The dog in question (actually not mine, belongs to my brother, but I often care for her) is a 14 yr old Labradoodle. About a month ago she started getting sluggish and eating poorly. The vet has done blood work, xrays and ultrasounds. The bloodwork reveals that she is having difficulty creating red blood cells. There are no signs of infection. This past Saturday the vet said she suspects there are tumors on her liver, kidney or spleen (I am not sure why she suspects this). She gave the dog a shot of cortisone and prednisone pills for 10 days, saying that the dog should probably be put down sooner rather than later as the death will not be a pleasant one. Now the dog is practically back to normal, and my brother has encountered someone who had a dog in a similar situation who lasted for two years.
I guess I don’t really have question except to seek others experience in this regard.
Second opinion, ASAP.
My dog is dying too. She was diagnosed in January with osteosarcoma and given only a few months to live if we didn’t do some serious treatment (amputation of her leg plus chemo). We decided not to put her through all that…and here we are four months later with a dog that seems to feel just fine.
She gets daily pain meds, though we can’t detect that she ever feels any pain, and she seems fatigued more easily, but then she’s getting older. We’re starting to hope that if we spoil her enough, she’ll decide to stick around a while.
Best of luck with your 'doodle!
Sucks, man. Sucks sucks sucks sucks.
My dog was dying of a brain tumor and I didn’t know it. Steriods did bring her back to “normal”, and then slowly she wasn’t. They just mask the issues, really. By the time I got her an MRI, it was too late. I had her put down instead of waking her up from the MRI anesthesia.
I wouldn’t do it differently, though. I wouldn’t have not done the steroids had I known. She was 12, I can’t afford chemo, we had a wonderful life together.
14 years is a grand life for a lab. Don’t make her suffer. Keep on with the steroids until you can tell she is not going to do better. You’ll know. It will make you want to die, but you’ll know.
If the steroids are actually improving her quality of life; she’s happy, you’re happy, and everything is ‘normal’, then there’s nothing wrong with spending some more time with her. But you must realize that one day you’re likely to wake up and things will be ‘bad’ again, and at that point you’re going to have to call the vet and take her in that very day. You’ll know when it happens; you may not want to admit it, but you will know…and you need to be strong enough to do what needs to be done at that time.
It sucks, and there’s no way to make it suck any less, and it really, really sucks. I’m very sorry for you and your brother and his dog.
I hurt when I read these stories, because I know that someday it will happen to my dog.
I’m so sorry your doodle isn’t well. If you do have to put the dog down, know you had the courage to do the last, best, act of love you could.
Losing a pet is dreadful.
I can’t read the OP. It’s upsetting enough just to think of someone losing their dog. I’m so sorry. Maybe you could have a little going away party for her. With steak or liver. Just a treat. She won’t know.
Was the other dog also 14? That’s pretty old for a dog. Even if she gets cured from what she has now, the end has to be near anyway.
While she’s still feeling good, slowly transition her to better dog food and fatten her up a bit. Eventually, she’ll lose her appetite. If she has some extra weight when that happens, that can help extend the amount of time she has good quality of life.
Definitely don’t wait too long once she starts feeling bad. Once it looks like she won’t bounce back, start to consider the options. From the dog’s perspective, it’s probably better to go out a bit too soon while she’s still feeling good rather than when she’s feeling bad and doesn’t understand why the pain won’t go away. Also, he’ll have better memories of her if he doesn’t wait until the very end.
My rule of thumb is to think that if there were a dog heaven, what would she think when she got there. If it’s way too early, she won’t understand why she can’t be with you anymore. If it’s way to late, she’ll wonder why she had to go through the pain so long. But at the right time, she’ll be sad she’s not with you but she’ll understand why you made that decision.
I went through this just 3 weeks ago. My poor dog had cancer, and was incontinent. I took her to the vet, and had the poor thing put down. This is what every dog owner dreads…but at least my dog passed peacefully.
remember, think of your dog first, and don’t let her suffer.
I wish you all the best.
You may want to try smaller, low-fat meals and see if that helps. Our dog had a liver tumor and wasn’t eating very well. After a while, we figured out that the tumor was pressing on her stomach so much that it couldn’t hold very much food. If we fed her the normal amount, her stomach would hurt and she’d lose her appetite. What we started doing is feeding her very small portions throughout the day–similar to when a person has a lap-band and has to switch to small meals. We also switched to people food like chicken, eggs, pork, rice, etc. because she wouldn’t eat dog food. The fact that she’s perking up after the steroid shots may indicate that the reduced swelling is making room for her stomach to hold more food.
If you do switch food, do it slowly or else she’ll have digestive problems. Also, do some research on what to feed her to make sure she’s getting a complete diet. Premium pet stores will carry nutritionally complete dog foods that are basically fresh ground meat and vegetables. Try to avoid foods with lots of carbohydrates since cancers feed on carbs.
Also keep an eye on her water intake. Our dog seemed to forget about drinking water. One thing we did was to have a water bowl with fresh water just on the inside of the front door. When she came in from her walk, she’d go straight to it and drink a lot.
Good food and steroids may help. How long is variable, which kind of sucks. I hope you get a good while out of it. Steroids do come with their own set of problems (brittle bones, fungal infections, mood swings, appetite increase/decrease, and problems with blood sugar/diabetes), but they can be a miracle drug. Be sure the dog sees the vet regularly while taking the steroids.
Changing to a grain-free food may help. My cat is eating Halo’s grain-free dry food, and the lack of grain seems to work for him.
I agree with what the others have said about keeping a close eye on the dog, because when it’s time to go, you and your brother will know. If you possibly can, be with the dog at the end. I always go back into the room where they’re euthanized with my cats because otherwise they’d be terrified. Holding them, petting them, and telling them they’re marvelous and I love them while they get the shot is the last thing I can do for them.
I’m sorry that both **ethelbert **and **DungBeetle **are going through this. It sucks, no two ways about it.
Thanks to everyone for your kind words.
For several years I have been taking her on long walks (I am retired, my brother works and I live nearby). When the diagnosis came in, I realized that for the last month she had only been going on those walks to please me. That made me very sad, like I had abused her trust (I know that’s not true, but that is how I felt). Now I let her lead me, sniff what she wants and go home when she wants. Today she led me back to my home where she spent the afternoon visiting with my wife and me.
May I suggest asking your vet for a sedative to give your dog before making that last trip? That way your beloved 'doodle would fall asleep in her own home, with no struggle at the vet’s.
Fromm makes a wonderful Shredded Chicken Entree. Canned, pricey at $4.50, but low protein at 9% and low fat at 1.5%. My ailing dog ate it so quickly he didn’t even realize there were pills in it.
I hurt for everyone facing the loss of their pet. My previous dog developed an enlarged heart with a 6 mo. to 1 yr. prognosis. She lived longer than that, which was both a blessing and a curse. I had her euthanized a bit prematurely, and beat myself up over that, but I couldn’t watch her struggle to die (I’m about half an hour from vet) and I couldn’t bear the thought of coming home and finding that she’d died alone.
She’ll tell you when it’s time. And then you’ll hurt like hell.
I’m a firm believer in giving steroids until the end once there’s a cancer prognosis and they do better once the steroids start. Tall the vet she’s better with the steroids and you’d like to continue them. My last kitty got pred for 6 months and did really well right up to the last day, even as her profile became more and more football-shaped. Then she missed dinner. I knew that was it. I took her on her last trip the next morning.
ethelbert, you sound really in tune with this pup. You’ll know when it’s time. I always tell people better one last good day, don’t wait until her last bad day. I hear people regret waiting too long all the time. I see people get their pets tumors surgically removed, undergo radiation and chemo, and ultimately it was for their own benefit, to be able to say they tried everything, and never realizing all they did was prolong their pets’ suffering and the inevitable. As much as I love working with veterinary specialists, they do some really amazing things, sometimes for some pets it’s really just too much.