I think my dog is dying :(

[misshollygolightly]

My poor mini schnauzer is 13 years old and we learned this summer she has advanced heart disease. The meds our vet prescribed this summer have really helped; she hadn't had any more syncope/fainting/seizure episodes...until Wednesday. And in the space of just a few days she has really taken a turn for the worse. Collapsing multiple times per day, extremely shallow rapid breaths, lots of vomiting and diarrhea (which apparently can be side effects of her newest heart meds but can also just be part of the advanced heart disease thing), and very little appetite. I want her to pass peacefully and, hopefully, without intervention (that is, without taking her in and having her put down). It seems like death must be coming pretty soon, naturally. But I'm praying my kids don't have to witness anything too scary or traumatic. And also it's getting difficult to keep up with the clean-up job (I don't think our carpets will ever be the same). She's not so bad off that I feel like I can make the decision to put her down (she doesn't appear to be in severe pain, for example), but I also don't want this part to drag on too long (mostly for her sake, but also for ours). It's going to be really hard when she does die (she's been "my" dog for all these years...she even went to college with me!), but it's hard for me to even think about what it will be like when she's dead because right now we're caught up in...well...I guess the process of her dying. Ugh. I don't think I'm expressing myself well, but I think I just needed to get this out there.

It's hard to care for a dying pet. It's not like I can take off work for this and there's only so much (not much!) I feel like we can do to care for her. And between my poor dog, my toilet-training daughter, and my 5.5 yo DS who still wets his bed every night (and often leaks through his overnight pullups), I don't know how much more I can take of everyone else's bodily secretions. (There, that's the b*&^% part of the post, I guess!) I'm sad. And cranky. It's hard when pets get old and die.

[DietCokeLover]

I am so sorry. It hurts so bad to see our fur babies hurt/ sick.

[TwinFoxes]

I can't see this post and not send hugs. I was with my beloved boxer last week when we euthanized him. It was a very hard decision. I am so sorry you are facing this. :hug:

[ArizonaGirl]

2 weeks ago Monday we took my beloved Bichon Poodle mix (also 13) in to be euthanized (congestive heart disease and kidney failure).

I don't know if this is common but I was allowed to hold her in my lap when they injected the meds and she passed peacefully in my arms (we had given her a tranquilizer before we came in so she was already asleep).

It does get better, but I still miss her every single day.

:hug: to you and your family

[Indianamom2]

I'm so sorry. I've got two cats who are old and in poor health. One in particular is going downhill fast. It's hard to know when to intervene. I hope that your sweet doggie goes peacefully when it's time. :hug:

[GvilleGirl]

I am so sorry. We dealt with this over the summer and I was a reck. The links on this site were very helpful to our grieving process and decision making. http://www.petlossathome.com/support/

I had come across this site a year earlier and we decided it wasn't his time. We did end up putting him to sleep only after the pain meds weren't helping him and he didn't even want to get up to eat.

[StantonHyde]

Please do not be afraid to euthanize your sweet dog. I put *my* dog down 1.5 years ago. If I had known what a peaceful process it would be, I would have felt much better. The vet came to my house (cost more but worth it). They gave him a tranquilizer and then whatever drug is used to euthanize them. It was so peaceful. His body was so much more relaxed than it had been in a long time after the tranquilizer and they gave me as much time as I needed to make it through all of this. I sobbed and sobbed, but the process was really ok. It was really peaceful. Now that I know this, I won't wait as long when our current dog gets old/sick. Big hugs!!

[MamaMolly]

Huge hugs. I'm so, so sorry.

[KLD313]

I'm so sorry. I am going through the exact same thing right now, seizures, peeing everywhere. All of it. My dog has been like this for a long time, I don't think he's just going to die peacefully. I also can't tell if it's time yet. My friend is a vet tech and she told me it's very rare for them to die in their sleep peacefully. She also told me he can die during a seizure. Every morning I go and check him and hope I'm going to find him dead. :(. I'm going to end up putting him to sleep at some point and I think you should consider that possibility when you feel the dog is ready.

[hellokitty]

I am so sorry. I watched two dogs that suffered a lot of medical problems toward the end (our mini-schnauzer died of kidney disease, my min pin died of complications from c-diff). I know that you are feeling raw, but I agree with Rebecca. We ended up euthanizing both dogs. Their prognosis was poor, they were not eating anymore (and both of those dogs lived to eat!), you could tell that they were in pain and hurting, I was heartbroken, but putting them to sleep was more peaceful for them, than letting them suffer it out to the end. I hope that when the time comes, it is peaceful for your dog and sending lots of thoughts to you and your family.

[twowhat?]

I am very sorry:( We had to euthanize one of our dogs last month and I was out of town and couldn't be with him and it really tore me apart:( He had an aggressive cancer involving the heart so was having a lot of the same symptoms as your pup. The tumor involving his heart had ruptured and it was the fastest decision we ever had to make...he went from just fine to "not going to make it through the night" in a matter of 1.5 days.

I do have to agree with PP who said to not be afraid of euthanasia. It is a guaranteed peaceful process with you (someone your dog loves and trusts) guaranteed to be there (be sure your vet uses a sedative first - though I think this is standard practice). Dogs are also masters at hiding pain so your dog may possibly be in great pain but you wouldn't ever know.

I'm really sorry. It's so, so hard to lose a beloved family member and even though there aren't the same sorts of paperwork and logistics hurdles that you have to go through when a human dies, there's still all of the emotional stress that comes with it, and much less of the support from workplaces, etc to take time to grieve.

Thinking of you.

TwinFoxes, ArizonaGirl, Kindra, Indianamom, Gville, Stantonhyde, KLD, hellokitty, and everyone else who posted about losing a pet or facing the decision soon - hugs to all of you too.

[misshollygolightly]

Thanks so much, everyone. I will definitely read through the links and will likely come back and reread your thoughtful posts several times over the next couple of days. My dog seems a little better this morning--at least, she has more of an appetite and is more mobile. I did manage to get her to take all of her pills this morning, so I'm hoping I can see if they have any positive effect on her. The shallow breathing, peeing, diarrhea, etc. is still going on, though. And I won't kid myself: her heart isn't going to magically recover (and you make a good point, Twowhat?, about dogs not always "telling" us when they're in pain). One way or another, she doesn't have much time left. I will be thinking carefully about all you've said, and figuring out how to give her the best death possible. Thanks for the hugs and empathy...just what I needed.

[123LuckyMom]

I just wanted to offer my support. It's so hard to watch a pet decline. I wish peace for you both.

[doberbrat]

I'm so so sorry. There is nothing more painful than making such a decision.

She may not be in pain, but is she happy knowing that she's making messes in the house and cant control it? Is she not eating b/c she isnt hungry or b/c her stomach is upset?

Sadly, she isnt going to get 'better'. So, there's no reason to wait till the 'bitter end'. You have time to make peace with her. Give her some special quality time - take her to her favorite places, feed her her favorite foods whatever you can to make some happy memories for both of you and then say goodbye as you hold her.


I know everyone is different and what you do will be right for YOU. But, I can tell you that my doberman took ill very quickly and had to be put down the same day. She was in incredible pain and there were no other options. It still haunts me. My cockers went downhill more gradually. I was able to plan and make their last days special. We were able to take them for ice cream, hand feed them whatever, go for walks in a stroller, and take some last family pics. It hurt (and still does) but when I get sad, I can think back and know they at least had a 'good' death. and I have some pretty awesome memories of the last days.

Again, I'm so sorry. So very very sorry. It just sucks.

[BabyBearsMom]

I am so sorry. We just had to put down our cat. She was also vomiting and having diarrhea everywhere and was nearly catatonic. We decided to put her down because we worried she would die in front of the girls. But it was a difficult decision and I still tear up when I think of her even though it happened a few weeks ago. It is so hard to lose a pet.

[westwoodmom04]

So sorry that you are going through this. We had two cats that had to be put down within four months of one another. The second one had a chronic condition that had been stable but she got sicker quickly once her friend passed (they were a bonded pair -- had been together for fourteen years). Anyway, I felt afterwards that I had held off too long with the second (mostly because I was not ready to lose another pet) and if I had the chance to do it over again, I would have had her euthanized a week or two earlier to save her some pain and very low quality of life. Being able to keep our pets from extreme discomfort at end of life is a last gift we can give them; although it is so hard to do emotionally.

[lmh2402]

i'm so, so sorry.

[OKKiddo]

Thanks so much, everyone. I will definitely read through the links and will likely come back and reread your thoughtful posts several times over the next couple of days. My dog seems a little better this morning--at least, she has more of an appetite and is more mobile. I did manage to get her to take all of her pills this morning, so I'm hoping I can see if they have any positive effect on her. The shallow breathing, peeing, diarrhea, etc. is still going on, though. And I won't kid myself: her heart isn't going to magically recover (and you make a good point, Twowhat?, about dogs not always "telling" us when they're in pain). One way or another, she doesn't have much time left. I will be thinking carefully about all you've said, and figuring out how to give her the best death possible. Thanks for the hugs and empathy...just what I needed.

We had a 14 year old Cocker Spaniel with Congestive Heart Failure as well. She would cough like kennel cough because of the fluid in her lungs so we put her on lasix for over a year. About 6 months into it we had to increase the meds again which made her incontinent. She was the cutest diaper wearing doggie ever though. About 5 months later the seizures began. We went to the vet and he put her on meds. They didn't really work well. She would get so stiff with them and they were instantly triggered when I didn't hold her in the exact right position while sleeping. Back to the vet. He said it was a collapsing trachea from all the coughing and that the seizures were from lack of oxygen. He gently brought up the idea of letting her go as a suggestion for soon. My husband and I talked about it, but he wasn't ready to let her go yet. Another week went by and she was sleeping with us in bed, in my arms propped up in the perfect position so she could sleep. Our lives became a desperate race to attempt to get meds into her so she would continue to live. Then I sat my husband down and showed him she wasn't living anymore. All of her favorite things had already gone. She didn't rush to us for her favorite treat (tuna fish), she didn't/couldn't go on walks anymore, she didn't/couldn't run to the door to greet anyone who knocked, and our final confirmation was the ride to the vets to help her cross--she didn't/couldn't even lift her head to look out the window (when she'd always hang half out of it to take it all in). That time she showed very little interest and the twinkle was gone from her eyes.

It was very peaceful, she had the tranquilizer and she lifted her eyes to look at us one more time and then sighed and closed her eyes. We could see the tension and pain leave her body and knew she had gone to a better place. Our hearts broke knowing that our time with her was over and we knew that we'd always miss her but we also knew that we'd made the right decision. It was that first week that was the roughest for us, hard to be home because it was so quiet. That was before kids and we've had to help another one cross the bridge since then (kidney failure) and that first week was bad then too, but somewhat better because the kids were there and needed to be taken care of too. In both situations I did feel a sense of relief amid the grief.

I'm sorry, it's a tough situation to go through. Hugs to you and prayers of strength and peace.

[jacksmomtobe]

[QUOTE=twowhat?;3939596]I am very sorry:( We had to euthanize one of our dogs last month and I was out of town and couldn't be with him and it really tore me apart:( He had an aggressive cancer involving the heart so was having a lot of the same symptoms as your pup. The tumor involving his heart had ruptured and it was the fastest decision we ever had to make...he went from just fine to "not going to make it through the night" in a matter of 1.5 days.

I do have to agree with PP who said to not be afraid of euthanasia. It is a guaranteed peaceful process with you (someone your dog loves and trusts) guaranteed to be there (be sure your vet uses a sedative first - though I think this is standard practice). Dogs are also masters at hiding pain so your dog may possibly be in great pain but you wouldn't ever know.

We had the same thing happen in September with our dog as Twowhat and I second her thoughts about the pain that animals can be in without us knowing. I am just grateful that I was able to be there when our girl died. I would have been heartbroken if I had not been there so making the decision to put a dog down when the end is near let's you say goodbye and allows you to be there for your pet in it's final moments. It is so hard to lose them! You are in my thoughts!

[AJP]

Please do not be afraid to euthanize your sweet dog. I put *my* dog down 1.5 years ago. If I had known what a peaceful process it would be, I would have felt much better. The vet came to my house (cost more but worth it). They gave him a tranquilizer and then whatever drug is used to euthanize them. It was so peaceful. His body was so much more relaxed than it had been in a long time after the tranquilizer and they gave me as much time as I needed to make it through all of this. I sobbed and sobbed, but the process was really ok. It was really peaceful. Now that I know this, I won't wait as long when our current dog gets old/sick. Big hugs!!

This is almost exactly my story as well. Huge hugs...it is so difficult.
I also agree that our pets sometimes don't let us know their extreme pain. If it wasn't for us knowing a diagnosis and seeing the "life gone" in her eyes, we wouldn't have known what she was going through. She had no quality of life left when she couldn't enjoy her (simple) favorite things.