dog is getting old, so very old

[Zooey]

Originally Posted by MariJo7

It is a hard decision, I know . We had to do it twice. Once, the poor dog was hit by a car. His back was badly broken. We asked the vet what he would do if it were his own dog, and he told he would definitely put him down. An operation might have helped him but that was not sure. And it would be painful and very difficult, and with an unsure outcome he considered the kindest thing to send him to the dog's heaven. So that's what we did.. It was terrible, because the decision had to be made quicly. There was hardly any time to think it over.
The second time our dog had cancer. The vet advised to let her live as long as she seemed to have any pleasure in life and she was not in pain. So that's what we did. Operation was not adviseable, that would only make the cancer spread more quickly. She lived a few years after the diagnose. When we saw that she was starting to suffer, we let the vet put her to sleep.

I believe it is important to see, that the animal is not suffering. Animals are not humans. A human understands that sickens hurts, and they understand operations and medications cause stress and pain. And a very sick and suffering human can still value those little things that life still has to offer. But a dog that is not able to move without pain, ot not at all, can not understand why.
And a suffering human, who believes in God, can still pray. And a suffering unbeliever can still repent. But a suffering animal does not need to repent for it has done nothing wrong.

"There is a door in Heaven for us. Not a gate - that would not work - but a door. Jesus has made that door for us. Otherwise we would never go to Heaven", said my DD2 once when she was a little 3yo. She thought for a while, and continued: "There is also a gate in Heaven. And in this gate, there is a little window. And through this little window all the good dogs, the good cats and the good rabbits and all the other good animals go to Heaven. They will have no sharp fingernails no more".

Try to evaluate if your dog still has any pleasure in living on this earth. But when the suffering outweights the pleasure, it is the right and kind thing to let him go through this special window my 3yo DD believed was there for all the good animals.

This. My cousin (retired vet) was an enormous support when I made the dec ision that I had to put my last kitty down. She ended up dying at home, in her sleep, the morning she would have had the shot from the vet.... Several folks were great in that time, but it was so good to feel that any time I called, they would tell me again, that she was not suffering, that she could wait a little longer to have more time with me before I had time to get used to the idea.....
Her last 48 hours, were the first that I could see that she was really, really ready to go. And then I had her cremated, & brought the ashes home in a little metal box (from the crematorium). It was not expensive (a little over $100), & it gave me such comfort to know that she is back with me to stay.
And then I met my "girls" at the shelter, & althouygh I miss her still, I would never wish her back. Not with her kidneys going, & a probability of real suffering in her future.
You are in my prayers. It is the hardest decision, but when you truly know your pet, you can tell the difernece by the way they look at you, you know?

[believer]

We have had to put down several cats due to old age and either kidney or other problems. We had to have two dogs put to sleep - and they were not old - it was so sad - Misty had a tendon in her leg burst when she was 5 years old and Ranger had cancer at age 2. We currently have one dog - Honey, and she is a 12 year old golden retriever. Her hearing is not very good any more, nor is her eyesight, and I won't take her on long walks anymore because a couple of times she has tripped and then limped for a while. The vet says she has arthritis, which explains some other odd things that she does, but she is still happy and otherwise doing ok. For us, the deciding factor is if our pets are in lots of pain. We probably let poor Ranger go too long. We knew he had hip dysplasia and thought that was the problem, but when he started limping and would not put one foot down, we took him in and they did x-rays and he had cancer and I can't remember if it was a tendon or joint, but something on that leg had already separated, which is why he could not put any weight on it. We got pain pills and brought him home for a while, but after about a week or two, realized it would not get better and we were carrying him outside and so we had to have him put to sleep. He was so sweet and it was so sad. It is a very hard thing, but like others have said, they don't understand why they are in pain and we feel like it is just unfair of us to allow them to suffer.

[DolphinMemae]

I know our time is coming, most likely sooner than later. Gideon has been unwilling to take his pain medicine lately, but we started putting honey on it and now he is taking it again. We were worried about what to do about him since my niece passed away and we need someone to take care of him while we are gone. The vet's office said they would take him for us, so at least we don't have to deal with that or worry about him and his special care needs while we are gone.

[tempus vernum]

Originally Posted by DolphinMemae

I know our time is coming, most likely sooner than later. Gideon has been unwilling to take his pain medicine lately, but we started putting honey on it and now he is taking it again. We were worried about what to do about him since my niece passed away and we need someone to take care of him while we are gone. The vet's office said they would take him for us, so at least we don't have to deal with that or worry about him and his special care needs while we are gone.

So sorry. Very hard. We struggle with pet care when we are away and that was before our pup ended up on a med schedule

[DolphinMemae]

We ended up deciding not to go to my niece's funeral after all, so at least Gideon wont be traumatized by us being gone.