I’m taking my oldest dog, Flash, to the vet in a few hours. I’m afraid it might be his last car trip.
Over the weekend I noticed that he’s got some sort of “hunch” on his back, along the ribs on the right side of his body. It’s hard, and really big- in width, it’s bigger than my hand. It doesn’t seem to bother him too much, but it’s always been very hard to tell if he’s in pain.
He’s been very lethargic, and I don’t think think he’s eaten more than a few mouthfuls of food in the last 48 hours. He rarely comes up out of the basement now- kind of understandable, since the stairs are pretty difficult for him to handle now. He’s also pretty deaf and blind.
His personality is basically gone. He just sleeps and occasionally gets up to go outside for a minute or so. It’s been days since he’s even come over to me for scritches.
I’m kind of steeling myself that today will be his last day. I don’t know for certain, of course- the vet will have to let me know. I’m kind of a wreck right now. The worst thing is that my wife is out of town and unreachable until this next weekend. Flash is the first dog she’s ever had; I can’t imagine how she’ll react if he’s not here when she gets back.
I’ve never had to have a dog put to sleep, before. I’ll be there when he passes, but I have no idea how the burial/cremation process works. I’ve been intending that we’d bury him out in the woods behind our house if he were to die at home, but I can’t imagine bringing his body home and burying him by myself.
I’m very sorry to hear about Flash. It’s one of the hardest decisions a pet owner can make sometimes. Our pets are part of the family, and you sometimes never realize how much a part until it comes to this.
Talk to the vet about whether it’s a good idea to keep Flash around until your wife comes home. But ultimately, you have to decide what’s best for him. You have to be strong enough for him at least one more time. And if you and the vet agree it’s time, then go forward with it, knowing it’s a kindness for him.
And afterwords, when your house feels empty because your friend is gone, it’s OK to grieve the same way you might when a human has died. Go look up the “Rainbow Bridge” if you want. You should find some things there that might help you.
I know this is very tough, just ask yourself “what is better for my dog?” If you can answer this question honestly, you will know the correct path. Your vet will be there to help, ask honest questions, get honest answers.
One of the hardest things in life is loving something and letting it go
I feel for you
All the best
I am sorry about your situation. You can ask the vet if he will euthanize your dog at home. Many vets do this now, for a variety of reasons but mainly because it is much less stressful on the animal as well as the owners to have the pet in a relaxed, comfortable surrounding at the time of death. There are usually additional charges for the home visit. I understand if you cannot afford this but paying for home euthanization was some of the best money I ever spent in terms of my own peace of mind about the decision.
As a quick aside I had a dog Dexter a few years back who had a growth in his neck about the size of a tennis ball. He was a Newfoundland and between his size and fur you couldn’t tell it was there when looking at him. After a number of vet visits and the suggestion he undergo $8000 worth of treatments, I opted not to due to his age and my inability to afford the work.
The reality is he lived another 3 years and the tumor was not the cause of his death. I know you have other factors, and I hope that things will work out, but I just wanted to add that the tumor doesn’t automatically mean the worst.
It can be surprisingly hard to lose an animal companion. My advice – if it’s indeed that time, be there with Flash – don’t succumb to the temptation to let someone else take him away into a back room or something. He’ll need you one last time.
Sorry about your dog. I had to put two down in the same year, both well before their times.
We just left the dogs with them. Once they were dead we didn’t feel the need to bury them or have anything done with their bodies. We took their collars home and that’s it.
One of my dogs also had a tennis ball shaped lump in his neck, which we had removed. It wasn’t what killed him. So maybe it’s something that can be fixed.
Just got back from the vet- looks like a false alarm. She was pretty concerned by the sudden appearance of the lump on his back, and its texture, but did a needle aspiration and said that it looks like just a weird lipoma. We’ll know more in the morning when she gets the results back. Either way, the x-ray showed that it was just on the outside of his ribs, so it’s unlikely to be an invasive tumor.
She offered him some canned dog food, and apparently he devoured it and wanted more. Flash has always been picky; I guess he’s just decided to become even more so. She also gave him a subcutaneous hydration injection- basically, she injected water with electrolytes under his skin- because she said he seemed a bit dehydrated. Right now he kinda looks like a camel.
So, yeah- he seems to be okay for now. I’m really glad; I wasn’t looking forward to deciding whether I needed to try to contact my wife to tell her bad news.
Thanks for all the well-wishes, everyone. It helped.
As for what to do with cremation or burial, if one opts for the latter, and you go to the vet knowing it will be “the last time” dig the hole first. It sucks to come home and have to dig with that box there.
I’m very glad to hear it. I had a dog who was old and lethargic - I just attributed it to age. I took him into the vet for an ear infection and, before we even got into an exam room, one of the vets was walking through the waiting room and said, “That’s a thyroid dog!”. We treated the ear infection and pulled bloodwork to test his thyroid levels and sure enough, he was drastically hypothyroid. A pill once a day and he perked up amazingly lost almost 30 lbs and lived an active couple more years.
