Saying goodbye to our dog

[Sara]

I can't imagine what you're going through. Seeing them struggle is so hard.

I've got a 29 yr old that I've owned 22 years now and I can't imagine life without her. They really do become your children and you'll do anything for them.

You know what's best for him and you know when it's time to let him go. He'll have good days and he'll have bad days. He may not have as good of days as he used to, but neither do most adults that I know! He has a new best high, and that's okay. You won't prolong his suffering to prevent your broken heart, but cherish every day you have left.

Quote from a 6 year old, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right? Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay for as long as we do.”

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by Sara

I can't imagine what you're going through. Seeing them struggle is so hard.

I've got a 29 yr old that I've owned 22 years now and I can't imagine life without her. They really do become your children and you'll do anything for them.

You know what's best for him and you know when it's time to let him go. He'll have good days and he'll have bad days. He may not have as good of days as he used to, but neither do most adults that I know! He has a new best high, and that's okay. You won't prolong his suffering to prevent your broken heart, but cherish every day you have left.

Quote from a 6 year old, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right? Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay for as long as we do.”

That's awesome.

[wrickem]

I'm sorry you're going through this, it's never easy and they never are around long enough.

The best advice I got when our 15 year old pup reached his end last year was "1 week too early is better than 1 day too late". It was hard but also the right thing to do.

[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by wrickem

I'm sorry you're going through this, it's never easy and they never are around long enough.

The best advice I got when our 15 year old pup reached his end last year was "1 week too early is better than 1 day too late". It was hard but also the right thing to do.

I agree, thanks for your post and kind words!

[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by Sara

I can't imagine what you're going through. Seeing them struggle is so hard.

I've got a 29 yr old that I've owned 22 years now and I can't imagine life without her. They really do become your children and you'll do anything for them.

You know what's best for him and you know when it's time to let him go. He'll have good days and he'll have bad days. He may not have as good of days as he used to, but neither do most adults that I know! He has a new best high, and that's okay. You won't prolong his suffering to prevent your broken heart, but cherish every day you have left.

Quote from a 6 year old, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right? Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay for as long as we do.”

Guessing the 29yr old is a horse. I can't imagine when my wife's oldest horse goes. Shes 16 or 17 now, first horse and shes had her since the horse was 5. My wife has moved way up in the dressage comps and has blown past the horses skill level but she still loves on her the most. Now I'm the one stuck (attempting) riding her and have my 1st show at the end of the month. It will be horrifying for everyone I'm sure but the horse is a saint so I'll survive.

[Stuart j]

Sorry to hear this.

[Sara]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

Guessing the 29yr old is a horse. I can't imagine when my wife's oldest horse goes. Shes 16 or 17 now, first horse and shes had her since the horse was 5. My wife has moved way up in the dressage comps and has blown past the horses skill level but she still loves on her the most. Now I'm the one stuck (attempting) riding her and have my 1st show at the end of the month. It will be horrifying for everyone I'm sure but the horse is a saint so I'll survive.

Yup! This is us this past weekend. My 29 yr old. She’s the love of my life. My second oldest is 17, owned her since she was in utero, she was born 5-31-04, my horses are mother and daughter. Greatest gifts. I don’t know how Jacqueline and I are going to live without Blackie. She’s definitely lost a lot of muscle and she’s getting slower I would do anything for this horse, give a kidney, take a bullet, she’s the greatest.

[No one]

Originally Posted by wrickem

The best advice I got when our 15 year old pup reached his end last year was "1 week too early is better than 1 day too late".

Do you like that advice applied to yourself? How do you know it's "too late"?

An ill living creature is not a broken device. The only "quality of life" you are entitled to judge about is yours. That's providing life quality by killing is bullshit: you can't improve the non-existing. Regarding your own benefit, "Why do people kill? For a simple reason: they want to improve the situation. But that just doesn't happen." (from a movie, a man killed his wife but another woman started to threaten him to marry her)

Regarding bad times... "Life is pain." ("The Last Boy Scout" movie) There's no good times without those. You take them for better or worse, don't you? Giving up is the last(!) thing you can do. But the worst thing to do is finding excuses.

Reality is neutral. It's your attitude that makes it pleasant or not. You can feel for your pet but enjoy it's being with you. Selfish? What about killing to save yourself from discomfort and your holy wallet from expenses? What's good for the pet? Ask it. If it wants to go down or stay with you no matter what.

[upstatedoc]

Another quality post by no one

[No one]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

He seems to have pulled through somehow once again. My wife and I had a conversation that if these stay being more frequent (once every 2 weeks) we will have him put down.

He's struggling to survive and stay with his owner but counting on you looks like a doubtful bet.

[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by No one

He's struggling to survive and stay with his owner but counting on you looks like a doubtful bet.

You're right, he's my wifes dog so it's her choice ultimately. While I love him I'm not the kind to see him suffer. I was in the emergency medical field for 13 years and seeing enough people die will do that to you. You wouldn't want to see my living will that's for sure you would think I'm cold to myself as well.

[FranciZ90]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

Our little buddies time seems to be coming to an end. Back in December our 12 yr old pup had an immediate splenectomy to stay alive as he had a ruptured tumor. He was given only a 50/50 chance of making it through the surgery but pulled through even with having 2 strokes right after. He was then diagnosed after testing with Hemangiosarcoma (an aggressive and fast spreading type of blood cancer, worst thing a dog can have). This causes him to have occasional internal bleeds.

Most days he's been great, almost puppy like again, but in the last few weeks he's been getting worse. He was originally given 1-4 months to live but he has passed that which has given my wife lots of hope. I will admit I thought the right plan instead of surgery was to be put down. The vet advised no surgery due to the cost $8k (long stay and being a weekend surgery) combined with the low survival rate. This still seems crazy to me but I understand my wife's choice.

Fast forward and the last 3 days have been horrible, the poor guy is barely hanging on and my sweet wife is having a terribly rough time. This dog means the world to her, their personality's are so much alike and they have done dog agility and dock diving competitions together. She is also his world, no matter how bad off he is he always lights up when he sees her, even during his ICU stay. My wife is basically not sleeping and is crying so much it is breaking my heart, I just don't know what to do. I keep trying to gently be the voice of reason and that maybe the time has come, this isn't healthy for her or maybe in the best interest for him. We don't have any children so this is our version.

I'm going the 1st thing in the morning to pick him up another type of med that may help the bleeding.

Any advice?

It is very sad and frightening to know how your pet is fading away, I sympathize with my friend. Stay strong for him

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by No one

Do you like that advice applied to yourself? How do you know it's "too late"?

An ill living creature is not a broken device. The only "quality of life" you are entitled to judge about is yours. That's providing life quality by killing is bullshit: you can't improve the non-existing. Regarding your own benefit, "Why do people kill? For a simple reason: they want to improve the situation. But that just doesn't happen." (from a movie, a man killed his wife but another woman started to threaten him to marry her)

Regarding bad times... "Life is pain." ("The Last Boy Scout" movie) There's no good times without those. You take them for better or worse, don't you? Giving up is the last(!) thing you can do. But the worst thing to do is finding excuses.

Reality is neutral. It's your attitude that makes it pleasant or not. You can feel for your pet but enjoy it's being with you. Selfish? What about killing to save yourself from discomfort and your holy wallet from expenses? What's good for the pet? Ask it. If it wants to go down or stay with you no matter what.

Yes absolutely. When I have no quality of life and no hope of getting better, and I have no idea why I'm suffering, 100%.

Feel free to hang on to life support for 200 years yourself though and let me know how much you like it when it finally ends.

[The J-Man]

Originally Posted by No one

Do you like that advice applied to yourself? How do you know it's "too late"?

An ill living creature is not a broken device. The only "quality of life" you are entitled to judge about is yours. That's providing life quality by killing is bullshit: you can't improve the non-existing. Regarding your own benefit, "Why do people kill? For a simple reason: they want to improve the situation. But that just doesn't happen." (from a movie, a man killed his wife but another woman started to threaten him to marry her)

Regarding bad times... "Life is pain." ("The Last Boy Scout" movie) There's no good times without those. You take them for better or worse, don't you? Giving up is the last(!) thing you can do. But the worst thing to do is finding excuses.

Reality is neutral. It's your attitude that makes it pleasant or not. You can feel for your pet but enjoy it's being with you. Selfish? What about killing to save yourself from discomfort and your holy wallet from expenses? What's good for the pet? Ask it. If it wants to go down or stay with you no matter what.

I agree with a lot of this. Animals have coping mechanisms for pain and discomfort that humans do not have. Every situation is different, but a lot of people put their animals down way too soon for things like arthritis. As long as they are able to eat and walk under their own power and they are enjoying your company, then leave them be.

The last dog I had to put down suffered a major incident at 15 years old - he was confused and stumbling and unresponsive. He required a blood transfusion to the tune of $5K. After that he was fine for 7 weeks and lived a happy and active life, which included Christmas gatherings at my house with a lot of people over, who he loved seeing.

He had another incident at the 7 week mark. We gave him another transfusion but he didn't respond and fell into a coma, so we put him down while he was sleeping. I am glad to have given him the extra 7 weeks. He was a happy, alert and playful dog during that time, and 7 weeks to a dog is like 4 years to a human.

Getting old sucks for animals and people alike, but you deal with the pain and discomfort and continue on, even if the bad days outweigh the good. The good days are still a gift.

[No one]

Originally Posted by wrickem

Yes absolutely. When I have no quality of life and no hope of getting better, and I have no idea why I'm suffering, 100%.

Feel free to hang on to life support for 200 years yourself though and let me know how much you like it when it finally ends.

Well, my point is you don't own your pet's life. Taking it away is still a murder. You do own yours though.

Some people take cancer chemotherapy for years. That's a hell of a living. To each their own. What did your dog tell you when "it finally ended"?

I would presume "1 week too early" is when you aren't too reasonably sure about your options yet. When there's "no choice" (like you can't afford the treatment) there's just nothing to talk/contemplate about. But the options you consider, they tell something about you.

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by No one

Well, my point is you don't own your pet's life. Taking it away is still a murder. You do own yours though.

Some people take cancer chemotherapy for years. That's a hell of a living. To each their own. What did your dog tell you when "it finally ended"?

I would presume "1 week too early" is when you aren't too reasonably sure about your options yet. When there's "no choice" (like you can't afford the treatment) there's just nothing to talk/contemplate about. But the options you consider, they tell something about you.

Actually I do own my dog and determine it's life and that is just fine. There are laws in place to prevent cruelty to animals.

Fuck off with this murder bullshit and making people feel guilty for doing what they think is best. It is already hard enough putting down your best friend without having people say you are a murderer.

edit: I bet you don't eat meat either, you know murdering of cows and what not. What about plants? When you kill a plant is it murder? You know they can feel and react to pain right? Plants have been shown the ability to communicate to other plants to warm them of dangers etc.

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by Torgus

Actually I do own my dog and determine it's life and that is just fine. There are laws in place to prevent cruelty to animals.

Fuck off with this murder bullshit and making people feel guilty for doing what they think is best.

Agreed.

Putting my dog down was a very hard thing to do, but there is a huge difference between cruelty to animals, and putting down an animal that is suffering and does not have long to live. In my case, my dog had many ailments, had lived a full 17 year life, and had gotten to the point where he could not stand up on his own. He was clearly in pain and had stopped eating. As hard as my decision was, it would be even more difficult to watch him struggle and die naturally.

[RickFLM4]

Just saw this thread and very sorry to hear.

We also don’t have kids and went through this with 2 dogs in recent years. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. But, contrary to some posts above, I think it is important to remember that our dogs rely on us to make important decisions for them and lead them throughout their life. This is no exception, as difficult as it is. When a dog is in pain, with a deteriorating condition that can’t be cured, it is up to their leader to make the difficult decision for them. That’s not to say you don’t exhaust treatment options, but at some point they need you to find a conclusion for them. In retrospect, we probably went a month or two too long with one of our’s because we couldn’t bear to lose hope he would get better, and because he would have a relatively “good” day every once in a while. He never did recover and we learned that many times with older dogs, the deterioration can be rapid and permanent even if a glimmer of hope appears once in a while.

My advice is to try to put aside your own emotions, including feeling of guilt, and focus entirely on the dog’s needs. What does he need you to do? Maybe it’s more treatments, maybe it’s not. But you have to try to be the pack leader they need, which is a helluva lot easier said than done.

[Our03z4]

Well for the last almost month he has been doing actually pretty well, puppy like again. Unfortunately he took a turn last night and had a bad episode that lasted about 30mins, he's still happy but you can tell he's exhausted and doesn't want to eat or get up. My wife says it's time and she is extremely upset but now at peace with the decision. He will be put down today at 4. Until then we are spending the day giving as many cuddles as possible.

Thank you all for your advice!

[BMWGUYinCO]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

Well for the last almost month he has been doing actually pretty well, puppy like again. Unfortunately he took a turn last night and had a bad episode that lasted about 30mins, he's still happy but you can tell he's exhausted and doesn't want to eat or get up. My wife says it's time and she is extremely upset but now at peace with the decision. He will be put down today at 4. Until then we are spending the day giving as many cuddles as possible.

Thank you all for your advice!

Oh man, you have my sympathies. It's just going to be hard, but at first it's hour to hour....then day to day....then week to week. It takes time, but be aware you can have a good moment, and then out of nowhere you're reaching for the tissues. Good luck.

[nyalpine90]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

Well for the last almost month he has been doing actually pretty well, puppy like again. Unfortunately he took a turn last night and had a bad episode that lasted about 30mins, he's still happy but you can tell he's exhausted and doesn't want to eat or get up. My wife says it's time and she is extremely upset but now at peace with the decision. He will be put down today at 4. Until then we are spending the day giving as many cuddles as possible.

Thank you all for your advice!

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

Well for the last almost month he has been doing actually pretty well, puppy like again. Unfortunately he took a turn last night and had a bad episode that lasted about 30mins, he's still happy but you can tell he's exhausted and doesn't want to eat or get up. My wife says it's time and she is extremely upset but now at peace with the decision. He will be put down today at 4. Until then we are spending the day giving as many cuddles as possible.

Thank you all for your advice!

condolences...