Think the dog is dying

[Storyofalion]

My friends have gone on holiday, they asked if I could take care of their jack Russel.
He is a 15 year old male, he is so skinny:(
He is under weight by 2 kg , all ribs on show etc.
He does not want to eat the food provoded by my friends, I believe its due to his teeth hurting and the food being too hard to chew for him.
I asked my friends if I could give him different food , they approved.
The dog is being fed by me and is eating fine so far.
The issue is that he is urinatimg everywhere, he urinates every 30 minutes around the house, I have put him in the kitchen because there are tiles so easier to clean , I let him out in the garden every hour, but it does not help .
He urinates everywhere and on his bed too.
I think he is very, very unwell.
He does not look happy at all.
My friends have been informed of the issue and said he is having some issues with his bladder for the last 2 months.
I was not told this , I domt think I would have said yes in the first place considering I have a crawler at home and a toddler:(
I realy feel sorry for the dog, I feel I should take him to the vets , my friends said they do not have an insurance and wont be able to cover the costs for the treatment needed.
He is suffering, not a happy dog , just lies amd urinates around himself.
I cant afford to pay for the treatment myself.
I suspect he may have a bladder cancer.
I decided to just take him to the vets and pay by my credit card because I cant stand him suffering.
The appointment is in the evening.
I have asked my friends what if the vet will advise to put him down, they said they are ok with it but cant afford to cover the fees !
I am ready to cover the fees myself but I dont know how much its going to be and I am so angry and stressed about this whole thing, the poor dog :((((
AIBU to cover the fees for the vets to end his suffering ?

I know my friends will no longer be my friends .cruel

Home visit OOH euthanasia at home -£64.
Pre arranged as dog terminally ill.
Peaceful passing in familiar surroundings.

Blimey that's cheap. I got quoted £250 for a home visit euthanasia a few days ago.

I’ll never forget a European vet I once knew told me “You British people keep your animals alive for too long when they’re ill and as a result they suffer”.

Some people shouldn’t have pets. I’m sorry you are in this awful situation op, your friends are unbelievably selfish. First for not telling you about his health issues, second for not taking him to the vets when they started, third for saying they won’t even pay for him to be PTS if the vet deems it the right thing, and third because they are doing all this while on a bloody holiday. Heartless fuckers. You sound lovely, thank you for trying to help the poor wee thing.

Why on earth would you want to be friends with these people
you are clearly a kind caring person to book the vets appointments.
you are doing the right thing

There is nothing to say this is him dying now, but he will if they continue to neglect his medical needs. Poor old boy might just need his teeth out and antibiotics for a bladder infection (and a better home).

Take the poor dog to their vet and have the vet send them the bill. Most vets will let you pay in installments if its a large amount.

I wouldn't think bladder cancer from that, possibly just stress from the new environment. I'd get him a dog nappy - you can get them on amazon - get the belly band type and put a nappy inside it. This will save your furniture. Continue to feed him soft food. I'd at least give him a chance before PTS.

OP if you are claiming UC I think the PDSA will help the dog for free or a small contribution. Ring them and explain situation to them. They clearly don't care at all about dog as if someone told my dog was unwell I would fly home on early to take care it it. Then again anyone who loved their dog would not go on holiday leaving it poorly in the first place. Selfish bastards. I would be be telling them that too and possibly report to RSPCA for neglect, if they have known dog is poorly for 8 weeks.

I agree- Some people really do keep animals going for far too long ( Not just UK)
People are in denial about how much animals suffer.

If a pet is not eating, severely underweight, urinating everywhere, it definitely needs Vet attention.

Nappies on dogs are frowned upon by some vets as dogs can get terribly sore from the urine being held against fur and skin causing issues.

Dogs generally never soil their bedding.

This dog needs veterinary help asap.

It was a few years ago- But they said £4 for drug £60 for OOH ( Saturday midday)
Vet was lovely.
Have same vet now, but she sold her Practice ( Works for them part time) and bills have definitely gone up.
Home Euthanasia is so worth it , but tends to be for non emergency cases .
( If emergency, they are in Vets hoping to be saved)

Any news OP?

Your friends are complete arseholes!

1. They can afford to go on holiday, but not pay for their dog's medical care?
2. They lumber you with a dog they know is incontinent, and don't tell you?

Complete arseholes.

I'm soft with dogs, and I don't think I would be able to let the dog suffer either.

Thank goodness the poor dog is in your care OP. Sounds like you are doing the right thing for him where is shitty owners haven't.

Just an idea - when you let him out in the garden each hour does he pee? Our dog won't pee in the garden (rescue dog who learned this before she came to us) so we have to take her out for a little walk around the block so she can go to toilet in the park. She'd hold it in for hours if we didn't take her out and as your little chap is getting on a bit perhaps he won't go in the garden and can't hold it in.

I hope all goes well for you and the dog this evening.

Poor dog.

My dog had these symptoms and it was kidney failure, there was nothing the vet could do.

I suspect the friendship is finished either way now that you know what they’re like.

The vet will probably want to run some expensive tests which will establish the dog is slowly dying and can’t be cured although expensive treatments may slow the death / make it less painful. That’s my guess.

Jesus christ! I'd ditch the friends. They won't diagnose bladder cancer and recommend putting them down in one visit.

They'll want a urine test and a scan at the least. My dog has had urinary issues for a while. Kidney stones, kidney infection, liver disease. Sounds like he's also got rotten teeth they'll want to pull. But vets rarely want to immediately put a dog down. Whether it's money or hope, they like to keep trying. You can add water to his food to make it easier to eat if you can't afford to provide other food.

Just to add - the posters who are saying it’s a crime / illegal for the owners not to take it to the vet are incorrect. Look it up.

I wouldn't dream of leaving my dogs full stop if they were at that stage. You're lovely, and the dog is lucky that he's spent, possibly his last few days, with you, and not starving to death with his owners! Please do as the vet advises, they may not pts as you're not his owner. Poor old boy, I hope you find a resolution for him one way or the other. 💐

Even if there was some treatment or medication that would help, sounds like the owners won’t bother to follow up/keep going with it/keep paying for it - so the kindest thing might be to stop his suffering now in that case.

It’s one thing to have an old unwell dog that’s getting excellent vet care to keep them well managed, comfortable and pain free - a ‘good’ compassionate death - but what’s happened here is the owners have allowed to
dog to suffer profoundly and unnecessarily and there’s every indication that they would continue to let the dog suffer until it succumbed in pain and distress after months of pain and distress. It’s cruel - and illegal.

Sounds like diabetes. I've had two JRT pass away from it. Usually the sooner they pick it up the better the outcome. Insulin is about 55quid per 28 days (if he's on a low dose) plus you have the syringes to buy and object twice a day. He will need several vet trips for glucose curves to get the dose right which can be about 150 each time. Think it was about once a week for about 6 weeks. Can't believe the family are so uncaring about him. Poor thing.

If your friends would rather pay for a holiday than medical treatment for a dog that is suffering then you should report them to the rspca and have them deal with it.

This ^ Exactly what I was going to say.

Definitely ring round for prices, there was a recent thread by a woman who got, essentially, robbed by a vets. If the dog is euthanized, there will be a charge for disposing of its body. Make sure you have something in writing, a text, from the owners so they don't come back claiming 'you killed our dog'.

I would be very tempted to contact the RSPCA first, explain the situation and if it drops the cf's in it.....good!

The dog's ill and incontinent and they didn't tell you, unbelievable.

Given that they are clearly utter dickheads and I'd no longer want to be friends, I'd cancel the appointment, take him to a different vets and say you found him wandering the streets.

Leave the vets to deal with the "friends" assuming he is chipped.

Ask if you can stay/be informed etc by all means.

When my dog started peeing everywhere, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on medication. If this is the first time the vet has seen the dog they won't put it down, they'll try very medicine they have first. It took me 7 months, 5 different vets, and a visit to the Blue Cross, to finally convince a vet that she was in agony, and that was with her not being able to walk more than 10 steps, vomiting after every meal, and crying non-stop, so good luck