My 15 year dog's health is going downhill. She's on arthritis medication (multiple drugs), incontinence tablets, liver tablets. She's had a successful cancer treatment a couple of years ago but gone deaf since then and got signs of dementia. She's been high maintenance for the last few months but the last couple of weeks have been horrendous. She's gotten wobbly on her paws so she bumps into furniture (hit herself in the eye lately - recovered with vets help). She's also fallen down the stairs and injured herself (she's recovered from that too and we have now safety gates and carry her up and down). She's up all night, having very bad cough and wandering around the house whining. She now gets frequent diarrhoeas too. Trip to the vets are evey week now. She's become reluctant to go for a walk when it gets cold or wet so we have to carry her to the grass down the road. She's lost interest in play or cuddles, but still gets really excited about food.
I have been considering putting her to sleep, but feel so bad and guilty about it. I keep thinking that maybe she'll get a bit better again, that she can still walk and eat so it feels wrong.
She's been a wonderful friend and companion for the last 15 years and it's so heartbreaking. At the same time the quality of life is not the same for her and she's not getting younger. My quality of life is also very poor due to this as I have a 2 month old baby and sometimes feel like I spend more time looking after the dog than the baby. I'm also very sleep deprived because of that extra care at night while the dog's up (on top of my night care for a baby). I don't want this to be the factor but wanted to mention it to show a full picture.
Please let me know what you'd do in this situation. Am I being horrible to consider (and potentially act on) putting her to sleep.