Canine Dementia and making the choice to Euthanize

[Teacher Terry]

We lost 2 dogs within 2 months and 2 good friends within a year.

 

[MRG]

Sorry for your loss. It's hard.

I had to put down the most wonderful Maltese. I lived in severe pain one year, that dog never left my side.

You did the right thing. It's not easy being a responsible owner.

 

[sheehs1]

It really is a tough and emotional decision and one as fur parents we will always have to make on their behalf. As I read this thread, I went back over the last 40 plus years to all the times I had to make this decision. As a couple of others have said, when the good days outweigh the bad, when there is not much quality of real life, or when we question "is this for our pet or are we keeping them going for us".....it's probably time.

DFWKen and Mama...you did the right thing.

 

[Scrapr]

We had to let go Penny the Red. Beautiful Golden Retriever. She brought me back from losing my faithful 1st Golden Buster. He was by my side for over 14 years every day. Penny was a house dog but what a nose she had.

In the last 6 months she was near death several times. She would rally for a month or 2 and something else would lay her low. We were debating and no time seemed right. Our vet helped us. She said do you want her to go out on a good (up) day or a bad (down) day. We went for a final walk in the park. And the vet gave her some cheese wiz & crackers as she faded away. We all had a good cry

 

[Badger]

I read your post this morning and it made my heart ache. I'm sorry for your loss and having to make that decision. I lost two of my fur family in the past couple of months and have had to make the same decision a few times in the past. One of my cats is 18, diabetic, blind, and moving a little slower finding his way around but still with me for a short time more. He has been my best friend through many years of my surgeries and recoveries staying by my side. At some point I will have to make the decision again. Nothing I look forward to. I hope you will find comfort remembering all the good times.

 

[pacergal]

Sorry for your loss. "When" is always a difficult decision, however, usually the correct one, if you are thinking about it.
Out of all the cats and dogs I have had, there was only one when I really went past the time, and it was selfish on my part. I look back and realize how much pain she was in, but she was a wonderful dog and remained happy and loving.

 

[albireo13]

Our old black Lab Pluto is getting close. He is 14.5 yrs old with arthritis and bad rear hip problems. He is slipping and falling now and losing bowel control in the house more often. We are thinking 2 weeks. It will be hard. He has been the most gentle soul.

 

[SumDay]

You did the right thing. She trusted you, and you made the right decision. You didn't let her suffer needlessly. When you are a little less weepy, read this: https://www.rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm It always helps me, even though I bawl like a baby.

You were good dog parents. There are many, many dogs who aren't so lucky. When the time is right, maybe you can open your home again...

 

[broadway]

My sister sent me this link.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/aliciabarron/what-one-vet-revealed-about-pets-final-moments-will-make

My sister was there for her dog.

 

[Scuba]

You definitely did the right thing for your beloved dog. It is such a hard thing to do, and you never forget them. I wish DH could do the same for me when the time comes.

 

[TwoByFour]

It's incredibly tough to make that call, but from the pet's perspective, it's a good thing in that you are relieving their suffering in the moment, which is all they are aware of and understand.

To the extent that a dog has understanding of its condition, it is going on the instinct to survive which is pretty deeply programmed into all animals. Humans think of pain as suffering but we really don't know what the dog is thinking, if anything. Yes it feels pain but does it interpret it as suffering in the sense of mental anguish, or simply as the need to figure out how to get through it and survive? I think there is more of the latter than we realize.

We had to put down our first dog but it was very obvious that she was going to die soon. It was obviously very hard to do.

Our second dog fell over dead while chasing a tennis ball, his favorite activity. Heart attack? Never found out the cause.

Our third dog had a tumor that slowed her way down. We agonized for over a year when to put her down. Even scheduled appointments that we then canceled. Basically our thought process was what I said above - she was doing what instinct told her to do which is to survive and she seemed OK with that - she went on short walks with us, barked at strangers, wagged her tail at things, liked eating. We watched her closely to make sure the pain was not bad. When we decided the time had come, she died on the way to the vet. I wondered if we waited too long and decided no, she was not suffering in the human sense and I think was happy that we didn't put her down.

 

[Teacher Terry]

It’s the last gift we give to our babies. Then we rescue another one to honor those that have gone before.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

You did the right thing. We went thru something similar several years ago. As someone told me then, better a day too early than a day too late in these situations.

Sorry to hear about it tho. Always sucks big time.

 

[Amethyst]

+1,000,000.

Since it is not, let's be grateful that we can at least help our loyal animal friends in this final way. I feel for you.

Amethyst

+1
I just wish this humane choice was available for humans (with lots of safeguards of course) instead of the existing method of starving folks to death in hospital.