Totally OT - When is it time to let a pet go?

 I think we are at the point where a decision needs to be made about our old girl, she is almost 11 and is mostly blind and has been having trouble getting up and down b/c of her hips. 

She still makes it outside, and she is still eating and drinking fine, I just know she is in pain. 

It's breaking my heart, but I don't want to see her hurting. 

What is your breaking point with older pets, what has to happen to make it a "sure thing"? 

  We are having the same tough decision.  Our dog is 8 but has hip dysplagia and is in pain unless we medicate her for it. Has seizures which she is zoned out some due to the meds and has chronic ear infections. When she is doing good she is great. But I hate to see her suffering. I'm sorry for your dog, wish I had an answer

It's so subjective - and so hard. I always question are we postponing for them or for us because it will hurt to let them go.

My questions tend to be:

Are they in constant pain or misery? Have we done all we can to help them feel better? That last one is subjective - some folks can spend thousands on vet bills for a beloved animal, some simply can't. I don't see that folks who don't have that kind of money are wrong for not getting their animal extremely expensive ongoing care.

Do they have any real quality of life, significant periods of time where they seem happy again? If the answer to that last question is on and the above two is yes, that's where my decision line is. But I can't say it's ever a sure thing - the couple of times I've had to make this decision I've agonized over it.

{{hugs}}

I've had to let go two pets in the past.  One, our 14 year old black lab.  The poor thing would only get up once a day to greet my husband when he would get home.  Her life was about battling pain.  She was just worn out.  It broke our hearts.

The second was my cat, Maggie.  She had feline luekemia.  She hide all day until I would come home from work and then she would greet me and lie with me all day.  She was not herself.  I cried literally for 3 months straight after making the final decision.  It is not easy.

My prayers are with you.

Ugh!! Torture.  The vet said, she was too far gone (cancer).  Then I had to do it.  She was miserable, but not dying on her own.  I guess it took me until I couldn'****ch her in such pain any longer.  One night, she wouldn't come into the house while it was pouring rain.  She must have had a fever, because she just wanted to sleep in that rain on the cold patio ground.  I tried to make her as comfy as possible when I finally got her in and that lasted only a few days.  She refused to eat any longer, but still lingered on.

From final diagnosis to the day I had to take her "in" was about a week and a few days.

I don't have kids, just dogs and know quite a bit about all of this. There is a medication called K-9 Liquid Health. It's something you can buy online or in some pet stores. It works! You put it on their food once a day and it helps with the hip and joint issues. I had a lab mix who also had hip dysplasia and we used this and it kept her pain free to the ripe old age of 14 when she was put down from cancer. 10 is still a good age, I would def look into it before you decide to go for the euthanasia. If it doesn't work, I would consult your vet for advice in what they would do. That always seemed to help me when it came to putting dogs down. I had to put another dog down at 6 years old from a failed bloat surgery. it's never easy, but don't do it if you don't have to. Happy thoughts your way!

 Going through the same thing with our 15 year old ****er spaniel.  We are goingto do it the second week of January, it's just time but it has been a very hard decision.

For me it's watching him be so confused.  He'll be fine, almost like a puppy, but then he'll go outside get turned around and not able to figure out how to get back in the house.  He's both blind and deaf (has been for a while) but it seems to be catching up with him now.  He's just not happy enough to warrant keeping him alive for my happiness.

It is never easy and I am so sorry for yours and your dog's pain.  My story is long (sorry) but from a differnt perspective.

I had a very healthy 4 year old dog that I had to put down for a different reason.  Libby was a dalmation that we got as a solid white little ball of fur (did you know they are born without spots and the spots pop up as they grow?) and was smart, loving, playful and just great until her first heat.  We had intended to breed her because she was so beautiful, sweet and had champion blood lines.  We had to have her spade after that heat because she went psycho.  She would go nuts and attack people (especially men) but the next time she would see the same person, she might be ok.  We were raising her as an indoor dog and had 5 kids ages 4 - 14.  Finally one day, she got out and killed the neighbor's cat.  We could not longer trust her around the kids.

From then on, Libby was chained in the fenced in back yard.  We couldn't leave her loose because she would jump the fence and attack for no reason.  It got worse after she tried to jump the fence and injured her eye on the chain link.  She was blinded on that side and if approached in her blind spot, would lash out.

The vet couldn't find a single thing wrong with her.  He suspected a breeding issue.  We tried medications, obedience training, love and spending lots of time with her.  It didn't help. We couldn't even take her for a walk.  She pulled my 250 lb husband off his feet trying to attack a cop.  In her obedience training, we had to have her trained alone because we never knew when she would turn on another dog or owner.  The trainers (we had 3 differnt ones) all eventually gave up and said they thought it was a physical/mental issue.

We tried to find her a home in the country with someone that could manage her. However, since she had biten before, our vet warned us that we would be liable even if someone else had her and she attacked someone.

I could not stand it any longer, seeing her chained in the back yard, sometimes going all day without food/water in terrible heat because she had turned over her water bucket  right after we left for work.  It got so bad that only myself, and my son could approach her and not chance being attacked.

The vet told us that she would only get worse as she aged.  My son held her in his arms, crying, with her licking his face as the vet gave her the injection.  She was at peace for the first time in a long time.  And we didn't have to worry for her or about her.  I had always wondered if there were something hurting her that made her that way.  She had never been abused, was loved and well taken care of.  There had to be something wrong but she couldn't tell us.

When you are sure you have done everything possible for your sweet girl and it isn't going to make her better, you will know. 

I am having a similar issue with our basset hound, we never intended to breed her or anything but adopted her from a "breeder" her health issues started IMMEDIATELY. we found out her tail was broken and had a herniated belly button, we got both fixed and then a week later she started the first of a series of infections (ears/eyes are commong for basset hounds) but the UTI's the skin infections are non stop. But the bad part was we found out her front shoulder is deformed, it has no cartilage and causes her constant irritation, we've had her on glucosamine, steroid shots and various suppliments for her entire (short) 2 years. Also she cannot do stairs because going up is fine but going down causes her to put too much pressure on her shoulder, it will give out and she'll fall. She then ends up injuring her hips. What makes us the saddest is that because she is still a puppy (she turned 2 in August) she loves to run around with the kids, but after just 10-15 mins of playing she starts limping and whining cause her shoulder hurts. So now we have to keep her penned in the kitchen to prevent her from being injured. NOW the confinement has caused her to start chewing on her legs and underbelly out of boredom.... but we are at a loss as to what to do, we walk her twice a day at a nice slow pace but that causes her pain too... so we are starting to feel like its not fair to her to be penned up even if it is "for her own good".... we are no where near ready to let her go but we are at a loss as to how to help her

just wanted to say, i work in animal physcial rehab and doing water therapy with her probably would make a difference, strengthening her other muscles so she can compensate. it would probably make her alot stronger and water therapy takes the weight off the joints so it is comfortable to do.

you can see if you have an animal rehab facility in your area if its an option for your family.