The last decision we make for our pets is the hardest and most important. They cannot speak and tell us how they feel. I can tell you that your vet will give your beloved friend a peaceful, no pain transition to a good long sleep.
This is what happened to my guy before we had to put him down. He had good days and bad days but stopped walking with me and had some sort of event (a stroke?) about three months before he was gone. He had a harder and harder time getting up and would still try to go up the stairs even though he had virtually no hindleg strength left due to hip-dysplasia and would pull himself up with his front paws. I don't live there so my 80 year old mother had to keep him going and prevent him from doing stuff like that as he had slipped and fallen back once and there was no way she could do much if he couldn't get up being he was a large Aussie that was stubborn but very smart. Sadly, I think when they start drinking water constantly it sounds like their organs and possibly the thyroid might be shutting down. It's a tough call but certainly the dogs quality of life is a big part of it. Also you should keep in mind that dog's also instinctually hide pain and crippling injuries.......
Fast forward to now - now she has a constant need for water...which flows right out of her 20-40 minutes later (although she can hold it longer if laying down). She can no longer go through the night without peeing. Meds have not helped. She is all skin and bones at this point. People that see her ask, is she ok? All you can see is ribs, hips, and her back. It’s part of her disease.
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We, too, went through this process this past summer with the dog (Daffy) we inherited 4 years ago from my mom who had a stroke .Our decision about when "it's time" has always been around the dog's quality of life. It really sucks when it's time.
Wow, quite a journey you’ve had with your dog.Its a really tough decision for you and your family. More so because you all are not in agreement yet.
Its a horrible decision to have to make. Yeah, one thing for sure you don't want them to be in pain and wow, you certainly did your part knowing she isn't and trying to provide her a good life over the years, now she seems to be wasting away, if I as a human was in that condition I don't think I would want to go on with life like that.
Its a decision only you and your family can make and live with though.
My dog (schnoodle) is my best friend, I can't understand this closeness I feel with him, now 13 years old, has his own challenges, my wife and I made some life altering decisions last year for him after many, many tears, he is still with us but now blind. He handles it quite well with his other senses so far. He can still play like a puppy and we make sure with the vet he has no pain but I can see this year that he is sleeping more, hearing not as good and can't help feel we maybe entering the sunset phase. Time will tell.
This thread isn't about me yet I am saying it because I can certainly understand the thought of losing a dog, at the time we didn't know if he would survive the night/for days with an uncontrollable glaucoma even an animal ophthalmologist couldn't control/ one eye ruptured the night before the operation, days later they still could not control it for the second eye and it had to be removed
I think your last paragraph there is the balancing act we’re going through right now. Today I tried to talk to my wife about it, she seemed “open” to options. Problem is my daughter at this point - she is the one who is basically doing what your wife was doing...doing a lot of the work to keep our dog going. My hat goes off to her for taking on this responsibility...putting the diapers on her at night, waking at 3am to take her out. Watching her whenever she’s home - that’s what we all have to do now - watch the dog, adjust our lives to her every move. Otherwise a carpet is ruined, a bed, whatever. It’s tiring. She’s been doing this (and us) for the past 6 months, but really it’s been more like a year for my wife and I. And really two years since this downward trend has started.We, too, went through this process this past summer with the dog (Daffy) we inherited 4 years ago from my mom who had a stroke .
In the same vein that some say one is keeping the pet alive for the human's benefit, some probably select to euthanize also for the owner's benefit (not wanting the inconvenience/challenge of dog hospice). Determining quality of life for someone else, especially an animal, is a difficult task in some cases, others not so much.
My wife was adamant (biased) that she thought it was more comfortable for our dog to die at home vs. the vet's office. We used floor pee pads and nursed the dog through seizures that occurred about 2 times a month (my stay at home retired wife chose this). My wife followed the vet's recommendation for medications and diet to prolong (right or wrong) the dog's life. My wife claimed she learned that dogs don't feel pain during seizures. Who's to say.
Our dog died at home. We carefully monitored signs of quality of life, knowing euthanizing might be chosen any day. Like Overkill stated "We knew when it was (was not) time." At least we tried to know.......there is no one correct answer.