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I'm in a terrible position with my Great Dane Infinity. She's 11 1/2 and nearing the sunset of her life. I've accepted this and have talked at length about it with the vet. She's had a great life and I have no regrets at all. I've had her since she was 7 weeks old. She's only been with me. We're making a last ditch effort to keep her going a little while longer. She seems OK for now, but it's touch and go. She has severe osteoarthrosis and hip dysplasia that makes it very difficult for her to walk, and she's on every possible medication to treat it. We're at the end of the road, treatment wise. She can walk, but barely.
I don't want her to suffer and I'll send her to the Rainbow Bridge when appropriate. The problem is, I have an out of state work trip coming up. It's for a month and I must go. I don't want to have her put down when I'm gone. But I don't think she's ready now either. I have two weeks until I leave. It's an awful dilemma. My wife is wonderful. She said she will do it if needed while I'm gone but that would break my heart. I don't want it done without me there. I can't come home from my trip; I'm a healthcare worker and work 4000 miles from home. But I don't want her suffering either. We've had 11 1/2 years together and she's my heart dog.
Sorry to hear this. I have had to go through this several times. The worst for me, was not euthanasia, but while i was away my best friend Orville the cockatoo got a prolapsed rectum. My wife took him to a specialist who did surgery which went well, then after four days he was just dead one morning. My wife called me sobbing from 2500 miles away and I felt as if I had bene punched in the gut. I got him when he was a few months old and he was 30 when he died. He only had one functioning wing, so he was able to go everywhere with me and everyone loved him. He even had dinner with the LA RAMs one evening.
We also had to euthanize two dogs, a cat and one chicken while I was away for work. (at different times, not all at once). I was glad that i was not home for the chicken, but the dogs were rough.
it is very hard being there, but harder being away. At least someone will be there for her if that time comes.
BTW we discovered that with all of our dogs when they got old and decrepit, getting a puppy really seemed to liven them up in their last days, weeks or months (or even years). We had one dog that really seemed ot be gone. Never got up except to eat and poop, and showed little interest in anything. We go a puppy that the older dog got up (painfully) and jumped around, and even ran little (painfully). The old dog that we thought was a goner lived two more years and seemed really happy. It also made it easier for our kids to handle losing a dog if they had a new puppy or young dog to love on. We have always had giant dogs and they do not live so long, so it was something we had to deal with several times.
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