Man's best friend: When is it time?

Struggling to walk is terrible for a dog. We put down our lab mix after a year of having to carry her up even the slightest amount of stairs. She hated it EVERY TIME. She was still lucid (and legendarily surly), but her inability to get around had made her life miserable. I hated to do it, and had to be talked into it, but it was best for her.

 

Dick, what you describe is almost exactly what I went through a few years ago with one of mine. The only difference was that, by the end, she couldn't keep any food down at all.

I took her to the vet, and it turns out she was in kidney failure, and had been walking around with no cartilage in her back hips and lower back for years. She hadn't shown too many outward signs of pain until the end, but the vet said that was likely because of her high threshold for pain and not wanting to be a burden, not because there was no pain.

Once I heard that, the decision to put her down became easy, even though it was still devastating.

 

Last dog that I had to put down my vet had known since he was a puppy. I was trying to hold it
together and noticed my vet crying and I just effin lost it .

I guess the point is that most vets are very caring and won't steer you wrong. It's good to consult
with them.

The big question you will have to wrestle with is if you want to be there.

 

You have to be there.

 

Yep.

Though, I'll admit with my last one, I was there only until the needles came out, then I couldn't handle it. But my wife stayed with her until it was done.

 

The passing of a noble hound | SportsJournalists.com

 

It's very similar to my experience with my first whippet, too, who also went into kidney failure before I could face putting him down. I swore I would never wait too long again, but that's easier said than done.

It's the terrible decision we agree to make when we take a pet into our lives.

 

The mid-size lab we had developed some kind of growth at the base of her tail, which caused her extreme pain. She always slept at the foot of our bed and it was agonizing seeing her try to get up the stairs. Her back legs were useless for that. She tried to use her chin and front legs to pull herself up. A couple of trips to the vet were fruitless. The vet told us about another vet "who is working on an experimental surgical process." No way. We had to let her go at that point.

 

Sorry to hear this, Dick. It is definitely a tough decision, but once the dog can no longer stand on its own, then you know it's just about time. My dog was the same way ... would have good days and bad. But you just have to make the decision that you know is best. My vet made me feel a lot better about knowing it was time, and they had a nice room set up where I could be with her as she passed, and it was much more peaceful and comfortable than I expected. Not to say it was easy , for sure, but when it's time you will know, and you just have to hang on to the memories. You have had a great 15 years, which is about all you can ask for. I got 18 out of my beloved girl, which was unfathomable to me, but it made it much easier once I made the decision. It also helped to have two other younger dogs to comfort me.

 

Do they dispose of the body?

I know that's weird to ask, but I have no idea.

I also don't know whether to tell the kids beforehand or after. My oldest kind of knows it's coming - he's dealt with death before, of people. The little one is not going to undrerstand where here doggy went.

My wife and I have talked about her two miraculous comebacks in the last two years have given us some great funny memories, even at the end, to always remember.

All this said, who knows. Maybe I get home today and she's walking around again. But it's not looking great.

 

Your call. they will take care of or you can bury. I've always gone with "let them take care of"
Did not want to prolong the agony.

 

I had to put my cat down when he was 17. He'd always been ornery, but had mellowed in his later life. Then he had stopped eating his food, so we took him to the vet. He was having kidney failure. The vet advises us that we could put in an IV into him with fluid every day and he would have a chance to keep living.

So I took that option, and it became something that I would do with my older son every day. He would hold the cat, and I would put the needle in him.

He perked up for a while, but still wouldn't eat cat food. All he would eat was egg, tuna and hamburger, so we kept feeding him that.

After two months, he stopped eating even that, so I had a feeling it was doing to be time. I came home one night, and he was just laying in a corner looking very uncomfortable. He saw me, and started throwing up. When he stood, he fell right over. My heart broke seeing him. I spent a couple of hours petting him before I went to bed.

Next morning, I got up before the kids, and like I had heard Sparky Anderson once say when it came to taking out pitchers, I made the call to the vet before the kids could wake up and try to talk me out of it.

I took him to the vet, who is really awesome in theses situations. He doesn't charge for euthanization because he considers it a service to the pet. I stayed with my pal and held him as he just went to sleep. It is very quick and painless.

One piece of advice I would give is either wear an old pair of pants or bring a towel with you, because my cat peed on me as I held him.