Our old Catahoula is +/- 15 YO and has survived many many brushes with death. Shot in the shoulder before we got her, bloat, got her spleen out… She’s near the end with kidney failure–you can smell the urea on her breath. She’s getting us up to pee 3 times a night. But… She’s still bright-eyed, eating, wagging. We can’t keep going without sleep, but I can’t imagine her gone. Thoughts? Killing me. Damn dogs.
It is never easy making the decision.
We have cats. I’ve had to make the decision four times over the years, two of them within the last year plus. One cat, young, healthy, bright-eyed and busy-tailed suffered an unknown neurological event and was gone within a day.
The other made it to seventeen years and a bit. He was going downhill but exhibited the same bright-eyed strength, despite him losing weight for months. He wasn’t good with cleaning himself so I was regularly giving him hand baths, which he really enjoyed. Until the last time when after bathing him and a careful hand toweling to dry him off he looked up at me and his eyes said it all, “Dad, I’m tired.”
All four times we said goodbye, every time each of them in our arms. You owe it to your dog when you make the decision, you be there. You hold her until her last breath. She’s earned that, and then some.
And it’s OK to cry. At the time of goodbyes. And you will later, and again. It’s OK.
If you’re having to ask, whether IRL or on a message board, it’s “time.”
Our vet before he moved did house calls for that visit. Once, I asked if we were making the decision too soon. He said, “I’ve never seen anyone make that call too early, only too late.”
I’m so sorry, losing a beloved pet is always horrible. No matter when you make that horrible final decision, please always remember that you made it with love.
You can live for a while even if the kidneys are not 100%—you say she is still eating and not nauseous or losing weight.
She’s eating and happy and she’s letting you know when she has to go out. You’ll see it in her eyes when it’s time to go. If she starts losing continence, no longer eating and seems listless, then it’s time to let her go with your love. Until then, make her final days comfortable and enjoyable. And do be there with her when the end comes. And as others said, it’s OK to grieve and to cry. Don’t hold back your tears. I had to put a dog to sleep six years ago, and I still cry at times.
I too have a 15 year old doggo who’s still doing pretty well–stiff and slow, eats fine, spends most of his time snoozing–but he’s got a problematical eye (keratoconjunctivitis, being managed with artificial tears and cyclosporine ointment) and I’ve decided if it gets to the point of the eye needing to be removed that will be the unequivocal sign that it’s time for him to go. Absent that, I’ll just keep an eye on him, see how he does but I’m prepared to call the vet if he crashes in any way. I timed things very well with my last friend who said goodbye, I intend to keep on that way. I hate seeing a critter who’s circling the drain and is in pain but the humans in the equation can’t see what’s in front of their faces. I love my dog way too much to force him to suffer when he’s done.
I thought my Lab/Border Collie was a goner 5-6 months ago. He’s 14. Meds from the vet took awhile do do their job but finally helped and he’s recovered, as much as a 14 year old can recover. I had looked online at the time and found this:
That doesn’t read to me like it’s time yet. But you not getting sleep is a major problem.
Can you get her to pee on a pad, so you can get some sleep? Can you take turns taking her out (as you’re writing in the plural, it seems you’ve got somebody to take turns with)? Can you arrange to get to bed earlier, or get up later, to make up for the broken sleep?
I’m so hoping Mr. Doxie will just go in his sleep. He’s getting close, I’m sure.
He was run over, all the bones south of last vert broken. He recovered. Been attaked by coyotes, snakes and scorpys numerous times. Recovered. Got the IVDD, Paralyzed. Recovered. Now, he’s jumping around like he’s aged backwards, running with the younger dogs…
But he’s got ‘lumps’ and he’s always scratching. I’m really worried for him, but hell, he’s like 15 or more. He’s happy and active.
But his time is soon, and I’m not happy about it.
I guess my answer is, “I don’t know”
The pad is a good idea. She’s in the Cone of Shame because she’ll lick her left front paw raw if not, so she’s kind of loud, too. My wife is going to see if doggy hospice (it’s a thing here) has a euthanasia appointment this weekend here at the house. I’m torn, obviously.
The last couple of times I had to make this decision, I think I held on too long. That thought eats at me. I hope I can do better next time, but yeah. So fucking hard.
My best wishes are with you and your girl. I have catahoulas also…very sweet dogs.
There are quality of life scales available that you might find helpful. Google “dog quality of life scale.”
From my recent experience, if they get that one last day/week of “being a dog” then it’s time.
Prayers to you.
My first thought is that I couldn’t do it if she’s still in that state, but that could change very quickly, and she could suddenly be suffering a lot. Maybe it would be very wrong to wait until that happened. It would, in fact, be selfish. Perhaps now is the time. 
Really sorry for you–it’s a very hard thing. We had to go through this with our sweet dog last month and it still hurts a lot. But it was definitely the right decision and we both knew it.
We heard the same thing that others here are reporting–many people keep the dog going longer than ideal, and almost nobody makes the call too soon.
In our case, when the moment came, we did go to the vet’s office. We thought about using the at-home service, and have done so for pets in the past, but in this case it didn’t feel right. The vet and everyone in the office had such an empathetic and supportive attitude. They even brought out a huge bowl full of all kinds of delicious foods that our dog normally wouldn’t get to eat (roast turkey, ice cream, cheese, cut up hot dogs, all kinds of yummy treats). She gobbled all of it, licked the bowl clean, and went to sleep with me petting her and praising her.
If she had to go, and she did, it was a good way to get it done.
Talk to the vet. They can’t guarantee, but may be able to give you an idea whether she’s likely to have a significant number of good days or weeks left.
I’ve found “what would you do if it were your dog?” to be a useful question.
I had a cat euthanized who was still eager for food; but the vet. said he was about to go downhill very quickly and would die hard over a period of hours, fighting for breath, so we did it then.
When we had to have our cat put to sleep, they did that for us - the vet said that was the only kind of house call they made.
This was 30+ years ago and I still get misty-eyed about poor Pete. He had feline leukemia when we got him, and we only had a bit over 2 years with him. He went downhill fairly quickly at the end - went from 16 pounds to 11. Nothing we tried could get him to eat more than a bit. I think I even asked the vet to let us know if we were keeping him alive too long. Poor guy would still come running when he heard the treat container rattling, but wouldn’t eat the treats - I think that’s when we knew.
We are currently using diapers for our old girl If your dog can get used to releaving herself that way it may save you some wake ups.
CW