sick pet/when to throw in the towel?

[sunspot]

Suddenly she wouldnt eat, drinks gallons of water a day and sleeps a lot,

Has she been checked for a diabetic condition?

As for giving her the antibiotic pills, the pet store has "pill pockets" that make pilling real easy. They work great with dogs.

Here is the brand my Wife and I use.

Pill Pocket Products For Dog and Cat

 

[cowboy357]

Sad Indeed & Sorry Your going Through this Right now. Its a Real tough decision for sure, But one Only YOU can Make . Being the Caretaker of Many Lil Friends ( As I Beleive No One Owns an animal ) You have to decide Whats best for Your Friend , Most times if There in That shape They have to be in some Misery IMHO . & Its Probably better to Releive Them from it In the Most Humane way. But Thats just My Opinion . Best of Luck .

 

[jinman]

Good luck, Alan. I surely don't know what to tell you, but if you can't get her medicine to stay down, it seems pretty futile. Hopefully, you will be able to try again with good luck.

We just lost a 14 year-old black lab. She was really feeble and finally could not stand up. We had been giving her baby aspirin for her arthritis for over a year. Finally, she just became very lethargic and was going down fast. It was obvious what needed to be done because she was not eating and could not do much more than lay down and pant.

It is not easy to make a decision to put an animal down, but I'm sure you will do your best to help Pepper if you can. If you can't make her better, putting her down is doing the best for her. You'll know when it is time.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I recently went through this with a pet I had for over 15 years. After a three year batlle with cancer he finally got to the point where he could not walk anymore and stopped eating, two days later we had him put to sleep. I know it sounds simplistic but as others have stated already you will know when it is time. Believe me it won't make it any easier...

 

[skargo]

I can relate. My dear old friend Mo-dog was healthy all his life, until one day we found 2 golf ball sized lumps in his neck. Turned out to be lymphoma. We took him to a specialist and he went through Chemo for 9 weeks, he took it really well too.
After the 9 weeks, he was in remission for 9 months, then it came back, and we did another 4 weeks of chemo. This time it was gone for good.
A year or so later, he started drinking non-stop, turned out he had diabetes. We gave him 2 shots of insulin a day, and a strict diet. Although he went blind from cataracts, he still enjoyed a quality of life. We still traveled with him and he would make one circuit around a hotel room and memorized it's layout.

Then one day my wife calls me to come home, as he had a seizure. I came how and held his head as he had another, with tears rolling down my cheeks for him. We took him on that final ride, and even though it was the right thing to do, after he got that last shot, he tried to get up, which broke my heart, and made me second guess our decision.
****, the water works are on now, friggin pets!

Good luck, you will know when it's time, even if you second guess yourself like I did, you'll know deep down it was a GREAT and amazing last gift that we can give our beloved family members, our pets.

 

[dmccarty]

I glanced through the link that was posted to see if I had said anything in that discussion. I had.

Last year we knew my Kelly was going down hill but we did not know why. It took a couple of trips to different vets but we found out that Kelly has Degenerative Myleopathy(DM) which happens mainly in GSD and Wiemerainers. DM is like ALS or MS in humans. Its beyond hard to watch DM turn this hard charging, fun loving dog into a couch potatoe. We did not think she would make it past the end of March. But she is still hanging on.

You know when its time. We decided if she starts to poo and pee on herself we will have to put her to sleep. Just no time to wash her a couple of times a day. BTDT for a week or two with another dog. Don't see how we could keep that effort up for months. With the one dog we had to do this for she was very shamed by the mess. So its likely the dog would give up and then you know its time.

Kelly gets me up a couple of times a night. Sometimes she has to go out sometimes not. But I hear her move so I take her out since she has very little control over her bowels. The finished concrete floors are easy to clean but its not really something you want to do. Certainly not at O Dark Thirty. So I take her out. Sometimes she still makes a mess. Our other dog is starting to need to go out a night so between the both of them I don't get much more then a few hours of uninterrupted sleep a night.

Last evening Kelly got up and started barking. It was the What Are You Doing In My Space bark. It was a deer in the back yard. Opened the door and Kelly somehow managed to bunny hop run after the deer. Her mind is still there but the body is failing her.

Back in Feb/Mar Kelly's bowel problems go bad. We thought this is it and made two appointments with the vet to have her put to sleep. In both cases we canceled since it was not time. I have no idea how much longer she has but I do know now is not the time.

Good Luck. It sucks. No If, And Or Buts.
Dan

 

[4720 OWNER]

Been there, done it. Still have a good dog. Fortunately the last one picked out the next one and helped train. Pound dog. Paid $2000 for a leg full of cancer to be taken off. 3 legged do just fine, but the day he could not get up, he gave up. I had to as well. The water works still flow after 2 + years. He was my Service dog and helped me with lots of chores so we were VERY close. Have to leave for a bit, still a little over whelming, he was better than a lot of humans i have met.

 

[jfh28]

Alan

This is always the hardest thing for a pet owner. It's the price we pay for all the times of great companionship, loyalty, freindship and just plain fun we have together. I will gladly pay this bill over and over again as the reward is worth the pain.

Dogs are notorious for being able to hide pain. Look for signs of restlessness, excessive panting, raised heart rate, constant pacing, and just plain not being able to lay down and get comfortable. Our dogs have always told us with a look when the time has come to say goodbye.

As for the med's different brands and dosages of the same type of med will affect each dog differently. Antibiotics can be particuarly harsh on the stomach. Give the vet a call and say she can't keep them down is there a different dose or brand they can give you. I have found it takes some tweaking to get it right. Our Pyr is very sensitive to med's and it took 3 different trys to get one he could stomach to knock out the lymes he had.

I send my best thought to you and your girl.
Jack

 

[AlanB]

It sucks,

And only you can come to the decision on when it is right for you, and it sounds like you and the wife need to talk about this a bunch more.

That said, I held one of my dogs when he was put too sleep, and do not wish the experience that we had on anyone. Think about it very hard before you do that.

I wish you the best and the strength to make the decision and follow through. It has to be one of the toughest ones we make.

 

[escavader]

Even though i havent met most of you in person,YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST BUNCH OF FRIENDS A GUY COULD HAVE.Its comforting to know im not the only one who has had a tough desion to make,mabey not now ,hopefully she will recover this time.
She kept her pills down this morning and again tonight.Ihad to force feed them,couldnt even fool her in a hotdog.Its a sign of a good dog[and friend]when you shove 3 pills the size of a marble down her throat and she never offered to bite me.When it was over i told her she was a good girl,and she licked my face Irewarded her with an oreo ya i know dont give dogs chocolate
mywonderful wife is pitching in now cooking food for the dog to get her eating.She knows seeing PEPPER like this is hard on me and the kids.She called home each hour to remind the kids to give her a little to eat.We are trying to feed her a little at a time to avoid her throwing up.Its working,shes still awful fussy.If i have to ill buy her some prime rib Time will tell
Thanks for the thoughts,and kind words,if i can someday id like to shake each and every one of your hands.Nothing like the folks on TBN
ALAN