To think our healthy dog has just been put down?

[AfternoonTeaIsLovely]

Our dog was a bit jumpy and yelpy yesterday. She didn't want to come in the house and when she did, she was panting a lot. A few months ago we reported some excessive panting and her snapping at our daughter and it was put down to age and hormonal issues (had her womb out last year at 14years old). So yesterday we presumed it was anxiety again and stubbornness when she didn't go out for another week later. Her panting continued through the night and we took her to vets first thing. She had applied herself and was displaying signs of a stroke.

It's all a bit of a blur but my husband tells me the vet said it looked like advanced Vascular disease. We were told we could try steroids but she may not be able to eat them at home and also told that putting her to sleep was an option. I trusted my husband to make the right decisions as I wasn't understanding what we were told. I know 100% my husband would have given her a chance if he thought she had one so
we had her put to sleep.

I've now come home and googled to find most sources saying a full recovery can be made. Hubby doesn't think I should call the vets as they are busy but I just don't understand why this happened so quickly and why her prognosis was made to sound so terrible. I had to take my child out so couldn't stay for the final moments, hubby says the vet told him after it had been the right decision.

This was a PDSA hospital and out dogs treatment was free. I'm.not so cynical to think they would have pushed us to the lowest cost option but I'm so confused right now that she was so healthy two days ago and now she's gone with an 'advanced' disease.

Has anyone else been through this. I cannot get it out of my head that I should have took longer to consider the options and assess her chances of recovery.

I agree 100% with Coolaschmoola

You are in grief and shock at the moment but your vet, and your husband did the right thing. As you are realising, this has been coming on a while. Your beloved, elderly pet was in pain and suffering. They did the right thing and you left the decisions for them to take.
I know that having to make decisions on the practicalities is also hard and horrible, but they need to be done. Your grief is understandably clouding all your other emotions.
She is at peace now with no pain and suffering. She had a good life and was loved. Please don't get entangled in the other things that don't matter like where she is cremated.

I have so much sympathy for the pain you are going through. I lost my eldest a while ago now and still miss her every day. That's what love and loss do. It took me months before I was ready to deal with her ashes. But we took them to her favourite walk and scattered them, gave the other dogs her favourite meal and it did bring peace. Is that perhaps something you can think about?
Sending you much love. Be kind and gentle with yourself n

I’m so sorry for your loss OP.

I think it’s very normal to question yourself after a decision like putting a dog to sleep - there’s always the feeling that more could have been done. My pup had to be put down due to cancer and yet a couple of days before we took her to the vet she was absolutely fine. Dogs can go downhill so fast.

With an older dog who has had other issues, options for recovery are very different. What an otherwise healthy dog of 5 can recover from is very different to what a dog of 14 who has had a stroke can recover from. Your vet was perhaps of the opinion that he couldn’t extend her life by much, and that the quality of it would be poor if he did.

If you still think you were pushed into the wrong decision then you should speak to your vet. They should be happy to answer questions and explain their decision if that will help you to grieve and move on.

It’s so hard losing a dog

It sounds like your dog was unable to get adequate air into the lungs which would have been scary for her.
You could definitely write to the practice manager and suggest more time should be given for choosing crematorium etc as people are traumatised at the time and can be left with regrets. They should ask if you want time to accept the sad event, not go straight to form filling.

I’m sorry for your loss.

Thing is, how long would you need? Would five minutes, fifteen, an hour have made you feel any better? Would it have changed the outcome or felt less heart breaking?

I hate to be so blunt, but your dog was in pain, struggling to breathe, and distressed. I’d say time is of the essence in that situation, particularly as you say you can now see she had been ill and deteriorating for some time.

I have had many animals PTS over the years- we live on a farm, I have worked in vets, rescue kennels and yards- and I can’t think of any case that would have made me feel better to have signed the forms after a period to catch my breath, whilst the animal suffered on.

I think many posters are right, I wouldn't have wanted to delay things but I'm sure we could have been given some time to choose what we wanted to do with her rather than this quick form ticked on our behalf that I couldn't digest until later. Sadly our girl was already collected so we have opted for a same day cremation at the crematorium and are making the 4 hour drive there to collect her ashes. I know most people would think that a bit extreme but we couldn't have got her body back or ashes until Monday/Tuesday and I don't want her in 'storage'.

People have said to be kind to myself so whilst this may be for me, I do feel I will find some comfort in having 'her' back rather than waiting in limbo to collect the ashes.

I do think I will put this in writing at some point, I don't feel we were able to process info and we weren't aware of other options. I have never had a pet before and naively didn't plan for a death, I always thought they would be dealt with at the same site as they are PTS. I know it won't make a difference to us or Tia now but I may be able to help people become better informed in future.

We have had some fun and laughs in the car, trying to keep it an adventure and not letting on to much to our 4 year old what we are doing (teenager knows).

Perhaps they could inform people of a cut off time before animals are collected, they collect Thursday and Mondays so had it been another day we would have been able to stop her going. It doesn't matter where she is cremated as such but I would rather she hadn't been carried for hours like cargo, local companies were much more sensitive in approachable me even carried ashes to your door not just sent by courier.

An update to anyone following, we collected ashes Friday to bring her straight home. I felt better to have her back here. The nurse who liaised with me to arrange this was brilliant and she called me today and answered all of my questions. She believes the signs pointed to a brain lesion and the vestibular episode was so severe amd affecting her in many ways that she'd have struggled to make a recovery if at all. I feel a bit more at peace now and just taking everything else really slowly in regards to moving her bed, bowls etc.

Thanks so much for updating, it's reassuring for other dog owners. Glad you are feeling a bit better.

She sounds really similar to my dog who we had pts last year. She was 13, had cushings, was really incontinent and started staggering and just falling over, head tilted. Then she’d be ok-ish another day. When dh took her to the vet she collapsed each time which I’m sure was anxiety. They suspected brain tumour, but steroids would have cancelled out her cushings meds. I couldn’t put her through any intervention with anxiety.
You had a big shock, so final and you didn’t get chance to say stop let’s think about this and do some of the last things you wanted to do. But ultimately it was the right thing but very sad.

I'm glad you've had a bigger and better explanation and you can make your peace with it. It's obviously a huge shock. I don't know if I said, I lost my old girl 6 months ago and not a day goes by where I don't think of her. Sending you and the family much love.