have you ever had or known a dog to die of natural causes without having to be put down?

[brimfull]

this is what I am praying will happen to mine ,but today realised I may be wishing for the moon.

Does it ever happen?

is the feacal incontinence her only prob? or is she unwell in other ways? I have been there too with my dog (tiny - a ten stone rotweiller) he ended up with feacal incontinence but not so as it affected him. It was only slight. Could it be that she is arthritic and doesnt want to stoop?

A good guage is always, is she bright and happy to see you, eating and able to go for a walk. I'm glad she is having a better day today. You can only do your best to make her comfy and spoil her some how old is she

well she's got arthritic hips apparently ,hasn't had xrays to confirm

lupus discoid something or other in her feet

faecal incontinence occassionally ,she does squat to wee ,but her legs shake when she does

possible canine senility

she is occassionally up and waiting to greet me when I come in but more often than not she stays lying down.

She can walk a short walk,then I'm dragging her home.

She's 12 yrs

she is still eating well

ggirl, she sounds just like my old collie who was put to sleep a few weeks ago, I think I posted to you about this before. She did the occasional poo in the house, and would walk pooing, some senility and arthritus, we discovered it was all along her spine aswell as her joints when she had an x-ray (to rule out tumours - she had urinary problems for a couple of weeks which cleared up with antibiotics). She didn't have to have an anaesthetic to have her x-rays, she was just lightly sedated. She enjoyed her walks, sometimes just 20mins, others times an hour or so, food and playing with toys etc for many months with the problems you describe, but one weekend suddenly went steeply downhill, her back legs kept giving way, even just walking around the house, so we took her in to the vets. I was with her while the vet put her to sleep, cuddling her and she was looking into my eyes, it was very hard, but I felt glad that I was there for her and knew it was the right time. It was very hard and I still cry about her (dd 2.5 keeps asking when she's coming back) but I also felt a little relief, that she was no longer ill and I wasn't worrying about her anymore, I don't know if that sounds awful, it was good to know that I was able to stop her suffering and I'm sure she went at the right time. I hope your dogs picks up, at least the milder weather should help her a bit. Let us know how she gets on, I found mumsnet very useful when Scamp was ill, its easier to talk to a computer without crying and know that there are others who understand what you are going through.

ggirl, it sounds like your dog still has some quality of life. What medication is she on (i'm sorry i've not heard of the condition you describe) but she does sound like she would benefit from some pain killers and there is also a medication that can help with nervous sysmtem function called vivitonin, not a cure but a supplement. Ask your vet about it on the next visit. Don't worry too much about walks, just as far as she wants to go, if thats just to the garden that will be enough for her.

Our poor collie had to be put down at the end of May, but it was a most awful experience: he'd had heart problems for the past month & was quite poorly, so we'd ruled out taknig him away on holiday with us at half term. However, he didn't seem bad enough to go to the vet's before we went - and we certainly weren't "ready" to take him, so two friends kindly offered to feed him & look after him while we were away.

He seemed quite perky on the day we left, but by the time our friend came in the next morning he couldn't even raise his head from the floor & she had to take him to the vet's - a different practice as it was a Sunday. However, she wrapped him in his blanket & talked to him all the way, then had him on her knee when the vet was doing the deed: some friend that!

We felt terrible as we'd not had time to say goodbye & as if we'd abandoned him, but dh felt it was like once we'd gone he could relax & didn't have to keep struggling on.

Still find it very upsetting, particularly when people see our new dog & ask what happened to him, & will never stop wondering if we did the right thing .