Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Family dog being put to sleep.

13 replies

Mostmylarbles · 08/08/2023 20:46

DM has a dog, we got her the dog 7 years ago as a puppy and she is the best little dog ever, extremely affectionate and just the best girl.
DM thought she had insurance for dog but unfortunately the payment didn't go through in November, they emailed but DM about payment but she had changed email and forgot to let them know and also didn't notice the payments not coming out. Only found this out now that dog needs medical attention and obviously everyone is devastated.

Her back legs gave in yesterday, took her to vet and they said she has a slipped disc. They haven't actually carried out any imagery, or tests though, but they're fairly.confident it's that. She can't go to the toilet herself at the moment due to the pressure on her spine or something like that, so had to have her bowels emptied by the vet every 12 hours. They told us that there is a surgery she can have, with 80% success rate which they don't do, but they can refer us to another vet and it costs between £5000-£8000. The referral vet won't even look at her unless £3000 is paid upfront. We've tried to raise some money between us but can't hit anywhere near that. It seems so unfair that her life is decided on money, but the way she is now, we can't keep her going like that until we raise funds. Surgery needs to be done asap. PDSA says they recommend she be put to sleep, they wanted to do it today but my DM was out of the country and we've managed to get them to keep her an extra night so my DM can say goodbye, she gets early hours in the morning. Tried to get an earlier flight but all fully booked.

I don't even know why I'm posting, I guess I just needed to vent/get it off my chest. I feel awful that we can't save her, we went to see her today and she looked confused and was shaking, I wish there was something we could do to save her.

OP posts:
IchWill · 08/08/2023 20:53

I'm so sorry to read this.

All I can suggest is setting up a GoFundMe quickly and see if wider friends and family can help out. And maybe a 0% credit card for the remainder?

Such a horrible position to be in. Poor little dog too. 😢 I'm sorry.

CaroleSinger · 08/08/2023 20:56

Gave they tried anti inflammatory for the disc to try and medically reduce the slip? I'd also suggest setting up a go fund me with your story and staring the hell out of it on social media x

Doggyhelp · 08/08/2023 21:00

Is she a dachshund with IVDD?

Join the IVDD dachshund fb group. Lots of owners have had success with conservative crate rest. Cambridge university are also doing a trial alternative treatment to surgery.

I wouldn’t be putting the dog to sleep until I’d explored the above. You may look into it and it still may be the correct decision, but researching your options is always a good idea.

stayathomer · 08/08/2023 21:01

I know I’m definitely in the minority but there is a chance that being put to sleep is better for her. This could be the start of a road that just leads downhill. I know you say 80% but a friend of mine had a dog with similar, was younger and they had the dog in the vets regularly for years after, it was horrible to see her and they didn’t finally have her pts until about 6 years later when the dog had everything under the sun. If you really do want to go ahead, I’d second the go fund me, advertise it like crazy, people you know will want to help x

Doggyhelp · 08/08/2023 21:01

Also, there are massive variances in the cost of the operation throughout the country. The people on the IVDD fb page will be able to point you in the direction of a cheaper specialist.

Mostmylarbles · 08/08/2023 21:07

She's actually a dachshund cross with a jack Russel. She looks like a jack Russel but with a longer body and shorter legs. We were told about IVDD but apparently if they can't feel their legs then it's gone too far? If she could actually go to the toilet, even if incontinent, we would just bring her home but the vet said because they have to actually manually empty her bladder/bowels then it's not going to get better with just rest etc?

OP posts:
Mostmylarbles · 08/08/2023 21:08

@Doggyhelp I have joined a group on Facebook. I will see what they say, we have asked many a vet in the city we live if we can do payment plans but most say they need a lump sum upfront first and the rest on payment plan

OP posts:
Mostmylarbles · 08/08/2023 21:10

@stayathomer I totally understand this, we don't want to be selfish and keep her for our own personal reasons instead of putting her health first, but it's because the vet said 80% which we feel is very high but we just can't get the funds right now.

OP posts:
Cosyblankets · 08/08/2023 21:12

Even with insurance unless you've gone for the absolute top one with the higher cover you might have found that it was above the limit that they'll pay on one condition.

Doggyhelp · 08/08/2023 21:13

The paralysis and lack of bladder and bowel control could be temporary due to swelling. She may not be too far gone and I’m surprised they’ve said that to you without an MRI. If I’m honest I’m not convinced you’ve been given entirely the correct information, especially as no imaging has been done.

Lots of vets are amazing, but they’re not IVDD specialists. If it were me I would spend money on imaging to know what I was dealing with and at what grade ( 5 being the worst).

Mostmylarbles · 08/08/2023 21:47

I've passed the info over to see what everyone says, I also said to get a second opinion at least. When we called other vets and gave them the info on her condition, 2 seemed to think they could do something.

OP posts:
stayathomer · 08/08/2023 21:55

Mostmylarbles
Ah okay, Everything crossed for you all, best of luck x

BrokenWing · 08/08/2023 22:11

Also speak to the vet about the longer term prognosis as you will never be able to get insurance for any back problems for this dog now and if you cannot afford ongoing costs of care if there is a high chance of future back issues is it really worth putting it through the distress of surgery now.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread