When is it time?

[Elliesmall]

My Rhodesian Ridgeback is nearly 12. For the last 9 months she's had some health issues that we've never really gotten to the bottom of but her main symptoms are excessive drinking, lethargy, frequent urination and having accidents in the house and swollen abdomen.

The last few weeks she's been weeing or pooing or vomiting in the house every night. The smell of her urine has increased dramatically in the last week. It’s so so strong.

She's had antibiotics but the vets don't think she's got an infection. She does have blood in her urine and high protein but they are not sure why.
The last week she suddenly had a swollen eye and had blood in her saliva but that's got better with anti inflammatory injections.

There are two vets at my vet surgery. They have different opinions. One is very much saying this is old age and isn't going to improve so probably kinder to pts.

The other is saying we shouldn't be pts yet and should be investigating further. We have no insurance and money is tight atm so I've been very clear that I don't want her in pain but I can't continue to pay for investigations that aren't going to lead us anywhere or make her any better.

I think I'd be finding this all so much easier if both the vets felt the same.
I'm struggling with the toileting in the house. I have kids and every morning starts with cleaning up the mess. It's exhausting. But I also don't want to be selfish. She can't walk far. 10 mins max and is so incredibly slow when she's out.
She rarely gets out her bed and won't sit with us in the evenings anymore.
But she eats no problem and is straight out of bed for her food.

I expected her to stop eating or go off her food if we were at the point of pts. She almost seems too well to pts but I know her quality of life has dramatically decreased. How do I know when she's bad enough to let her go?

All my dogs have scarfed down their breakfast even on their final day. Apart from that it sounds as though your beloved dog has had enough, and at almost 12 I would be reluctant to have any aggressive investigations or ongoing treatment. She does sound pretty miserable and I would be thinking of sooner rather than later. It's the sorts decision to make but it's the final act of love we do for our darling dogs. If the vet can come to the house that is very peaceful for them.

...worst decision...

If you can’t afford the investigations, then it’s time to end her misery. There’s worse things for a dog than being PTS.
Remember the saying, better a week too early than a day too late.

Poor thing it sounds miserable. For all of you. Has she been tested for cushings?

12 is a good age and her quality of life doesn't sound amazing so I wouldn't feel guilty about making the decision.

At 12 years old I would be giving her a day of all her favourite things and letting her fall asleep in her bed for the last time.

I'm sorry, it's shit

For a big dog like a RR, 12 is a decent age.

The question I'd be asking is, of all the things she used to enjoy, how much is left? If you're down to food and lying sunshine or by the fire, that's not a lot from the huge list of things that younger dogs love to do (playing, racing about, exploring under hedges, keeping an eye on passers by, etc etc). Toileting indoors is probably upsetting for the dog as well.

I'm sorry, OP. It's horrible decision even when it's completely clear cut, but when you have vets disagreeing it must be so much worse.

I put to sleep my 15 year old in September. Wellness check mid August and while definitely slow and deaf he was still eating, enjoying walks. Three weeks later and he had a swollen eye, nasal discharge and was struggling to stand up in his own - once stood he could walk and still toileted outside. Two vets were of the same opinion - likely to have some sort of tumour, was suffering and while they first suggested a round of steroids said we should prepare our selves. A week later we did put him down. He would walk a few steps and sometimes collapse. Still ate ok, and did not have accidents - but I thought if he did that that would distress him terribly.
I certainly was not going to put him through further tests- what would be the point? He was already at the top end of life expectancy and you can't explain to a dog that you are only trying to help him.
Put the poor thing to sleep. It's time.

If they are pts sleep at home can anyone tell me the process?
She has always hated the vets and is anxious even when we get outside the vets so I’d much rather do it at home if possible but she’s a big dog so I’m just trying to think of how it all works?

I had my sweet border collie pts at home. She was nearly 15 and had a tumour. I was devastated, but the vet was lovely and came to the house. I couldn't bear her last moments to be in a vet surgery, where she would be frightened. She lay beside me, and the vet put the needle in while I held my precious girl. Sorry, I'm tearing up typing this; it was 10 years ago but you never forget. I have another collie who is nearly 11, and I still dread the day when we say goodbye to her. The vet asked if we wanted to keep her at home or if not they'd take her. I let them take her, and they wrapped her in a blanket and took her. I'll always be grateful about how kind & sympathetic they were.

I asked this question of my old dog about two years ago. She was still very interested in her food but all the other issues were the much same as yours.

Someone kindly put to me that I was setting the bar very low waiting for her to go off her food. I would be suspicious of a vet who pushed lots of medical investigations that your already elderly dog will find traumatic. So sorry but it really sounds like it's time. Twelve is a good age for such a big dog.

Better a week too early than a day too late. Nothing worse than a huge emergency which would be far more traumatic for him and your family.

When we had our dog PTS the vet came to our house. She was cosy and asleep in her basket having had lots of cuddles and her favourite treat of cheddar cheese. She barely woke up and It was controlled and calm.

So sorry you have such a horrid decision to make.

I am so sorry you are going through this. We had to say goodbye to our lovely girl earlier this year. She was only 9, but had cancer. It was the worst day of my life, but the vets were perfect. They came to the house, talked us through afterwards (we had to choose cremation- we have nowhere to bury a big dog). She was given a sedative in her back leg (thigh). She laid down on the carpet, not in her bed, it was there but she wanted her usual place by my feet, ate some steak and became dozy while we stroked her and held her paw and talked to her. Then the vet put in the injection via a cannula in her front leg. I don't think she was conscious at that point. She left so peacefully we didn't know she was gone. Afterwards she was wrapped in a blanket and we carried her down to the vet's car. Nobody cried until afterwards. Then we did. The only thing I would have changed is, I wish I had given her a bowl of milk. She loved milk, but rarely got it.

It does sound like it’s time.

We had our almost 14 and a half year old lab put to sleep at home on Saturday. She was still eating. Still reacted with interest if she saw her lead. But had dementia symptoms and was on medication. Her hearing had pretty much gone. She whined and barked a lot. But her back legs started to go. We have tiled floors downstairs and she was really struggling. We put rugs everywhere. We were having to help her up more and more and even then she would often collapse after a couple of steps.

We had a conversation with our vet just to sanity check our thought process and she agreed it sounded like it was time so we booked to have her PTS at home today. But on Saturday morning it was obvious that her legs had worsened and she was really struggling. So we decided it was best to try to have her pts that day.

We found a lovely vet who came to the house. The dog actually got up herself and walked over to her when she saw her. The vet said it was a burst of adrenaline and very common. The vet knelt down and patted the dog. She explained she would sedate her first with an injection and she would just drift off to sleep. DS and I sat on the floor with her and cuddled her and she just drifted away to sleep. Then the vet set up a catheter to inject the medication to stop her heart. She put a towel under her in case she soiled. After a couple of minutes she listened to her heart and told us she was gone.

It was very sad and we were all in tears but it was time. And I’m so glad we were able to do it at home as it was so peaceful. And our dog loved going to the vet! But we would have really struggled to get her there.

I think it depends on the vet and insurance but our own vet wouldn’t have been insured to take the dog to the crematorium but this vet was and after the dog had passed she and DH put her in a morgue bag and carried her out to her car.

It is always hard and always sad but we felt it was the last thing we could do for her to make it as easy a possible and to make sure she wasn’t suffering too much.

Sorry to see this OP.

In my local area there is a company that offers pet cremation that have now extended their service to include home euthanasia.

I have heard nothing but excellent things about them and the service they provide, so it may be a good idea to have a look to see if there's similar in your area?

Sounds identical to my old dog who's 16. She's still wanting food, but everything else has gone. Food is all she has to look forward to, can't go for walks as too unsteady on her feet and lethargic, won't sit with us on an evening, can't get on the sofa, has to be carried to the garden to toilet, then carried back to her bed where she stays until dinner. We've made the decision to have her put to sleep before Xmas. Her kidneys are shot, she drinks and pees everywhere, has lost a ton of weight despite eating lots and frequently, and doing no exercise whatsoever. It's awful seeing her like this, and if I'd known what the past year would have been like, I'd have said goodbye before she got to this sorry state. Worst part of owning a dog, I will never have another. Our other dog who was 17, we lost at the beginning of the year, exactly the same decline as this. We have a younger dog,whos 12, but he's getting grumpy and irritatable and I can't see him going on as long as the other two, as he's already slowed down earlier than they did.

@Gothamcity - why are you waiting? Other than the heartbreak obviously. The urge to eat is primal and we were told isn’t necessarily an indicator that they are ok. I would be accelerating the process to be honest.