When to put a dog down

[Kae]

We just had to put our Bailey down Jan 3rd. He was 15 1/2. He had a seizure in november, his first one. Then he was fine we took him to the vet the next day. And he was acting normal. December 23rd he had another again next morning he was fine. But Sunday Jan 2nd he had over 10 & he was getting worse so we took him in monday & it was time. It has been very hard, my kids had never known life without him. And my other dog is still a little lost. I had asked Bailey after the first one in november to please make it thru the holidays for me & he did.

Kae

 

[SandrA9810]

I had a few vets tell me it was time to put her down, but I just couldn't let go of her yet. She was still the happy loving Kiani I always knew. I waited about four more months, with on and off prescription drugs to help her out. I also carried her up and down the stairs.

But one morning, I woke up and she didn't come when I called her. I found her laying on the kitchen floor with the biggest saddest eyes. I knew it was it time. She reached the threshold of being in too much pain. It was much harder to see her in pain than it was to loose her.

 

[walden]

I have a friend that has a rescue dog. Now, I know nothing about how all this works, but she has cancer and the vet told her that it is inoperable, right now she is fine and she doesn't have any pain or problems resulting from it. The vet did tell her that as soon as she starts showing symptoms and is in pain, that because she is a rescue dog, he had to step in and put her down, even if my friend didn't want him to. That being said, my friend completely agrees, she has had a very hard life and is now in a wonderful home. But no more pain for this doggie.

That is very odd (the bolded bit). I've never heard of a vet treating a rescue dog any differently. I wonder if the vet is just trying (kindly) to shoulder the responsibility for the decision to spare your friend for having to make it?

It is always a horrible decision to have to make. Most times I've had to let a dog go it was fairly clear cut (terminal cancer) or extreme old age with multiple health problems and rapidly declining quality of life.

The most difficult decision I had to make was with a 17 year old Jack Russell who began to get increasingly demented although she was physically quite healthy. I loved that dog and had owned her from a 12 week old puppy. I did not want to let her go.

The dementia progressed so gradually it was really hard for me to accept how bad she was getting. So what if she was incontinent and lost her way in the house and yard? She was on doggy Aricept and still "recognised" me and ate well. I let her go the very first day she did not eat. As soon as it was over I realized that I should have made the decision earlier, but hindsight is 20:20 and I made the best decisions I could at the time..

OP, for your friend, there are several quality of life scales out there for dogs that can be very helpful in decision-making. This is one from a cancer awareness site. http://www.caninecancer.com/endoflife.html

 

[mhsjax]

That is very odd (the bolded bit). I've never heard of a vet treating a rescue dog any differently. I wonder if the vet is just trying (kindly) to shoulder the responsibility for the decision to spare your friend for having to make it?

It is always a horrible decision to have to make. Most times I've had to let a dog go it was fairly clear cut (terminal cancer) or extreme old age with multiple health problems and rapidly declining quality of life.

The most difficult decision I had to make was with a 17 year old Jack Russell who began to get increasingly demented although she was physically quite healthy. I loved that dog and had owned her from a 12 week old puppy. I did not want to let her go.

The dementia progressed so gradually it was really hard for me to accept how bad she was getting. So what if she was incontinent and lost her way in the house and yard? She was on doggy Aricept and still "recognised" me and ate well. I let her go the very first day she did not eat. As soon as it was over I realized that I should have made the decision earlier, but hindsight is 20:20 and I made the best decisions I could at the time..

OP, for your friend, there are several quality of life scales out there for dogs that can be very helpful in decision-making. This is one from a cancer awareness site. http://www.caninecancer.com/endoflife.html

It could be that the vet is doing just that. What he didn't know is that, they agreed that she had been through so much that as soon as this cancer starts to take control, they will put her down. She deserves not to suffer a minute more and they know this. So far so good, She is doing well, and we are all happy about that.

 

[ckay87]

Our dog is 14 1/2 and she's in pain a lot from arthritis. But she still has so much spirit left, and I think that's the key. She'll still jump around, excited about something, but then fall down some steps. Then she'll just get up and be all spunky again. As long as she has that happiness in her heart and an enjoyment of life despite her increasing physical limitations, she's fine. But when her suffering becomes so that she doesn't have that enjoyment, we'll have to let her go. But 14 years in our family....geez that's hard.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I asked my friend (who breeds dogs) that when our cocker was old and in pain. Her response was, "When they look you in the eye and say, 'I'm not having fun anymore.'"

 

[DawnM]

yes, dogs is what I meant.....typing and yelling at kids at the same time just doesn't seem to work at all. (not really yelling, just re-directing! )

I see, well, I don't know where I stand on someone who is begging to die and in that condition.

Dawn

I think you mean, you don't put dogs in the same category as people. To expand upon my post, I do believe in assisted suicide for terminally ill people or those whose quality of life is to the point of never ending suffering with no hope for medical treatment to change their status.

 

[Parkers_girl]

As someone who just had to put my almost 11 year old dog down about a month ago I can tell you that I just *knew*. You always hear people saying "you'll just know when it's time", but I couldn't imagine ending his life not knowing and always played the "what ifs" in my mind. We knew our boy's kidneys were failing since June but we had no idea how little time we actually we had left with him. He started really doing downhill in October, he went from 65 pounds down to 35, wouldn't eat anything but steak and cheese, and just wasn't happy anymore. I slowy began to accept that he was fading, never knowing if he'd go in his sleep on his own or the other way. His last two weeks he refused to eat anything, even steak and raw meat. He didn't want to play outside(which was extremely rare for him) and the last week before he never left his bed. His eyes looked tired and defeated and I just knew in my heart that part of him was already gone. The day we put him down, he was breathing slowly and having trouble standing and to be honest I felt like he was already gone when they brought him in the room for the injection. However, he never once cried during his sickness, and kept a brave face on for us up until his very sickest point. But it was still truly hard.

 

[carrie1626]

Our beloved rescue dog DUKE a boxer/pit mix was put down Dec 8 this past year. The absolute hardest decision I've ever been a part of.

My husband had to first talk me into it and we backed out, then I had to talk him into it. I told him "the only one we are making happy is us and that isn't love".

We have our beautiful memories and lots of pictures and there's another rescue dog out there for us in the next few months

 

[DVC-Don]

We had to put our pug down back in 2004. He had been blind for quite a few years but made out pretty good around the house (long as you did not move anything). But then his hips started giving him problems. We built ramps for him to go outside but then he could not even negotiate the ramps. It was hard. He was about 10 years old.

 

[clh2]

We put our 12 year old white shepard/yellow lab mix down last fall. He had been having some problems from the summer, that the vet originally had thought was an ACL-type of injury. When some additional issues came up in October, the vet x-rayed Riley. The xrays indicated bone cancer, the vet estimated he had 1-2 months left. The vet also said that eventually, Riley would also start breathing hard, and moving around a lot at night, due to being in pain.

We had Riley euthenized about a week and a half later. Knowing he was in pain, and while the vet had given us pain meds, we knew it was time.

In some regards, it was an easy decision - because there is no way we wanted him to suffer.

In some regards, it was the most difficult decision to make. I really miss him, he was a Mama's Boy.

In retrospect - from a timing perspecitive, I know we did the best thing for Riley.

 

[natenapril]

Our dog, Samson, is 11 and he's recently went blind. I took him to the vet last week. He was tested for Glaucoma because it's painful. He, thankfully, doesn't have it. The vet prescribed some drops. They are hard as heck to get in his eyes, but we're doing them twice a day.

He also coughs a lot and has some breathing issues. The vet prescribed a steroid to see if that helps. He thinks it's something similar to COPD in humans. We take him back tomorrow to see if he's responding to the treatment.

He still eats, drinks and uses the bathroom as usual. He doesn't seem to be in pain but if I thought for a minute he was, we'd have him put to sleep. It will be very hurtful for us all but I couldn't stand to see our dear sweet Sampy hurting.

My 12 year old Golden has Glaucoma and our vet also prescribed drops for his eyes. But he has other issues as well.

That is very odd (the bolded bit). I've never heard of a vet treating a rescue dog any differently. I wonder if the vet is just trying (kindly) to shoulder the responsibility for the decision to spare your friend for having to make it?

It is always a horrible decision to have to make. Most times I've had to let a dog go it was fairly clear cut (terminal cancer) or extreme old age with multiple health problems and rapidly declining quality of life.

The most difficult decision I had to make was with a 17 year old Jack Russell who began to get increasingly demented although she was physically quite healthy. I loved that dog and had owned her from a 12 week old puppy. I did not want to let her go.

The dementia progressed so gradually it was really hard for me to accept how bad she was getting. So what if she was incontinent and lost her way in the house and yard? She was on doggy Aricept and still "recognised" me and ate well. I let her go the very first day she did not eat. As soon as it was over I realized that I should have made the decision earlier, but hindsight is 20:20 and I made the best decisions I could at the time..

OP, for your friend, there are several quality of life scales out there for dogs that can be very helpful in decision-making. This is one from a cancer awareness site. http://www.caninecancer.com/endoflife.html

Wow! Thanks for the site! It's helped!

We put our 12 year old white shepard/yellow lab mix down last fall. He had been having some problems from the summer, that the vet originally had thought was an ACL-type of injury. When some additional issues came up in October, the vet x-rayed Riley. The xrays indicated bone cancer, the vet estimated he had 1-2 months left. The vet also said that eventually, Riley would also start breathing hard, and moving around a lot at night, due to being in pain.

We had Riley euthenized about a week and a half later. Knowing he was in pain, and while the vet had given us pain meds, we knew it was time.

In some regards, it was an easy decision - because there is no way we wanted him to suffer.

In some regards, it was the most difficult decision to make. I really miss him, he was a Mama's Boy.

In retrospect - from a timing perspecitive, I know we did the best thing for Riley.

Our Golden is in pain and on a whole lot of pain medicine and I jut can't let him go. We are moving over 3000 miles soon and I know deep in my heart the move will be too hard on him. He has Cancer, Arthritis, and Glaucoma. I need to find the strength to let him go. But I can't.

 

[postage stamp]

This is why it's so important to have a vet you trust. It can be HARD to make this decision when you are so emotionally invested in it's outcome. I use the same vet my parents used. He's seen our family through some awesome and some horrible times. He really truly understands that these are members of our family, but he's not afraid to tell us the truth. He's not wishy washy with it, and when Dr. Osborne tells you it's time, well then it's time.

 

[marthachick]

My 12 year old Golden has Glaucoma and our vet also prescribed drops for his eyes. But he has other issues as well.

I'm sorry to hear that. It's really hard to watch them bump into stuff and wander around. Hugs to you for that & his other issues.

 

[ems_mom]

I wish our vet had more honest and forceful about putting our dog down in 2009. In one day, we learned our 10 year old silkie was sick, had x-rays and ultra-sounds. Our vet told us he was very sick, but a specialist might help. She sent us to another facility that did more tests and said an immediate operation was our only hope.

He died during the operation. He had an enormous tumor (for a 12 pound dog) in his stomach. My husband will never get over not getting to say goodbye. Our only consolation is that he was unconscious when he passed.

I wish our vet had been more honest about his chances. We could have been with him when he was put down and saved the $2,500-$3,000 we spent that one day.

 

[lisajl]

My SIL has a 20 year old mixed dog that just keeps going.
I have on a few occassions discussed euthanasia with her, but she just can't bring herself to do it. Everyone else in the family can see how this dog is suffering but she can't let go.

I work for a vet and he always tells people when they stop being a dog (running, playing, eating, etc), is the time to do it.

Lisa

 

[Maridw]

We put our white german shepherd to sleep in 2007. It was a very hard choice for us. We think that one weekend she ended up getting some of the contaminated dog food. We had her on Science Diet IP, but ran out on the weekend so purchased some food to hold us over until we could get her regular. Later in the week she had very bad diarrhea. We got that taken care of, but she was never the same.

She started having problems and we took her to the vet numerous times. Finally we decided to put her to sleep. Right up until my daughter brought her to the vet, we were going to maybe have more tests run. We met at the vets office and my daughter went to pick her up. When she got to the house Bambi had been throwing up blood. That was the final deciding factor.

Sometimes you just know. My best friend would not have any of her pets put to sleep except one. All them have died natural deaths. Her poodle died within 6 months of mine and her was in pain and she knew it, but still could not bring herself to put him to sleep.

 

[sbell111]

Well, I do not put people in the same category as humans.

 

[nathalee81]

It is kinda weird that this thread came up, because we learned a short while ago that one of our pups has terminal cancer. It is very rare and there aren't a lot of cases out there. The few studies we have found have given him an average of 5-10 months, with a rare chance of a year.

Our pup is on the older side and we have had him for a number of years, so we (at the very least) know he has many more good years than bad (he came to us as a rescue). Right now, he is eating and getting around well and still seems pretty happy (he is groaning a little bit when he sits down, but that could just be a little old age). Our vet has assured us he is in no pain right now. We are giving him various medications to stave off some of the symptoms-but those medications have very few side effects and make his life, at this point, immensely better.
When he can no longer eat and there is no joy in his eyes, that is the moment we will take him to be put of his misery. It will just break our hearts, but we refuse to allow any of the furry members of our family suffer. I am trying to prepare myself for what lies ahead-I know how much it will hurt since this is the third time we have had to make this decision. I will say this, it doesn't get any easier. I have been a mess this week.
To all the others who have had to go through this, my heart goes out to y'all.

 

[DMickey28]

Our dog, Samson, is 11 and he's recently went blind. I took him to the vet last week. He was tested for Glaucoma because it's painful. He, thankfully, doesn't have it. The vet prescribed some drops. They are hard as heck to get in his eyes, but we're doing them twice a day.

He also coughs a lot and has some breathing issues. The vet prescribed a steroid to see if that helps. He thinks it's something similar to COPD in humans. We take him back tomorrow to see if he's responding to the treatment.

He still eats, drinks and uses the bathroom as usual. He doesn't seem to be in pain but if I thought for a minute he was, we'd have him put to sleep. It will be very hurtful for us all but I couldn't stand to see our dear sweet Sampy hurting.

We have a Sampson too, Sammie. He is a 11-13 year old hound mix from the pound. We do not know his exact age at all. We are beginning to get to the point of wondering when it will be time.

He often has a very hard time getting up. He can't get up stairs without major effort and sometimes needs to be picked up (he's 80lbs.) Sometimes his rear legs give out on him and he falls into a sitting position. Occassionally his front legs will give out when he is sitting and he lays down. He often stares into space, just stares. Or at us. He does not run and play but he never really did. We have had him for just over 2 years so he was old when we rescued him. He does not act like he is pain at all. My dad thinks he would never show us that he is hurt. He eats fine, most of the time. Some days he would rather not but he always goes back to normal the next day. Recently he has started having middle of the night accidents. His water intake has not changed nor has his going out habits so that is a bit concerning.

We just don't know. I am going to make a "checkup" appointment for him in the next week or so just to have him checked out. The new accident thing is a little worrisome. He also gets very restless at night sometimes and will breathe funny but not on a regular basis.