Labs are my absolute favorite dogs, TroubleAgain. I’m so sorry. Some of my doggie friends at work later will get extra scritches from me in your doggie’s memory.
**
WhyNot,** your response brought tears to my eyes. What a beautiful thought, and so beautifully expressed. I’m hanging onto this for the next time I have that awful decision to make.
I had to put my beloved 15-year old lab down last month. I probably held onto him to him about a month too long. Up to the last four weeks, however, he really seemed to enjoy his life up to then, tho’ it was mostly made up of snoozing, eating, and short strolls to the park in the sunshine. I spent $80 a month on his arthritis medication for the last four years.
Well, putting your dog down can run a couple hundred, so factor that into your calculations.
Me? If they’re in pain, can’t really get around very well, and the vet starts checking out new Saab’s, it’s time.
And your analysis also takes into account cultural factors as well. In some countries*, people eat dogs, so it’s not like we all don’t have different values for certain animals.
In my family, we never took our dogs to the vet, although I think I remember a vet once making a house call, IIRC. They got better or worse on their own. And if they got worse, they died. I suspect you’ve already spent more than they would have. I’m not sure what responsibility we owed to our dogs or they owed to us, but I don’t remember our family getting chastised for their behavior. And neither of my dogs were very sickly and both lived pretty long lives, but no extraordinary measures were taken to prolong them.
Good luck with your decision. And it really is your decision. I suspect that it has more emotions involved in it which is why you wrote the OP. The financial considerations are easy. Sorting out the emotions is not.
*I don’t live in one of those countries, so I don’t know how they view it. Just making an observation about that.
An update.
Took Daisy to the vet yesterday. Both of her ears were extremely swollen. The drain did not work.
She doesn’t smell as badly as she used to - tho my wife and kid still say she does, I think she just smells like a dog, whereas she used to smell rancid. She scratches A LOT - we usually keep her collar off because the constant jingling drives us nuts. I bath her once a month or so, and spray her weekly. Vet says it is chronic, so I’ll be doing that for as long as she lasts.
And she’s still on the previcox - which the manufacturer just raised the price of.
The vet said they could either put drains in both ears - $250 - or cut them open, drain them, and quilt them closed - $800. I opted for the surgery, which will be done on Thursday. (I’m having surgery on my foot on Friday, so we 2 old dogs will recuperate together.)
I’m getting some grief from my wife and kids about spending this much $ on an old smelly dog, when we could be getting a new puppy instead. While it was pretty easy for me to decide to make this expenditure, this is probably it for me.
My sympathies, Dinsdale. It’s a hard, hard decision to make but so necessary…
Maybe I’m misinterpreting you and your family’s response, but I’m getting the vibe of “I’m bored with this one, let’s get a NEW ONE!!!”
The best thing you can do for Daisy is make sure her remaining days are free of pain. We put our German Shepherd down because the emergency vet said, “It looks like prostate cancer, you can spend thousands of dollars treating it but it probably won’t help.” I had to weigh that against my children’s needs, and sadly, Duke had to be put down.
I don’t know your financial situation. If you can afford the $800 and that makes her ears better, go for it. If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. But calling Daisy a “smelly old dog” seems a bit harsh to me. Pets should not be that replaceable.
Wow. That’s cold. A dog gives years of loyalty and is reduced to a “smelly old dog”?
I agree with Boscibo. I can’t imagine seeing a loyal friend as disposible. 10 years doesn’t seem all that old for a Golden.
Before getting a pup, consider that your kids will be on their own soon (one’s in college, one’s a senior and the other is in HS, too, right?) and your marriage may be ending. I’d think twice before I brought a 15-year commitment into a family in the middle of all that change.
StG
This is just an awful sentiment.
Knee-jerkisms aside, dogs really shouldn’t smell. Have you tried switching dog foods?
There are hypo-allergenic dog foods out there that can do a world of wonders.
I use California Natural and I can’t say enough good things about it.
Yes, it costs more than supermarket brands but it’s got no fillers (beet pulp etc.) in it so you wind up feeding less dog food for the same amount of nutrition.
Something is obviously bothering her skin, changing dog foods is one of the easiest things to try. If she usually eats a chicken based dog food, get a lamb based and vice versa.
Also, omega 3 and 6s can help clear up skin problems as well.
Oh heavens. Pets aren’t disposable things to be killed if they become the least hassle.
Look…allergies? Itching? Hematomas in the ears, probably due to scratching? Odor? Odds are the poor dog’s ears are infected. Yes, ear infections cause a distinct odor. And ear infections can go along with allergies, especially in breeds that have long fur and floppy ears.
My Shepherd/Lab mix (13) has allergies (Benadryl is our friend) and she has had stets in both ears to drain excess blood when she scratched them too hard. No, the ears don’t need to be done twice.
It’s not hard to get on top of the infections. As soon as she acts too quiet, maybe does a little head-tilt, and I notice the infection smell, her ears get cleaned out with cotton balls soaked in cleaner. The cleaner is cheap; I buy several bottles at a time through Drs. Foster & Smith. Then twice a day she gets ointment medicine squirted into her ears. It’s prescription but not expensive. This lasts for about a week but w/in two days she’s perked up, feels good and is her usual happy self. And the odor is gone, too.
Nobody who’s willing to kill ‘an old smelly dog’ should ever dream of getting a puppy to throw away when convenient in its turn. Stick with a pet rock.
Are you and your family really this heartless? Why did you get a dog to begin with? Was she a “lets get Johnny a puppy” for Christmas pet that has been a burden for the past ten years.
I can’t imagine children raised for ten years of their lives with a dog thinking that way about her. I would think they would be begging you to try and save the dog rather than to dispose of it. Your opinions over the last ten years about this dog must have rubbed off on them.
I know some people do not view dogs as pets. Some are working dogs that are only there to provide protection or to work on a farm. They are fed and taking care of but sometimes the emotional bond is not there. I can understand that but I don’t think that applies here.
If you must put the dog down then do so and I know it is a hard decision but I suggest you do not replace her. I don’t think you nor your family has the ability to view a dog as not only a member of the pack but as a cherished family member.
Yes, we are that heartless - and cheap. Disposable dogs, that’s what we want! :rolleyes:
I understand that different people feel quite differently about what medical efforts they should afford their pets at what stages in their lives. Knowing that, I try not to overreact in my assessment of other people’s choices to the degree I see folks doing here.
But, I’m the one who posted this thread, so I guess I should expect nothing less.
Dinsdale I had a cat I ended up calling Paycheck because the last 2 years of her life I was always taking her to the vet and had to buy expensive food and drugs. She had diabetes and a bunch of minor stuff relating to old age. She was also known as “Shitty BumBum” I know exactly where you’re coming from. Luckily I didn’t have to make that decision, she had a probable heart attack while playing with me and was dead before I even reached the vet’s office.
People called me heartless and mean because I was always bitching about how much she cost me, the stink of her and her constant shitty bum. But my family and friends knew I was going to be heartbroken when she went. And I was. As you will be.
I hope you get as lucky as me and your smelly old dog dies playing with you.
Dinsdale - You’re the one who posted that your wife and kids wanted to trade Daisy in for something younger and less smelly. What other inference can we make except that they’re looking for the shiny and new and getting rid of the velveteen rabbit once she’s become well-loved? You know what you can afford in treatments. I’m not saying that you need to take out a second mortgage for chemo for your dog. But killing the old dog not because you can’t afford the treatments, but because she’s no longer something from the J Crew catalogue is just sad.
You also didn’t respond to my comment about your family going their separate ways. Who’ll be the one responsible for the new dog when all this happens?
StG
Not sure the end of my marriage is imminent, but I had a dog before I got married, and imagine I’d try to figure a way to have a dog should my marriage end. Of course, I’m such a lousy pet owner that I feel is is much less desireable for a single working person to have a dog. But I have given some thought into the flexibility my work schedule allows, and what dog walkers would cost.
I had no problem with your comments/questions, StG. Just thought a few of the other ones a tad extreme. I’m sure these boneheads are better qualified to diagnose my dogs’ problems over the internet than the numerous vets we’ve seen over the past year. And because stents worked for one moron’s dogs, I guess I’m mistaken and it didn’t fail in my dog’s case. And folks are bothered by my calling Daisy a smelly old dog? Hell, that’s one of the nicer things I call her! 
I know a whole lotta dogs and dog people, but I know very few dogs who have had better lives than her past 10 years. Just my personal, self-serving opinion, but there you go.
IMO, it is very difficult to decide how much to spend on a pet, at what point in their lives, for what degree of expected result. I know there are some people who are willing to pay any amount on their pets. I happen to disagree with those people.
Right now Daisy is on meds which are about $1k a year. Her last ear procedure was around $200, and this next one will be another $800. I don’t care if I made $10K a year or $1 million. At some point, I think a responsible pet owner has to weigh numerous factors in deciding how much more to pay for how much vet treatment.
And IMO people are assholes if they encounter someone who is grappling with an admittedly difficult decision, and see fit to oversimplify one option as “convenience.”
Holy shit, no kidding there. As someone who has had to make the terrible decision to put down a wonderful dog and a old as dirt but great cat within the past 6 months, my heart breaks reading that. A smelly old dog. Wow.
:mad:
Jesus, people, you’re reading a lot into his posts that I’m not. I’ve HAD to make the decision that the money I was spending on a pet was not giving her the quality of life she deserved, that there was no pleasure in being around her because she was miserable (didn’t even care to play or spend time with people) AND smelly, and that there was better use of the money to be made. I am not reading that **Dinsdale ** and family don’t give a shit about the smelly old dog. My smelly old dog was put down a few months ago BECAUSE we loved her. Just because **Dinsdale ** isn’t posting through his tears (as far as you know) doesn’t give you (generic you) the right to trash him for using some cold logic as well as warm emotion in making this decision. In case you hadn’t noticed, **Dinsdale ** is not known for his effusively emotional posting (see the post about his marriage for an example, and that’s a LOT bigger issue than a dog.) That doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel the emotions.
Thank you, TroubleAgain - you found the words that I have been looking for this afternoon.
Dins my friend, hugs. We understand what you’re going through - and I know it hurts. You’re in my thoughts.