Should I euthanize the pet fish?

We have a betta, Minnie, who has been part of our household for about eight months. For the first seven months, he swam happily in his bowl, gobbled up his fishie flakes, and kept Isaac totally entertained. But for the last few weeks, Minnie has been failing. He stays at the bottom of the bowl most of the time, rarely eats his food, and this morning I noticed a green mold growing on his body. I have a feeling that Minnie won't be with us much longer.

For the last week or so, I've been thinking pretty seriously about flushing Minnie. Bryce keeps tapping the outside of the glass to make sure he'll still wiggle a fin at us. Every time I walk past his bowl, I check to make sure he's not floating. I'm not sure how I'll take it when he finally does float. When Thirsty, one of our Minnesota goldfish, died last winter, I waited until Eddie came home from work so he could take care of her. Watching Minnie die has been tedious for us, but I wonder if making things easier on us (by flushing her now), means that he'll suffer more in the short run.

I don't mean for this to be as trite as it may sound, but one reason why I'm inclined to flush is because Eddie's grandma died yesterday. She was one month shy of her 98th birthday. Ever since I met her, 13 years ago, she has been predicting her imminent demise. When Eddie left on his mission in 1994, she said, "Give me a big hug because I'll probably be dead when you get back." But she wasn't. She gave both of Eddie's little brothers the same speech when they left, but when they returned, she was still around, as spunky as ever.

But in the last year, Grandma June went downhill quickly. She lost her appetite, got weaker, and that began a viscious cycle of weakness and weight loss. The last year was really hard on her, and she often said that she wished she could die. It was also a horrible year for her daughters, who arranged for her care and spent as much time with her as possible. Although we're sad that she's gone, in so many ways it's a good thing that she's not miserable anymore.

Since death was a blessing for Grandma June, I'm wondering if I'd be practicing kindness or cowardice by flushing Minnie on to that great fishbowl in the sky.

--originally published 5/13/06