Already posted in doghouse but need the traffic and thoughts.
Our old boy Elvis is 11 1/2 years, shepherd/collie mixed breed. We've had him from a pup when we got him from the shelter where he was born.
In a nutshell he's leaking urine almost constantly, drinking shit tons of water - he had bladder stones about 3 years back which were removed and haven't returned. Vet says he has liver disease but suspects he has Cushings. He was negative for diabetes.
To test for Cushings here will run approx $800 and then to medicate (depending on type of cushings) will run around $300 per month.
He's never been life and soul of the party, always quite stubborn and happy to keep to himself. He's always been an "old" dog, doesn't really play and it's virtually impossible to tell if he's in pain or distress. Even when he had his bladder stones, we only noticed when his urine was red with blood.
Now that he's leaking urine constantly, he licks himself all the time, smells dreadful even when we wash him as much as we can.
We have a helper who looks after the house and she takes him out regularly during the day but we don't have a garden he can freely relieve himself in, plus we live in Caribbean so it's blistering outside and we can't walk him constantly during the day because he's long haired, plus he's a bit slow on his feet.
I have dog diapers but he hates them and chews at them to get them off. We don't have soft furnishings because he pees on them and he doesn't like sleeping on dog beds (never has done, prefers the cool tile).
Over the years we've spent near $8000 on treating him for various issues (no pet insurance here), but we wouldn't be able to justify another $800 to see if he has Cushings, and then the cost of medication per month. Not to mention the $275 each time we have to get our couch professional cleaned when he does work up the energy to jump up and leaks on it all night.
I am not a dog owner that would ever prolong a pets life at any cost, and I'd be ready to accept PTS if I knew he was unhappy, but it's so hard to tell with him. I don't want to put him through investigative treatment that would upset him, and vet says with any operation it wouldn't be likely he'd make it off the table.
He's happy to bark at the kids as they run around the pool and comes for pats when we come home, he eats ok but has lost quite a bit of weight.
In my position what would you do? Would you PTS or continue even if he's lying around in urine all day or leaking all around the house? I don't want to cut short his life if he's happy in himself. We mop up after him nearly constantly which is the least of the frustrations, but with kids running around it's wearing thin.
Our other near 10 year old dog we'd know for sure as he's very expressive and loves to be around/with us. But I wonder if we're keeping Elvis alive to just exist rather than to have any decent quality of life...
I'd be happy to hear what others would do in same situation.