My dog is dying

I know this is off topic, but I would love some advice. My sweet dog was diagnosed with heart disease in January. He has two leaky valves, two arrythmias, and all four chambers of his heart are enlarged. When we took him to the veterinary cardiologist last week, she said he now has a tumor on his heart, exacerbating his trouble with circulation. She said he has less than one month left, and that we should decide to end his life because he'll suffer a lot if we let it happen naturally. We drained his chest of fluid again and she upped his meds to three times a day for what she called "his last hurrah." She said that he'll tell us when he wants to leave us, but I don't know what that means. I don't want to be selfish, and I don't want him to suffer, but this is SO HARD.

Right now, he still has good days. Even though he's very thin and tired and in pain, he still likes steak and eggs and spending time outside. He still gives us kisses and snuggles us on the couch. But on a bad day, he doesn't want to eat/take his pills, and he's afraid of the scary things happening to his body, like his legs giving out on him.

I don't know what to do. I've never been through this before, and I would love some help. How do you decide when it's time to let go? How do you know that the bad outweighs the good? He's so tough, and he helped me through my first flare, and I keep hoping that he'll make a comeback, but the vet said his health will continue to decline. I feel awful and would really appreciate any advice to help us decide what to do.

My response is one of experience. My precious kitty baby had a birth defect and I have had other loving pets grow old and have a problem like this.
But what I did was wait for them to quit enjoying life. If they can still be happy and sick I wouldnt ruin that for him.
But I made the mistake of not putting my cat down sooner,she had a birth defect and was dying because she couldn't grow or absorb nutrients. They told me 4 days but to me I thought that was enough time to try and fatten her up with anything shewanted people food, tuna, whatever.
Once they get to the point where they just can't enjoy it. And you will know. Those 4 days were miserable she wanted to die and I couldn't do that.
And with my other pets, they came after that experience and I was able to tell. Once the tail stopped wagging I knew.
Hope this helps somewhat, I feel your pain.

I just lost my dog Justin at Christmas after his palate surgery. His death devastated me. My bulldogs are my children so I understand your pain and dilemma.
My advice is to live each day and take many pictures and video. Spoil him with love and treats, take him to the "magic window" ( McDonalds) and while he is doing ok after his last procedure, use this time to find a vet that will come to the house to do the euthanasia in the comfort of his family and not in the vets office. Many vets do house calls like this. He won't feel stress of walking into the vets office and he can he sent off to heaven in his favourite spot with your loving arms around him. This of couse would be when you know the time is right and he is suffering and no longer can eat or drink or what you determine to be the right time...

I am so sorry you are going thru this. A wise person once said that getting a dog is a countdown to heartache. It is also a life of joy and love when you have a bond with your best friend.
Hugs!

This is the most difficult part of owning a pet. We had to put down our last cat when my younger son was 4 days old and I was a wreck. We knew it was time because she had a seizure disorder and would usually bounce back quickly, but the last three weeks of her life were a challenge. she went from having a seizure every couple of months to almost weekly. She had a serious seizure the day I came home from the hospital and she was no longer able to walk. She was so sad and my husband had to take her to the vet on his own while I took our older son and newborn to a school party. It was terrible, my husband was still crying when he met us at the party.
We have only had fish since then and we have a sick one now. My older son is really struggling with it, but this fish is "his" and it is the first pet he can truly remember.
When the bad outweighs the good, you will know it is time. Best wishes.

AWww this is the awful part of pet ownership. I'm sorry you're in this. Fur kids are such a great part of life.

To me, if my boy was in the end like this, suffering, even if only some days-and the vet has confirmed this is near the end and no more can be done- I'd let him go. I would not want to wait until he was in so much pain. Dogs are stoic, they hide pain. Even the good days could quite possibly be very painful. I'd give the old boy one last super great awesome day being spoiled rotten and given all the affection and whatever his favourite things are and end with a trip to the vet. (I'm crying as I type this because I know how awful a situation like this is).

I'm sorry

I am so sorry. We love our fur babies! I would just say look for signs of no quality of life and discomfort but don't wait too long xoxo

Thank you so much for the advice. I'm sorry that you also experienced how much this hurts. He's in pain for sure, and he's good at hiding it, but he still wags his tail sometimes, and he still gets excited about food. We have been feeding him his favorites--steak, chicken, turkey, eggs. We tell him that he's a good boy all the time. He has more good days than bad (as far as we can tell), but the vet gave us this set time frame, which makes it confusing, you know? I won't wait too long, but it'll be hard to go through with this if he's having one of his better days.

I'll call our vet to see if she can come to the house, which will be easier for him.

I don't think you wait for all bad days. you know the story. pick a good day and help your dog. doing the hard things is part of being a responsible pet owner. its whats right.

I'm so very sorry your going through this with your beloved pet. I work at a vet and see this far too much.

Yes your dog will tell you when he has had enough but do you want to remember him while he is having a good day or a day when he can barely move?

My Golden Retriever became very ill basically overnight. I made the decision to end it for him before I even let the meds try and help him (which they more than likely would not have) because his symptoms got worse quickly. The last thing I remember of him is not him having repeated seizures or being unable to stand up (which he had been doing earlier in the day) but running around the living room with my daughter who was about 2 at the time, having fun with her and what he thought was a ball.

I can't tell you when you should make this awful decision. You have to be ready. Praying for you and your family.

I'm sorry you're going through this colitis32, I had a hard time deciding to put out cat down years ago when she was 11 yrs old and sickly from old age, it was so hard to see her suffer especially with her being so lethargic, barely eating, drinking tons of water that was running clear and frequently through her, often not having time to make it to her littler box, she couldn't help it and it barely had any smell so it took a while to figure out it was her urinating uncontrollably but once I realized what was going on with her I knew she wasn't going to get better (vet confirmed diabetes and past the point of medication or recovery) it really seemed to come out of nowhere, it was only a few weeks of her acting unlike her usual self...after the vet explained her situation I knew I had no choice but to have her euthenized as hard of a decision that was, it was harder watching her suffer.

You'll know when it's time if it comes to that sadly, either way it's a tragic thing to go through for or pets and ourselves.

This is such a heartbreaking thread.

I think once the quality of life can no longer be, that is when you will know.

I have always said that animals get taken away from us too soon.