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Status:
"Smartened up and walked away!"
(set 27 days ago)
11,788 posts, read 5,795,007 times
Reputation: 14208
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Need opinions as I don't want him to suffer. I have a mixed breed - terrier, lab, beagle - medium sized dog. He's currently on Apoquel for allergies. He's 12 1/2 yrs old. He has multiple fatty tumors which in itself aren't harmful but one is huge and in his armpit. He's had to wear pee pads for the last yr as he was peeing in the house and has started to poop in the house. He won't do stairs since falling down the basement stairs 3 months ago but now he's even having trouble going down the 2 cement stairs to get to the backyard. He's been jumping off those the past week and almost faceplanted.
3 yrs ago while having an eye cyst removed the vet called and said they found a nodule in his throat - we did a biopsy and the vet said it was cancerous and he wanted to do a jaw resection at the cost of $6000 which I didn't have the money for. The vet said he'd probably live for 3 to 6 months and he's alive today. Whether the vet was telling the truth or not - I don't know.
I had him to the vet 3 weeks ago due to the pee issue - he was put on antibiotics for ulcers on his stomach which developed because of the bands - and I did wash or wipe him with baby wipes every time I removed his diaper.
I've noticed the past week that when eating dog biscuits he's more cautious and wonder if he's having problems with his teeth.
He's still happy - wagging his tail, trying to chase birds occasionally and loving but we have to keep him in the kitchen in case he pees.
We're selling the house in a couple of weeks and moving out of state. I'm concerned with him even getting up into the SUV when we leave for showings and he won't let us lift him - he growls.
Thoughts anyone? Like I said he seems happy, occasionally grunts and groans when laying down and is eating and drinking. But the fact he occasionally trips over himself and has splayed out on the parquet floor a couple of times when he lost his footing concerns me. I've neglected signs previously in another dog and just thought they were aging and felt so bad afterward thinking I should have put them down sooner.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,186,228 times
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In most cases for us over the last 40 years with many dogs, it's pretty obvious, when the dog is old, sometimes beyond life expectancy, and cannot get up so has to be carried to the car for the trip to the vet. The vet will do an exam and confirm, then do the deed. Usually if a dog growls when lifted it's causing pain. In your case I would suggest talking to the vet and see if they can give you a sedative so you can get him into the car.
In exactly 1 hour from now I will be at the vet's office having my 15.5 y.o. poodle euthanized. She has a whole range of issues; bone cancer in one leg, dementia, cataracts, deafness. It's taken me weeks to make the terrible decision to let her go, but I finally had to acknowledge that she will never get better, only worse and it's not fair to her. She's not in pain thanks to heavy medication but she's just not enjoying life anymore.
She limps around the house in circles, gets lost, stares at the wall and like your dog, collapses on the floor and has to be carried just about everywhere. Another thing, she's lost her previous voracious appetite and has to be hand fed.
It all comes down to quality of life I guess. I can't tell you what you should do, but I'd hazard a guess that by asking the question here, you probably know the answer. I'm really sorry and wish you luck.
It's one of those things that you know in your heart. If your pup is in pain, incontinent, doesn't want to be picked up, yet, can't make it down the two steps to go potty, appears to be having trouble chewing food, has large tumors that could rupture, is getting ulcers on his tummy from the doggy diapers...his quality of life is vastly diminished. And, unfortunately, it is not going to get any better.
Our sweet Golden needed "lift assist" in the last year of her life. When she laid down or, in some cases, when her legs splayed out from under her, she could not get up by herself. Once she was on her feet she was good to go. She never lost her appetite, never became incontinent and would sometimes even play with her toys. But she had some tumors, both fatty and cancerous, and they were becoming more and more bothersome to her. Her vision and her hearing were failing. And one day one of her tumors ruptured. I was right there when it happened and she yelped in pain which she never did. It bled and even when we got the bleeding slowed down, it still seeped. I knew that was it and we made an appt with the vet. Looking back, I wish that we had let her go before that.
Dog ramp would help. You can probably find a good used one on the Facebook Market place.
IF hes only peeing inside instead of pad made into a diaper or a whole diaper Try a Belly band.
You seem to be trying to make his life a comfortable as possible... I say keep it up When his quality of life goes down Pain goes up then would be the time to think about putting him to sleep. Or as what happened to my GF dog, she was asking me to go to the vets with him. When he figured out what was going on he walked over gave a big sigh Died in her arms. Some time they just need an ok from their humans to let go.
Status:
"Smartened up and walked away!"
(set 27 days ago)
11,788 posts, read 5,795,007 times
Reputation: 14208
Thanks all - as I said it's tough when they seem playful but are losing the ability to function. DH won't think about it but it's only going to get worse. The vet didn't even broach on putting him down 3 weeks ago as I stated right out that wasn't my intention but just in the past 2 weeks I can see things getting worse.
My thoughts and prayers to all of you who have or are in the process of losing your best friends.
We made this kind of call twice in the recent past. Nothing is harder as far as I am concerned. To me, I asked myself if I were in the dog's place, what would I want to happen. There too becomes a question when the suffering is very obvious as to whether the dog is suffering because we can't let go. I knew someone who said "I'm not ready to let him go.", and I said "It isn't about you." It was a 15 year old poodle that was in extremely bad shape despite everything the vet could do.
I think we all really see when it is "time", but some refuse to acknowledge seeing it.
*** Plug for in home euthanasia ***
First time I have done this ... my god the difference was night and day.
I'll never do it any other way.
I certainly agree with this. But I am very sorry you had to make the loving but excruciating decision.
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When his quality of life goes down Pain goes up then would be the time to think about putting him to sleep. Or as what happened to my GF dog, she was asking me to go to the vets with him. When he figured out what was going on he walked over gave a big sigh Died in her arms. Some time they just need an ok from their humans to let go.
