Feeling devastated

[twinsagain77]

This is my first ever post. My beautiful 14yr old Cocker Spaniel is really poorly, (she's not been well this last week) had her to the vet's this morning...They carried out blood tests, they have just got back to me now with the results, basically her liver and kidneys are failing and say she is very sick.
They have given me two options 1, is to hospitalize her to keep her rehydrated, but there are no guarantees.
2, is to put her to sleep.
To say I am devastated is an understatement, how do you actually make that decision to put to sleep...I'm struggling so much to make the right decision for my beautiful girl. I'm sure there have been other pet owners with this dilemma, how did you cope ?.

I haven't been in that position OP but I am so sorry .

I hesitated to write what I 'think' I would do in your position because I am not in it and there is no right or wrong decision for you to make. Would option 2 give you the opportunity to be there and comfort her at the end whereas option 1 wouldn't? The answer to that might sway which one I would choose (theoretically) for me.

So sorry you are in this situation.

I have been in a similar situation with a poorly cat and decided to end her suffering I'd be lying if I said making the decision at the time was easy, but in hindsight pursuing further treatment would have just been to give me more time to come to terms with the inevitable. .

Take care

Hand hold OP, so sorry, I have been in this position with my dog of 13 years a few years back and my cat of 18 a couple of weeks ago, it is so horrible to have to make that decision, with my lovely two, I could tell they had given up and wanted to go.

It doesn't make it any easier a choice, but it is often the kindest last thing you can do for beloved pets. Listen to your vet they will guide you into making the right choice, I know when we lost our darling dog the vet gave us two options, we discussed it and decided it was in his best interest to be PTS, the vets said yes if you had selected the other option, I would have tried to talk you out of it, it doesn't make it any easier I know.

Take things easy over the next few days, I know I was very up and down and I still feel tearful at times.

So sorry . You know your dog best, is she fairly chilled about vet treaments etc?
I had to make the decision for my cat last year, took him to the vets as he'd started drinking a lot and a bit lethargic and was told his kidneys were failing.
Treatment, involving regular hospitalization and needles etc might give him another 6 months. My cat would have really hated all the proceedures as was terrified of vets so it I knew PTS would be kindest. It was very peaceful.

We had this with both our dogs last year and I send you all my sympathy, it's utterly heartbreaking.

What we asked ourselves when we got the 'matter of days' diagnosis was - will this medical treatment improve anything or just keep DDog alive in this state for a bit longer? And really, in our hearts, we knew the answer - and that any extra time would just be for our benefit. Even though the vets were lovely, any medical intervention is still medical intervention, so we made the decision to PTS, to spare DDogs any more stress or pain. Both died in my arms, smelling my familiar smell, knowing I was there and that there was nothing to be scared of (I hope).

It is a wrench like nothing else I've ever known, I can't lie. But it's a great comfort to think that all the times you looked into your dog's beautiful eyes and thought, I wish I knew what you were thinking, I wish I could take the pain away - this time you can. I spared both my dogs several days' pain and confusion from inevitable organ failure, and I'm glad I did.

for you

I had the exact same with my 14 year old staffie cross in April last year. He was put on a drip for 2 days at the vets and came home and lived a happy normal life until January I am glad I at least tried, even though I had no guarantees. I wanted to feel that I had done all I could which for me, meant giving it a chance. I would not keep doing this though if it didn't work but am glad we had that extra time together and until a few days before he was pts, he was really well and normal.

I posted almost exactly the same thing. Two weeks ago I took my dog to the vet a bit peaky and 3 days later I was facing kidney failure - I couldn't believe the rapid decline.
With vet help I decided to treat possible infection (dog had a high temp) with Antibiotics and leave him overnight (was about 36 hrs) for rehydration.

Got a much improved dog back on the Saturday morning and this gave us a week with our darling dog where he enjoyed being with us. He refused special kidney food and lived his last week on pulled pork and mince! Once this 'boost' has passed he declined and I made the sad decision to let go.

I am glad I had this extra week to get more used to it all but had there been any doubt that the dog would die at the vet during rehydration I would have said no to this.

So sorry.

I'd like to thank you all for your kind and thoughtful replies.
I'm sorry that you also have had to make such difficult decisions.
I've spoken to my vet again this evening and we have decided to review my beautiful girls condition on Friday and to lavish her with plenty TLC (that won't be hard). I also know that the kindest and most loving thing that I have to do is to end my girl's suffering. I love her so much.
Thank you all again xx

Unfortunately we too have been in this position recently. Our dog was "off" one day and then gradually got worse the following day - the vet came out as ddog wasn't well enough to go and we decided we go for 24 hours on the least invasive treatment and review her in the morning. She perked up a little in the evening but by the morning was struggling to get up and was miserable so we called time then. The only other option was hospitalisation with no guarantee of improvement, and as the vet said we were likely to be in the same position within another few weeks or months so although it was hard, really hard, we are confident that we did the right thing.

If you trust your vet not to carry on with treatment for the sake of it, and are ok with trusting your instinct then I believe you'll know when the time is right. It doesn't make it any easier, but as the old saying goes "better a day too soon" (or something like that.). Fingers crossed that she responds and perks up soon.

i feel your pain my parents who are in there 70/80s have had there dog pts tonight they are devastated but my mum did not want him to suffer RIP Ben run free over the rainbow bridge

We are in the same situation, our gorgeous 12yr old Airedale has lost 11kg in weight, can't walk far and is very very wobbly on legs. Bloods yesterday show his pancreas and liver not working st all well and we think he would be in lots of pain so we have made the decision for this afternoon else it would be hospitalisation for him. I have been so worried as he is a stoic breed and really doesn't show pain, the weight loss is the main symptom. Our dogs are such a huge part of our family

Sending hugs to all of you in this awful position. It's the only bad thing about owning dogs - having to let them go.

update
Hand hold please.
Arrangements have been made to euthanize my beautiful girl this afternoon.
I've been lying down with her this morning, like I've said on Deardinahs thread I'm convinced my girl knows what I have planned for her.
Deardinahs thinking of you today.
I just wish I could rid myself of the panic and anxiety that I'm feeling.

My beautiful girl has several health issues, Liver and Kidney failure, mamory tumour, dementia and she's also deaf, I know I'm doing the right thing for her but I'm feeling so guilty.

to anyone else that is going through this.

You poor thing. Just know you are doing the right thing and that this is your last selfless act for her. She has been massively loved and had a happy life with you. She will go calmly feeling loved I'm sure.

You feel panic and anxiety but she doesn't. She might realise you're worried but won't have a clue it is about her. She just knows you love her.
You are doing the right thing. You will suffer but she won't. Thinking of you. It's the last great act of kindness.

So so sorry
I'm in tears reading this but you are making this decision out of love for your beautiful girl as we did for Sammy on Wednesday. It's the last act of a fantastic friendship 😢

So, so sorry. It's the hardest decision in the world but it's also the final gift of absolute love you can give her. Thinking of you

So sorry. Hope you're ok, thinking of you.x

So sorry to read this. Sending you lots of love- it's such a hard thing to decide.

In the months to come you will know that you made the best choice for her, no guilt is needed. In the hard days ahead, hold on to this. We had to have our lovely girl pts a few months ago- I still hold onto this thought when I find it hard to deal with.

Thank you all for your words of comfort I appreciate everyone of them, you are all so kind.
My beautiful girl was PTS at 4--30 this afternoon, she looked so peaceful, I'm heartbroken, the house feels so empty.
love to you all xx.

Oh you poor thing twinsagain77, I'm so sorry for your loss

You've been very brave and done the right & kindest thing for her, but it is so hard.

to you.

Really sorry and sending best wishes.
I am as sad today as i was a week ago when i lost my darling dog.

my dog is ill and will be going to the 🌈 bridge on weds she's 14.6 so know how you feel x

I'm so sorry, your gorgeous girl knows how much you love her.