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Sick dog dilemma
Mr Whippy - 3/12/19 at 07:47 AM

So my dog is very ill and I'm not sure what to do

I took her round to the vet last night and she has breast cancer, with several very obvious tumors which were not there last week. Question is what now?

The dog is about 16 years old but still very fit, does not seem to be in pain but I can tell is not quite herself. The vet said they could operate and remove the tumors but there is no guarantee this will stop it and given the aggressiveness of it, it may have spread already. They suggested an X-ray to check if this has happened although I'd have thought it would be rather inconclusive.

I was going to book the X-ray today and see what they say but given this is a dog and medical treatment is going to be nothing like that of a person. I'm not happy putting her through operations and pain if in the end it was pointless and only serves to make her last days miserable.

Personally I feel I'd rather put her down now but I feel the vet is not keen to do so since otherwise she seems fine.

Any views?


JAG - 3/12/19 at 08:23 AM

I'd leave her alone for now, let her live out her last days in peace and quiet.

WHEN you realise she's in pain - then you take her to be put down.

In the meantime love her and enjoy her company as best you can.

You and she have my deepest sympathy. It's gonna be hard to lose a long time friend


Grimsdale - 3/12/19 at 08:32 AM

Is it possible to tumours to appear so quickly? I'd get the x-ray, at least then you know what you're dealing with, and it's not a huge expense. Could it be mastitis?

We lost our lab to cancer a few years back, so i empathise. For us, when the time came she went downhill very quickly, so there was no choice.


Andy


SJ - 3/12/19 at 08:58 AM

quote:

I'd leave her alone for now, let her live out her last days in peace and quiet.

WHEN you realise she's in pain - then you take her to be put down.

In the meantime love her and enjoy her company as best you can.

You and she have my deepest sympathy. It's gonna be hard to lose a long time friend



Agree completely.


40inches - 3/12/19 at 09:23 AM

quote:
Originally posted by SJ
quote:

I'd leave her alone for now, let her live out her last days in peace and quiet.

WHEN you realise she's in pain - then you take her to be put down.

In the meantime love her and enjoy her company as best you can.

You and she have my deepest sympathy. It's gonna be hard to lose a long time friend



Agree completely.


Same here. We lost our 15 year old Lab on the 19th December last year, she had a severe spinal problem.
Any treatment would have just prolonged the agony. Not the best Xmas last year


russbost - 3/12/19 at 09:58 AM

Firstly, commiseration & sympathy for both you & your dog.

Secondly agree entirely with what's already been said.16 years is a very good age for the vast majority of dog breeds, a lot of the larger ones don't make it past 10 or 11 years. However fit & healthy at 16 she can't have a long time left, probably worth getting the X ray done just to add to your information, but other than that best just to enjoy the time she has left until she is in pain, at which point the kindest thing to do sadly is to say goodbye.


nick205 - 3/12/19 at 11:17 AM

quote:
Originally posted by SJ
quote:

I'd leave her alone for now, let her live out her last days in peace and quiet.

WHEN you realise she's in pain - then you take her to be put down.

In the meantime love her and enjoy her company as best you can.

You and she have my deepest sympathy. It's gonna be hard to lose a long time friend



Agree completely.



Agree here as well.


Mr Whippy - 3/12/19 at 11:17 AM

Thanks for the views, does help me decide what to do.

I've spoken to the wife who also agrees with your comments. Oh well we'll just spoil her rotten, heart breaking though, trying not to cry at work.....

Cheers


JAG - 3/12/19 at 01:39 PM

quote:

trying not to cry at work.....



Your story has reminded me of losing my last best friend and I'm struggling as well


Mash - 3/12/19 at 04:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by 40inches
quote:
Originally posted by SJ
quote:

I'd leave her alone for now, let her live out her last days in peace and quiet.

WHEN you realise she's in pain - then you take her to be put down.

In the meantime love her and enjoy her company as best you can.

You and she have my deepest sympathy. It's gonna be hard to lose a long time friend



Agree completely.


Same here. We lost our 15 year old Lab on the 19th December last year, she had a severe spinal problem.
Any treatment would have just prolonged the agony. Not the best Xmas last year


Same here too Lost one of my Labs to the big C nearly 6 years ago, and he was just 10. It took him in about 2 weeks. Hadn't shown any sign of being unwell, but it was in his lungs and had spread to his stomach. Vet and SWMBO decided he would be better put to sleep, and they did it on our kitchen floor. I was making a fuss of him when he went, and was in bits for months afterwards. I still miss him.

Keep her live until you know she's in pain.


perksy - 3/12/19 at 08:13 PM

Very sorry to hear of your predicament, This brings back bad memories for me sadly

The most important thing is there's no pain, As soon as it looks like your friend is in pain or suffering then sadly you'll know its time

Enjoy your time together, plenty of treats and good walks as long as their able

Best wishes and hope all can be good for as long as possible


r1_pete - 4/12/19 at 10:07 AM

It is without doubt the most agonising and heartbreaking part of pet ownership, we also went through it in July this year.

As others have said When the pain starts.......

One of the comforting things I was told is that animals do not have any understanding death is near, they know they don’t feel well and will find a quiet spot to rest........


Mr Whippy - 4/12/19 at 12:03 PM

thanks everyone appreciated


bi22le - 4/12/19 at 10:31 PM

This is awful and I feel so sad for you.

I have never had a pet, as a child or adult. Now with kids I know a pet of some sort would complete us but I would be dreading THAT day.

It is pretty much that reason that prevents us from getting a pet.

It was bad enough I dragged a neighbours cat out the road the other day after getting run over. Still warm, that haunted me for a while as it was.


trextr7monkey - 4/12/19 at 11:18 PM

Sorry to hear about your dog. We had a similar problem with our last dog who at 13 1/2 developed a growth on her mouth . As she was still full of life we had it removed, she recovered but developed further problems a couple of months later so we had to have her put to sleep. She had an extra few months but on balance the advice above is sound. On a lighter note we have just had a new pup for the last month so are desperately trying to get him trained and tired out!!
Atb
Mike


SteveWalker - 5/12/19 at 12:20 AM

We are a cat rather than dog family, but that makes little difference - they are still part of the family. I have had to take two to be put down, but they had reached the point where any longer would just mean them suffering. The end was calm and quiet, simply slipping into sleep and then stopping breathing. I can safely say that if it came to it, I'd prefer to go that way, rather than prolonged suffering.


BenB - 5/12/19 at 10:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by SteveWalker
We are a cat rather than dog family, but that makes little difference - they are still part of the family. I have had to take two to be put down, but they had reached the point where any longer would just mean them suffering. The end was calm and quiet, simply slipping into sleep and then stopping breathing. I can safely say that if it came to it, I'd prefer to go that way, rather than prolonged suffering.


Radical thinking there- we only act humanely to... non humans. Go figure!


sdh2903 - 6/12/19 at 10:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by bi22le


It is pretty much that reason that prevents us from getting a pet.


I know what your saying as I've had to put 2 family dogs down now and it's a horrible thing to do and you feel like you've lost a family member.

BUT. You shouldn't let that put you off getting a dog or a cat. The lifetime of loyalty, companionship and just making you giggle when they do something stupid more than makes up for it.


40inches - 6/12/19 at 01:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le


It is pretty much that reason that prevents us from getting a pet.


I know what your saying as I've had to put 2 family dogs down now and it's a horrible thing to do and you feel like you've lost a family member.

BUT. You shouldn't let that put you off getting a dog or a cat. The lifetime of loyalty, companionship and just making you giggle when they do something stupid more than makes up for it.


They are well worth the grief. We adopted a rescue dog in February, a blonde Labrador bitch.
She is 11 years old with chronic hip dysplacia and some mild spinal problem, but she has had a rough time the last couple of years
and we want to give her a loving home for the time she has left.


slingshot2000 - 6/12/19 at 04:13 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
quote:
Originally posted by SJ
quote:

I'd leave her alone for now, let her live out her last days in peace and quiet.

WHEN you realise she's in pain - then you take her to be put down.

In the meantime love her and enjoy her company as best you can.

You and she have my deepest sympathy. It's gonna be hard to lose a long time friend



Agree completely.



Agree here as well.


And here !


02GF74 - 6/12/19 at 06:18 PM

I'm gonna get shot down here but here goes.

I've lost 3 cats, one of which I had to take to be put down, so I know how attached you can get and how horrible and sad the situation is but ultimately it is down to money.

You can spend thousands on vet bills but in this case there seems little point as it does sound pretty terminal.

That money can be better spent on your and your family's health.

Sorry to sound harsh but you can always replace a dog or cat, you will never replace your wife, son/daughter sister or brother.

Choose wisely.


steve m - 6/12/19 at 11:45 PM

sorry !!

But I agree with 02 ^^^

My mother put £2500 into a cats vet bills, that had a suspected tumor, the cat cat lived for another 10 years ,without another penney spent, im sorry to say, but Vets, and our doctors, are only there to milk money out of us, and ive fallen to the scam over statins, a real milk cow for the Drs, and I am off them now for life


David Jenkins - 7/12/19 at 03:21 PM

I always categorised vet bills as "private medicine", with charges to match. Try going to a private doctor to see how the costs compare!

When we decided to get a dog we accepted that there were going to be extra costs over and above food and minor accessories like a collar and lead. I wish more people would consider this when they get a pet - there are hell of a lot of horses in care because their owners didn't realise how much the necessary vets bills would cost. There is Blue Cross, but I would never consider going there as that's for people in severe financial difficulty - for me, the vet's bills were maintenance costs, like annual servicing is for a car. If I thought that I couldn't afford them I wouldn't have got the dog.

Coming back to the original post, our dog was around 15 when he went - mongrels are great for keeping fit to a good age - but in the end he was struggling badly. We could have paid for drugs to keep him a bit longer but we realised that he'd reached the end of a long, good life and let him go. It was very hard, but it had to happen and it was the kindest thing to do.

As for the recent post about humans - I also believe that people should be given the choice when faced by difficult circumstances, such as severe degenerative diseases. My sister-in-law has a slow-acting form of motor neurone disease (like Steven Hawkins) and she's already dropped Dignitas's name into the conversation a couple of times. Her mind is as sharp as it's ever been (she was a consultant anaesthetist) but her body is failing.


rusty nuts - 8/12/19 at 08:13 AM

I agree with David 100%, I lost my Doberman Boxing Day 20 years ago at the age of just over 15 , unfortunately I was unable at the time to find an emergency vet despite desperately trying . It was before we had internet which would have made things easier , I have never forgiven myself because he suffered for the last few hours of his life. Please make sure you have at least emergency vet details in your area for over the festive season .