That time is coming? PTS

Renno123

I have a very old dog, 17. he has been on heart medication for the last 3 yrs but has been gradually going downhill. i feel lately he has been going down hill faster. he collapsed a few days ago, and was unconscious for a good 10-15 mins before he fully came around. rang the vet who said there is nothing he could do, and sounded like a heart attack.
i said to the vet, how much longer do we continue with medication as there is a point where we should call it quits. the vet said as long as he is eating and happy then continue.
i dont want to make the mistake of having him PTS too early, but it is sometimes distressing to watch or think about him. last night he was quite bad on his feet, he fell quite alot, but did not want me to touch him, if i went to rub him he would almost back away. but did want to be close to my feet.
i dont know how long to keep going, because he hasnt lost his appetite, he is sometimes in good form but sometimes he looks uncomfortable. the vet said he will likel,y have another attack and just not recover, but could be at any time.
this is his 3rd attack since february.
advise?

i always pictured a dog needing to be PTS when they are immobile
but he is still able to move around. .
but the time is coming, i just dont know how much longer

ppink

sorry to see you are in this position, it is an awful decision to have to make. you can only make the best decision you can with how he is.

we had one of ours pts last year and she also had heart problems. she went downhill very fast though asn we only managed a few weeks of meds. like oyu we kept her going while she was happy but one night she was really distressed and could not breath properly and had to sit up all the time. at that point we knew that was it and we had her pts the following morning.
I think it is good that we can take away that suffering at the end of a dogs life. It is not easy though! our girl was still able to move(somewhat) but was clearly not happy.

Renno123

ppink wrote: »

sorry to see you are in this position, it is an awful decision to have to make. you can only make the best decision you can with how he is.

we had one of ours pts last year and she also had heart problems. she went downhill very fast though asn we only managed a few weeks of meds. like oyu we kept her going while she was happy but one night she was really distressed and could not breath properly and had to sit up all the time. at that point we knew that was it and we had her pts the following morning.
I think it is good that we can take away that suffering at the end of a dogs life. It is not easy though! our girl was still able to move(somewhat) but was clearly not happy.

he has been panting alot lately, quite noticeably. i havent been able to bring him for a walk in at least 6 months really.. its too much strain on his heart. which is sad. it makes me wonder if he is happy.?
i dont want him to get to a point of unbelievable pain, and i dont want to witness or have him go through another heart attack.

ppink

You did very well to be able to walk him up to 6 months ago. Our girl was not able to go for walks but she still managed a little potter around the garden and then I carried her around the field with all the others and she was happy with that.
we were at the vet every few days with her but like with you there was nothing they could do.
would your vet give you any advice? our vet was very good. he would never let her go if he thought he could stabilise her for longer but there was no chance of that.
There is no good time for PTS your 17 yr old friend:(. Does he look comfortable at all? our girl was definatley not at the end, but not in awful pain either as far as we could tell.

Renno123

ppink wrote: »

You did very well to be able to walk him up to 6 months ago. Our girl was not able to go for walks but she still managed a little potter around the garden and then I carried her around the field with all the others and she was happy with that.
we were at the vet every few days with her but like with you there was nothing they could do.
would your vet give you any advice? our vet was very good. he would never let her go if he thought he could stabilise her for longer but there was no chance of that.
There is no good time for PTS your 17 yr old friend:(. Does he look comfortable at all? our girl was definatley not at the end, but not in awful pain either as far as we could tell.

i wont bring him to the vet anymore, the last time he was seen was 2 yrs ago because his heart wasnt able to take all the stress and he collapsed with the stress. but he is on 5 or 6 tablets a day, so when i go in for the medication the vet asks how he is getting on. he is also senile. he has his moments where i wonder if he i shappy, he will pace alot, and his heart might start jumping or beating strangely and u can see he is uncomfortable, but then he is fine again, and wants loads of attention and barking, wagging tail and messing around

Renno123

jus now his heart started pacing erratically again, and he came to me almost looking for me to do something about it. he is lying down now.
2 mins ago he was wagging his tail, barking out the window.. its comes on very fast. he goes through this a few times a day. ive seen it 4 times today and i was out for a few hrs.

mystika121

Hi there, I am so sorry to read about your dog. You are doing a great job of taking care of him.

I would take the vets advice and as long as your dog can eat and drink and be comfortable then I would leave him be for the moment. 17 is a great age and at that stage of his life he is bound to have good and bad days.

I believe you will know in your heart when it is time to say goodbye and being able to end the suffering of your beloved dog will be a comfort to you when the time is right.

On Tuesday last my dog died of heart failure. I brought him to the vet that afternoon as he had a bad cough. The vet said he had suffered a heart attack in the past week and that his lungs were filled with fluid which was causing the cough. He advised that he would be on meds for the rest of his life. Later than evening his condition deteriorated and when I carried him upstairs he died before I reached my bedroom. It was such a quick ending that I just can't believe he is gone.

You know your dog best and I would enjoy his good days with him and help him through the bad ones and you will then know you have done everything you could for him.

Renno123

mystika121 wrote: »

Hi there, I am so sorry to read about your dog. You are doing a great job of taking care of him.

I would take the vets advice and as long as your dog can eat and drink and be comfortable then I would leave him be for the moment. 17 is a great age and at that stage of his life he is bound to have good and bad days.

I believe you will know in your heart when it is time to say goodbye and being able to end the suffering of your beloved dog will be a comfort to you when the time is right.

On Tuesday last my dog died of heart failure. I brought him to the vet that afternoon as he had a bad cough. The vet said he had suffered a heart attack in the past week and that his lungs were filled with fluid which was causing the cough. He advised that he would be on meds for the rest of his life. Later than evening his condition deteriorated and when I carried him upstairs he died before I reached my bedroom. It was such a quick ending that I just can't believe he is gone.

You know your dog best and I would enjoy his good days with him and help him through the bad ones and you will then know you have done everything you could for him.

did ur dog pass peacefully? i often wonder that it would be so much easier if he would just go in his sleep.
i did think he died on me the other night, while he collapsed. he stopped breathing for about 30 seconds, nd i thought right thats over. it was commotion because i was on a road with him unconscious, with my other dog getting the fright of her life and bolting it down the road, but he started breathing again.

mystika121

You poor thing. That's an awful experience to have.

He did pass peacefully and I was so glad that I was with him in the end. I hope it gave him some comfort but all it happened so fast.

It's an awful shock if you wake up and find that your dog died in his sleep but it is a lovely way for them to go.

DBB

Renno123 wrote: »

i wont bring him to the vet anymore, the last time he was seen was 2 yrs ago because his heart wasnt able to take all the stress and he collapsed with the stress.

In this case I would definitely, 100% make prior arrangements with your vet to come to your home and do the deed there.
Your vet may even give you some oral sedation for the dog so that he's good and sleepy even by the time the vet gets there.
for your dog, and especially for you after the fact, I think it would be really important to pay the extra few quid and get it done this way.

It is such a difficult decision to have to make. My "childhood" dog, we had from when I was 8 until I was 22:o, and he was very similar to how your describe your dog when the end came.
Honestly? To this day I believe we left him too long, we procrastinated too much and were put off doing the deed because of the good days/good spells he had. But you say your fella had had at least 4 episodes that you know of today. This seems like a lot.
I think, well-intentioned and all as your vet's advice was, I think in reality, it's really difficult for an owner, who is obviously very emotionally involved, to quantify what is "happy" or "comfortable" with a dog who is flipping between bouts of good humour and bouts of real illness. I also don't feel that whether the dog is eating is necessarily a good indicator of his quality of life.
For me, it's when the dog becomes incontinent, starts pacing/restlessness, starts looking at you with a glazed expression...
Anyway, I'm really, really sorry you're faced with this decision, it's a horrible part of pet ownership. But as already posted it's a great mercy that we can put our animals out of pain or stress.
Good luck:(

Renno123

how does one go about this process, i mean , would the vet want to come

immediately on ringing them? is it done within surgery hrs or anytime?

what happens to the body? we do not have a suitable place to bury him.

i would definately have to have it done at home,.. and the sedatives sound like
a very good idea, for him, us and the other dog, so its not stressful.

unfortunately he just collapsed again, got out, made it a bit down the road and collapsed in the midddle of the road. thankfully passers by saw this, stopped traffic and rang for us. it was literally only a few houses down, which means he is capable of little or no exercise.
when i got there he was conscious again and up and ready to move around again, but the passer by got a fright, said he was in an awful state.

tazwaz

we had to put our dog to sleep last year, as horrible as it was for us it was a blessing for him. he had 2 really bad nights in a row, pacing the room, crying and trying to go to the toilet. the day after the first nite he seemed a bit better in himself so i hoped it was a once off but when it happened again that night i knew it was time. he had lymphoma so we had known it was only a matter of time. i rang the vet at 8 am and she told us to come to her straight away or whenever suited us. i'm sure ur vet will accomadate you as best he can and if that means you want him at your house no matter if its day or night then you should tell him that. no vet would leave him suffering even if its out of hours.
we were renting a house so i had no where to bury taz so we had him cremated and have his ashes at home with us. there was also the option of having a group cremation and not getting the ashes back which works out cheaper.
its a tough decision and i will be thinking of you.

pokertalk

Renno123 wrote: »

how does one go about this process, i mean , would the vet want to come

immediately on ringing them? is it done within surgery hrs or anytime?

what happens to the body? we do not have a suitable place to bury him.

i would definately have to have it done at home,.. and the sedatives sound like
a very good idea, for him, us and the other dog, so its not stressful.

unfortunately he just collapsed again, got out, made it a bit down the road and collapsed in the midddle of the road. thankfully passers by saw this, stopped traffic and rang for us. it was literally only a few houses down, which means he is capable of little or no exercise.
when i got there he was conscious again and up and ready to move around again, but the passer by got a fright, said he was in an awful state.

it soumds like its time for the poor guy. he might go very soon .if he is not pts i hope he goes peacefully and is happy when he doesit almost sounds like he is narceleptic at this stage

ppink

Most vets will come the house. The time they come I suppose depends on what they are doing when you phone them and if it was urgent or not.

They can dispose of the body also.

Our dog was at this collapsing point almost straight away. she never passed out though but she just was not able to move. it is very sad to see them like that.
If you are not getting him pts soon can you confine him to your garden in case he gets run over to add to his woes?

Renno123

made the decision last night. he had an attack infront of me, didnt seem to recover. stayed up wit him till 5am. woke up and he had wet himself and was unable or unwilling to get up.
rang the vet and its all done now.
had a nice afternoon with him though, brought him for one last trip in the car.
he was lying down all day, except when i got off the phone, he got up, walked over to me and just stared at me for ages, then sat at my feet till the end.
he knew, and i felt he wanted to go.

thank you everyone for your help.

night man, x

Groom!

Ah God I am so sorry for your loss. I really am.

Our springer did the same before he went. Got up and walked around even though he hadn't for 2 days. It's nice that there was still signs of the old boy there for you to see. I am a firm believer that they let you know when they want to go.
It's the last and hardest and nicest thing you can ever do for him. To take the pain and suffering away.

Thinking of you.
xx

DBB

I'm very sad and sorry to read this, but at the same time, it sounds like it was a peaceful and dignified passing. It'll be weird now not having him about the place, but I hope you can take comfort in knowing it was his time to go, and you helped him on his way.
Take care.

pokertalk

ah got op,im so sorry and yet kinda happy for him too that he is no longer in any pain and the fact that he spent his last hours with his best friend means he was happy .he was lucky to have you and from the impression i get if you decide to get another dog in the future they will be just as lucky;)
any pics of him??

R I P