Advice urgenty needed

[Limy]

Hi we are in a position of having to make the awful decision on whether or not to have our beloved pooch put to sleep. She has Liver Disease and her behaviour has started to go downhill. We have of course been to the vets and they have basically told us there is not a lot they can do about the Liver Disease other than treatments that would make her unhappy. She has started to pull the bins over and trashing the kitchen when she is left, the vet thinks this is because her body is not processing the toxins correctly as a result of her liver disease and she has said that she will progressively get worse and may even turn agressive. As we have a 1 year old this is something that worries us greatly. We asked the vet if she thought we should put her down and she said that we would not be unreasonable if we did. We are not sure if it is too early to take this action, she is still eating and wanting walks etc although she seems to be struggling a bit lately when walking. What we don't want is for our hearts to rule our heads and leave her to suffer. Does anybody have any advice/opinion on this we really do not know what to do for the best at the moment, lots of tears are being shed. Many Thanks Limy

[finnbarr]

Hey lovely.
Firstly I'm so sorry about your dog. So sad.
I have two (a boxer and a husky) and just don't know what I'd do without them.
I've worked in a vets before and know how painful it is to have to go through this.
I know I wouldn't want to see my dog suffer anymore than s/he has to, but if they're ok at the moment then I'd keep them around for a bit longer, if only just to say goodbye properly.
It's so painful to have to make that decision but you need to think what's best for your dog and if you know the suffering is going to get worse, perhaps best to put them to sleep before they do. Whatever you decide will be the best decision hun.
Hug xxx

[GrimmaTheNome]

If I was in this position I'd want a second opinion. Do you have insurance that would cover a visit to a specialist? (we did for some relatively minor skin thing with previous dog which had stumped the local vet)

Horrible situation for you - it is hard to know what to to for the best in this case.

[feesh]

What an awful situation for you :(

This sounds a bit hippyish, but if she's having trouble processing toxins, could you take any steps to minimise the amount of toxins she is exposed to? Eg cut out chemical cleaning products from the kitchen, switch her to a raw diet etc? Might be worth a try, as it is our liver which deals with processing all of these nasties in day to day life. If our liver is weakened, it is less able to cope with day to day stuff.

[PlumpDogPillionaire]

I'm going to go against the grain here - and I know others won't like this - but I think if your dog's quality of life is rapidly deteriorating, maybe it's time to let the poor girl go. (I don't say this lightly - I'm crying as I write this.)

I think it's too easy to superimpose 'human' values on animals and forget that actually their lives and happiness are entirely in the moment. Therefore I think it's best to let them go with dignity and with as little pain and fear as possible, rather than dragging out their lives beyond the point where they can enjoy them.

[Boomerwang]

Our second dog had a long, drawn out disease which slowly made him deteriorate. He had all sorts of treatment, including chemotherapy and an operation to insert a stent. He lived for another year.

However, liver disease is something that very rarely gets better or more manageable. If toxins aren't removed they'll build up and break down the rest of the body and brain's functions. I'm sure this will involve pain (find out) as the muscles get a build up. It'll be a slow death rather than a small chance of getting better.

I would make her last days the best she's ever had, then call the vet to your home at the point when you can see that she's in pain. Painkillers just prolong things and you can't be sure just how effective they are.

When our dog finally woke up at night and shot around the house crying in pain, my Dad called the emergency vet and got him a shot of strong painkiller. He passed out for a couple of hours in exhaustion then got up and carried on haring around the house, but this time collapsing constantly because of the drug. It was a frightful time for both the dog and my Dad (I knew nothing about it) and we knew it was time to get the vet around and put him out of his misery.

My Dad said after that if he knew the change would be so sudden, he'd have done it before the dog had to go through that awful night.