, an animal in pain or discomfort just wants and end to it and you can see the relief in their eyes when they drift off.
We kept ourselves busy for a few days afterwards, i swore blind i would never EVER get another dog. This was the first time i saw my DP cry. Getting out of the house helped and another dog wasn't spoken about - it felt wrong. Two weeks later, we brought home a rescue dog from battersea dogs home as we couldnt bear coming home to an empty house. He was another rottie, was the absolute spitting image of our Tiny. But he was totally and utterly completely different. He was PTS last year, again I was distraught but his condition was so bad, we had NO other option, so less guilt. Again, i said no more dogs - i have a jack russel keeping my feet warm as we type - not a rescue as we have a young DD now.
Maybe this is something you could consider for your mum, Battersea dogs and cats home as it is now called have hundreds of cats desperate for a new home and when we took on a rescue dog it made it feel like we wasn't simply replacing our beloved Tiny (our first dog who will always have a special place in our heart) but we were doing something positive. We get the battersea magazine every month and the rehoming stories in there always bring a tear to my eye, but they are always so positive.