15 year old collie and what do I do next?

[EXmrsmascarahead]

My Border Collie is coming to the end of his life, in the past couple of weeks been to the vets a few times with him for a couple of things. Intially it was for some pain relief, he has arthritis in his hips and needed something to make him comfortable, the vet we saw was lovely, understood that any treatment he had was to provide comfort and not to prolong his life, he diagnosed a heart murmer, took bloods to check that prescribing Metacam was the right way to go and said if there was anything else to see him as the other vets would want to prescribe medication to treat failing organs and my dog would have to come off the metacam, denying him decent pain relief.

A week later I saw trace bloods in my dogs urine and took him to the vet, he had a slightly elevated temperature and was prescribed Synulox 250 mg, he is now on day 7 of a 10 day course, we managed to get a urine sample 2 days later and took it to the vets to check that the dog was being treated for the right thing.

Yesterday my dog had a wee and tthere was a lot of blood, my daughter described it as peeing pure blood, she rightly took the dog to the on call vet (different vet to the last time but at our surgery) he suggested that maybe the ABs where not strong enough so prescribed Norodine 100mg to run alonside his other meds. there was no mention of the results from the urine sample and no note on my dogs records. The vet suggested that if these meds didn't work that x rays and CT would have to be done in order to find out what is actually wrong.

the vets have just phoned with the results of the urine testing (dip stick) from the sample I took in last week, Blood, protein and bilirubin are all present, I told the vet the my dog has not weed since yesterday so has suggested yet again that he undergo xrays and CT to find out what is going on.

When i told him of my concerns about sedating a very old dog, he brushed it aside stating that only mild sedation would be need in the case of xrays and none for the CT, believing that my dog would lie still whilst having the scan ( he won't, he's well trained but a CT scan would push that training)

I am so confused and angry, I don't want to have any unnecessary investigations and treatment, my dog has the right to die peacefully but the vet keeps disapproving of my choice not to go down the xray and ct route. Am I doing the right thing? would anything come from investigating? the inestigations would only be to check for Kidney stones or tumours both of which would require surgery to treat, which I would not be doing.

Can someone help me make sense of this please? I forgot to mention that my dog is comfortable, eating small amounts regularly, drinking and having a wander.

Sorry he sounds so ill. I see where you are coming from, why put him through all the tests when it won't affect the plan for his care.

Would you be comfortable to just say to the vet, look I don't want any more tests we are going for palliative care only now, please let me know if you feel we should let him go.

His quality of life sounds ok just now but enjoy your time with him, it sounds like you will be saying goodbye fairly soon

I am so sorry your dog is poorly.

Could you get a second opnion from a different vet. Tell them you are not looking for heroics but just to make your dog enjoy his time pain free and as comfortably as possible.

I have seen two different vets at the same surgery, The first was lovely, understood and agreed that at 15 years of age he deserved to die peacefully and painfree, hence no treatment for any failing organs and prescribing metacam. The other vet is just making me feel that I am doing this wrong, his manner and tone suggest he disapproves, he has repeated at least half a dozen times (in just 2 conversations) that if I don't follow the xray and CT route there is nothing he can do and the implication is I am failing my dog.

The problem I have is I can't guarantee that the first vet will be available when I go tothe vets, so on top of dealing with a much loved pet dying I am also having to deal with the disapproval of the vet.

15 is old for a collie. It is your choice as his owner to decide if it worth treating or not. In your case I would decide not. It is not worth putting him through all the stress of xrays etc (not to mention the cost). You have tried treatment, it is not working. I would just let him potter on as long as he seems comfortable, and when that stops have him put to sleep.

Two of our collies made it to 12.5, but we could tell by the look in their eyes that they had had enough, and it was kindest to let them go.

Don't forget the vet has a vested interest to have you continue treatment, but it up to you if you want to.

I think you are tackling this in exactly the right way.

It breaks our hearts, but we know our old dogs will eventually die and I agree with you that if they must go, they must go in the most dignified and pain free way possible. And realistically, to have reached 15, we all know a dog has had a good long life.

I just can't see any justification in persuing a further diagnosis for his problem. If it is being caused by an infection, the antibiotics will sort it out and all will be well.

However, if the symptoms are a sign of a tumour or organ failure, I can't see what further investigations will actually achieve at his age. If they discover something which needs surgery or chemo for example, and if you did decide to put him through it (which I wouldn't), what would it achive for his overall quality of life?

My feeling is it would achieve nothing. He'd run risks with the sedation and anasthetic, he'd be uncomfortable, ill or in pain and possibly not even cured at the end of it. And even then, he's already 15 - an elderly fellow.

I would phone the surgery and insist on an appointment with the vet you feel understands you the most. Don't settle for a luck of the drawer vet - they will be able to schedule you in with your vet of choice. It isn't often offered at a surgery, but it is often asked for, IYSWIM.

If they can't offer that, I'd move practices and ask them to fax all his notes to the new vet.

It does sound as though your vet was expecting this precise problem to arise when he saw you, tbh.

Please don't be afraid to follow your instincts.

I think they're absolutely sound. You have spent 15 years doing the right thing for your dog, don't let them bully you at this very difficult time. They're approach doesn't sit well with me.

Just a thought - is your dog still on the metacam? Our dog had a funny reaction to it and weed, pooed and vomited blood - he's on Onsior now and no further problems. He's nearly 14

I'm sorry you're having to go through this, it's hard when our best friends get old

It is so difficult. We had a similar situation a few weeks ago with our oldie 15 year old lab. she passed a large quantity of blood and we really thought the worse. Took her to the vets where she was diagnosed with an ulcer, had medication and now is absolutely fine again.

I understand totally where you are coming from and of course would not want to inflict any painful treatment on an old dog but I would probably go for a scan just to see what was the problem. It would not be traumatic for your dog but you would have 100% peace of mind that you made the right decision or fingers crossed there may be simple easy treatment.

But saying all of that you know your dog like noone else does, you are with your dog, so as long as you are happy with the decision it will be the right one.

I am also sorry you are in the situation

Metacam is a very good point.

It is very hard on the system and it would be worth trying an alternative.

I have no advice, just wanted to say that you sound like a loving and responsible owner. Trust your instincts.

I am so sorry you are going thorough this. We had our beautiful 15 year old border collie put to sleep last summer. It was one of the most difficult decisions we had to make, but I felt it was the last kind thing we could do for her.
I still miss her everyday.