End-of-Life Pet Choices

[Owlie]

Such a pretty kitty. Her face looks much like my Isis'.

(((zoom)))

[grey]

I'm sorry, Zoom. (((hugs)))
I didn't want to start a new thread. I fear the time is coming up for my dog. I've not been through this before. She has a large, fast-growing fatty tumor on the inside of her thigh - when I found it it was a golfball-sized mass. Now it's bigger than a football. She has difficulty walking on it, sleeps a lot, and eliminating. Without a walk, she cannot, and she's developing hemmorhoids from the added pressure. I think it affects her other hip, it bothers her enough to where she has pulled all the hair over her hip bone.
We can't get weight on her. You can feel her spine, her ribs - but all the extra food goes right to that stupid tumor, not to her. I swear it.
She still loves her car rides, and short walks. She's only 8, but I think the end is coming.

My question is this: We'd rather have her PTS here at home. We have 2 other dogs though - should they be there? Won't their smart doggie noses know the vet put something in her vein that killed her? I'm at a loss.

[zoom-zoom]

My question is this: We'd rather have her PTS here at home. We have 2 other dogs though - should they be there? Won't their smart doggie noses know the vet put something in her vein that killed her? I'm at a loss.

Grey, I am SO sorry that you have to make this decision, too...and that's a really good question. Pets are so smart. Our 3 boys' behavior has been sorta off in recent weeks, too. They've all been super-extra affectionate and clingy. As if they think they're "next." Poor, silly boys.

(((hugs)))

[sookiesue]

I can only speak to my situation, so I don't know how dogs would react to this with other dogs.

When we had to euthanize my 17 year old cat, we did it at home, and while we were snuggling her, just before the vet came in and gave her the shots, our dog came in and gave her a snuffle and rubbed up against us. Then he left the room when the vet came in.

I believe that he knew something was up (she had been acutely ill for the past 36 hours) and that he was saying goodbye. He was very calm about it, and very attentive to us afterwards. He did seem a little out of sorts - more mellow than usual - for a couple of days, but much of that may have been that he was the only pet in the house and he had always had cats around before that.

[zoom-zoom]

Animals mourn, too. They don't think they are next. That requires rational thinking. They don't have the part of the brain that does that.

I wonder if they mourn her, though. One lived to harass her, until she got too old to care. Otherwise they mostly didn't notice her for the past couple of years. She tended to sleep in the same places all the time and they mostly ignored her...it was pretty mutual, since she ignored them, too.

[zoom-zoom]

They're acting clingy...

And we're loving it...except for the one who has decided that it's now his job to wake me for no apparent reason (other than he seems to think his dish is empty, even when it's full...and it's always like it's a big surprise to him when I show him so), every morning...by standing on me and scratching my shoulders and face. He's a big dummy.

[OakLeaf]

(((((grey)))))

If it's "just" a lipoma, is surgery out of the question?

As far as the other dogs ... we had the vet come to our house for one of ours, and we put the other two dogs outside until he was gone, with the remains . When we let the other two back in they were confused and upset. I think it might've been a better idea to let them see and smell her after she was gone. But I wouldn't have let them witness the procedure, I don't think - too much stress on everybody, too many to comfort all at once.

[grey]

I'm very sorry Grey. Something similar happened with my border collie. She was only 9 and a half or so.

No idea about the other dogs being present. But it does sound best if she can be at home. Poor baby!

She does sleep most of the time. In "her" chair, I've given up trying to reclaim it in recent months, it will have to be aired out and reupholstered. So I thought, here at home, in her chair.
Like zoom-zooms other kitties, the other 2 dogs pretty much ignore her. I've gotten used to Wookie (she's a shepherd mix) not greeting me at the door, just the other two do. It takes too much effort, I guess.
From here, I guess, it's deciding when it's time. She spent the wee hours of Monday morning just throwing up and wanting me to hold/pet her, but she has been fine since. Hard to decide. I suppose you just know when it's time?

[zoom-zoom]

From here, I guess, it's deciding when it's time. She spent the wee hours of Monday morning just throwing up and wanting me to hold/pet her, but she has been fine since. Hard to decide. I suppose you just know when it's time?

It can be so hard...Lola would have good days...and then bad ones. And we'd think it was time. Then she'd suddenly perk back up. Ultimately the bladder issues were just not really something we could deal with. What made her bladder issues better made her ill and was miserable to get into her, so it wasn't worth the effort for an old cat who was so inactive. It still makes me sad, though, since mentally she was still very much her old self.

[grey]

(((((grey)))))

If it's "just" a lipoma, is surgery out of the question?

As far as the other dogs ... we had the vet come to our house for one of ours, and we put the other two dogs outside until he was gone, with the remains . When we let the other two back in they were confused and upset. I think it might've been a better idea to let them see and smell her after she was gone. But I wouldn't have let them witness the procedure, I don't think - too much stress on everybody, too many to comfort all at once.

The problem is the location. Initially, the vet said we could cut off her leg. Had this happened to either of my other dogs, I'd have agreed to it - and either of them would quickly be like the 3-legged dog that chases me down on rides happy as can be and totally not missing it - but Wookie is clumsy (seriously, how many dogs do you know who manage to step in doggie-poo then come to you for help getting it off? Or fall down stairs?), She's also *not* the most emotionally stable dog, this is one that I think, in pain, would probably bite (we have all been bitten by her before). The other thing I asked all 3 vets I took her to was, if we removed the leg, then would the tumor not redevelop somewhere else? Maybe someplace worse, as the underlying condition/problem was not addressed? They agreed it probably would. We have tried every diet change/supplement and then some in the past several months.

At any rate. It's possible we are wrong and that she could be a big happy tripod and we might have extended or saved her life in doing so, but we both discussed it and agreed we really don't think this particular dog would handle it. So we have just kept trying things even though every vet we know says there is nothing to stop these things, we've failed, now it seems the time is on us.