Is it time to let him go?

Meggie1129

I cannot believe I am asking this on an online forum, but I am hoping maybe I can get a little bit more perspective on what is best for my dog and not be clouded by my sadness. 

My dog Dobler will be twelve next week and has been diabetic for slightly over two years. We have had a good amount of insulin adjustments, but he has been steady and in really great health for quite some time now, up until two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, he started occasionally vomiting his food over a period of a few days, becoming a little bit more picky. He went two days and was fine, then vomited again so we took him in to vet. They ran bloodwork which was okay, determined he had a UTI and bacterial infection, put him on a few different antibiotics. He was okay over the weekend until that Sunday night. We have a sitter come and feed him/give him his insulin shot if we are out so he stays regulated. We came home about two hours later, and he seemed okay until he basically crumbled in our basement and couldn't move. He had thrown up his food shortly after he received his shot and went into diabetic shock. He started having a seizure, we brought him to emergency vet while smearing corn syrup on his gums, etc. Another seizure in car, when we got to vet he was comatose. 

We thought we were saying our goodbyes that night and told vet we did not want him to suffer, but he pulled through and by the next day we were able to bring him home. The only problem was he did not want to eat. We tried some of the canned food that the vets had given him (he is on special diabetic dry food), he ate that for one meal but then would only eat chicken breast. That lasted a few days, and he stopped eating all together for 36 hours. 

We of course brought him back to the vet. Our concern is the insulin regulation if he cannot eat. They did an abdominal x-ray, could not find anything conclusive but the organs were slightly shifted so they suspect that there could be a mass there. We will not do anything more invasive or treatment wise for him, so we decided not to go ahead with an ultrasound to see if there was anything more inconclusive.

So basically, for the past week, we have just been feeding him whatever he will eat. Lots of ground beef. He actually gobbled up some ground beef and our leftover pasta the other day! He is on an appetite inducer for a week, which we just finished yesterday.

The vet has been okay with us just feeding him to get him to eat, he had lost almost ten pounds and still needs his insulin. We have tried incorporating canned food, his dry, other dry, etc. with not much success. He seemed to be doing okay though, so she said to wait until he finished the appetite pills and then we would re-evaluate.

Well, he threw up on Wednesday night, but definitely still continued to eat his food. This morning he threw up again though, and will not eat right now. I suggested to my husband that maybe it was some of the pasta upsetting his stomach, but he told me to quit fooling myself. I guess I just do not know when is the time to let him go. I don't want him to suffer, but for now he is still walking around, snuggling, etc. He is definitely laying around a lot more but that is also a side effect of the medicine. I would go ahead and pay anything, but I want him to have a good quality of life. But if there is still some life left in him, I don't want to let him go yet, know what I mean? 

My husband is wonderful and is supportive of doing whatever we can for him so long as his quality of life is good or it will actually make a difference. After $2000 the past few weeks, he didn't want to shell out another $500 for the ultrasound if it wouldn't affect our treatment of him. 

Man. . . .My mind is just everywhere right now. I thought we were saying goodbye to him twice the past few weeks already and thought I was ready, and I have been so thankful for this extra time with him, but right now as he is laying here not eating I am just pleading for some more time with him, selfishly I guess. 

LabLove86

First of all I am so sorry you are going through this right now. It really sucks watching one of your fur-babies deal with illnesses.

Second of all - it sounds like he has a lot medically going on. Which doesn't necessarily help the situation.
One thing you could ask yourself if you're thinking it might be time to say goodbye - is make a list of the things he LOVES to do. Now how many of those things can he still enjoy?? If he can't enjoy these things - that is where his quality of life is suffering. This is something I ask any of the clients I talk to when they are considering euthanasia.

He probably feels like crap - losing weight, not wanting to eat, vomiting (dogs can't digest pasta well- rice and beef/chicken would be a #1 alternative - but he may be vomiting for other reasons) and collapsing. (This sounds much harsher than I mean - please don't think I'm being a snot..... Just what I would assume)

Honestly - it sounds to me as if you already know the answer to your question. And from everything I read - it does not sound like you would be making a wrong decision. It is sometimes the hardest decision to make but also the kindest.



Again - I am so sorry you and fur-baby are going through this. Sending you hugs and strength

formerlyGDaisy09

I'm so sorry you're going through this right now.  I agree with LabLove that evaluating all the things he loves to do is a good way to help you decide. also, give the rice and boiled meat a try, I have no idea what might be causing his upset tummy, but plain white rice and lean boiled meat may sit easier.   

Hugs!

chrisnjay05212010

im so sorry you are going through this.  Just today my parents had to make this decision with their older dog.  She unfortunately had no quality of life and the vet told them they were just going to pre-long the inevitable.  She was 16.  The pps are right, evaluate what your guy loves to do and how much of that can he still do or will be able to do if the vet can help.  This is never any easy decision and its a very personal one. 

If its any help, when we had to let go of our family dog growing up, just looking into her eyes you could tell it was time. It was like she was telling us it was ok to let go.

Sending you lots of hugs!!!

Jliongrrrl

My thoughts and prayers are with you! It's such a difficult decision to make, especially if he seems to rebound once he's at the vet. You and hubby are hopefully on the same page about what is an acceptable quality of life for your pup. I know with our last pet we had to put down, DH realized (the poor thing had pleural effusions likely due to cancer and couldn't breath) it should be done long before I was willing to see it. And I'm a critical care RN who sees end of life every day. It's so hard when they are our furbabies.

Lots of love!

beetee123

I would definitely follow PP's advice and evaluate his quality of life. Only you can truly decide what is best for your buddy. This is something I'm constantly doing for my older dogs (we have three that are turning 14 this year). Two of them have been sick a lot this year, but when I look at their lives nothing really has changed for them. They have always been pretty lazy. Their lives have consisted of long naps, lounging around in the backyard when it's warm and a nice long walk once in a while. Nothing that has happened to them has prevented this, so at this point we are just giving them the best lives possible while they're still around. They are more spoiled now than ever before. Good luck making this hard decision, OP. I thought I was going to have to put one of our guys down a few months ago, and even thinking about it made me bawl. It's so hard when you've had your pet for so long. I've had mine since I was 7 or 8!

Valentino2013

I'm very sorry for you and your family, its such a sad thing to experience. We just lost our cat Tiger this week after a battle with cancer so I feel for your what you are going through. It was very hard to see him suffering and even harder to know when to let him go. Our vet was also very supportive and helpful in evaluating his quality of life and deciding when it was time, so keeping in touch with yours may also bring your some perspective. As pps said its a very difficult and personal decision. Best of luck, my thoughts are with you and your puppy.