AIBU to consider putting dog down?

I'd look into the steroids suggestion first as a few people have mentioned it now OP. That's got to be worth a try xx

With this sort of thing, in a youngish dog, I think you will have to bring up the subject first. I don’t think you’re unreasonable at all, but it’s not the usual ‘old dog, poor quality of life’ that makes euthanasia an expected subject to bring up, A lot of owners in this situation may be very angry towards the vet for mentioning it and all vets have heard of clients slating other vets for suggesting PTS when more could be done.

@ConfusedDogMum our vet says autoimmune things in dogs are really tricky to diagnose, and don't appear in blood tests - you have to biopsy the affected tissue, and even then if the lab don't have a clear path as to what they are looking for, they may not do the right tests as they are specific to different conditions. And different autoimmune conditions can present differently apparently in different breeds and ages of dog so really tough to pin down.
Its a low risk tactic to try high dose steroids and see if it helps

YANBU we had a similar situation with our dog last year and it was definitely the kindest thing to put her to sleep. Very hard to do though of course, she was 12 so had a good life

This x 100! It sounds like your dog has a loving home with a family that love and cherish him. But i think it is the right thing and thats to let him go with love, holding his paw and a big cuddle.

Its so sad but it doesn't sound like a good life anymore and @Andthereyougo says its the life they have had, and hes had a good one. You've loved him perhaps the greatest love of all is knowing its time to do the right thing and say goodbye.

We lost our dog 2 years ago and we bought a memory box, saved his collar, water bowl, lead, his favourite polar bear etc and my daughter often still pulls it all out. We had him cremated and scattered the ashes in the back of our garden so hes still with us in the house.

Tough times but remember they don't count the years. We do xx

I would get a second and even third opinion before I even considered PTS. I used to go to a vet who told me that my dog had such severe reoccurring ear infections that every 2 weeks he needed her to clean them out thoroughly at £80 per session (no insurance here either so I understand your situation completely). I asked what would happen if I didn't take him every 2 weeks, as it was extremely stressful for both him and me. She told me that the infection would spread to his brain and left the rest up to my imagination. That terrified me so I did extensive research online and came across some ear drops for dogs that were highly recommended. They only cost about £3 and they worked immediately. I used them for the rest of his life and he never got another ear infection. I never set foot in that vets again, I just think to some vets it's a massive money making business and they'll put the animal through anything as they know we'll pay up (not all vets obviously). Please do some research online or try to find a vet with experience in skin conditions, surely it's worth a try. Good luck.

@DisappearingGirl i totally agree. We've had pets big and small over the years and my majority experience at the vets is that they tend to lean over heavily toward treatment at any cost. Even the animal's quality of life.

It's a fine line, and i get that everyone that cares enough to actually take their animal to a vet is going to get them treated, but having to be the one to bring up euthanising instead of ploughing on and on with treatment is REALLY DIFFICULT when it hasn't been mentioned at all by the vet.

I accompanied one of my adult DDs to the vets with her young male cat recently which was having awful recurring bladder problems. All the £££ in the world thrown at it wouldn't fix this permanently; the poor cat was going to often cope with a lot of pain. The vet was gently upfront about this fact right from the start of this (3rd appt in 3 months) appointment and i was so grateful to her. It made my DDs decision much less stressful and guilt ridden 😥

I’m sorry op. Animals break your heart.

But I’d never be without them.

When I was younger I would pay any amount and put my pets through anything in order to extend their lives. Now I’m older and wiser, and I think it’s not always kind to put them through the stress and discomfort of operations and invasive treatment. Better a short life and a merry one.

Poor dog, lovely owners. But I would opt to PTS on this occasion. And our dogs have always been greatly loved.

If there is no diagnosis and nothing is helping, I would PTS without hesitation. Just in case it hasn't been tried though, has she had a very high dose course of steroids? My ddog1 has had a very weird, horrible, and no firm diagnosis condition where he developed necrotic ulcers all over his head and back. At first they thought it was an infection and antibiotics didn't help at all, then the main vet gave him a whacking great dose of steroids which stopped the ulcers forming in days. He'll now be on steroids for life as he obviously has something autoimmune going on as he still has weird patches, but they are not the terrible oozing craters of before which have now all healed

And after I had to have my DCat pts at only 8 the vet said to me animals don’t count the years they’ve had, only the live they’ve had.

Is it the same vet you've always gone to? If so, I think it might be worth taking her to a different vet for a second opinion. Also, I believe there are some charities that will help with vets bills that might be worth looking into. But if the surgery isn't a definite fix and is going to be unpleasant for her to recover from it may be kinder to just put her down. You are definitely not being unreasonable. It must be heartbreaking for you.

I will start by saying I am the person who wouldn't think twice about getting a 10/20/30k loan to cover above our insurance if it was curable or the dog wasn't in pain but she sounds miserable which may means it's time to let go. The only thing I would say is we had a dog with an autoimmune skin condition that sounds like your baby, he had life long steroids and lived to 14 with only a few flare ups.

I’m sorry, it’s so hard isn’t it but I think you’ve tried everything within your reach.

Theres probably a deeper cause but just as a thought, you don’t use those air fresheners that puff out into the room do you? My ndn dog had awful skin problems, vet tried everything, specialist food flown from US and then she got rid of the air fresheners. Dogs skin cleared up in a few weeks.

I had to make this decision, with my beloved cat last year. In all honesty, I would let them go ,

I'm sorry about your lovely dog. If it makes you feel any better, it's highly likely that any insurance you could have bought would have run out of cover by now anyway. If she is miserable it is a kindness to let her go.

I absolutely would put the dog to sleep in these circumstances. It is the right decision for the dog AND for you financially as a family - don't let any guilt about the latter cause you to forget the former.

Sorry posted too soon - I'm so sorry 💔💔💔

I'm so sorry, this must be so awful. I think it might be the kindest thing to do.

I've been through it with our lovely dog who passed just before Christmas. Our situation was different - they knew what the problem was, he had the operation, but it didn't go well and his quality of life suffered greatly afterwards. I often wish we hadn't put him through it all and just PTS instead, but I've accepted now that we were trying to do the best we could with the information we had.

If they don't know what it is, there are no guarantees with the surgery and you could end up spending huge amounts to get nowhere.

I also say this very gently, but it's an enormous wake up call about insurance. You just never know. I know peoples' opinions on it differ, but it's so important to either insure or keep a hefty sum aside. Between the ages of 6-8 (when ddog passed) we claimed almost £12k.

Your girl is obviously very loved and it sounds like you've done the absolute best for her. Sometimes letting them go is the final act of kindness.