15 year old cairn terrier struggling

[eternalsummer]

My lovely 15 year old cairn has just started to not be able to put his back leg down so is limping quite badly. Has been treated for arthritis for about a year but the vet is now suspecting neurological damage.
He is eating, still going outside and had a short walk a couple of days ago but generally is just sleeping all day and night. He often loses his footing on wooden floors but is ok on the carpet. We have just temporarily carpeted the hallway for him!
The vet said yesterday that “dogs are supposed to be able to walk and run” and suggested it may be better to make difficult decisions now.
I am devastated but don’t want him to suffer. Any views on the quality of life for a seriously limping dog who won’t get better and on the right time to make that terribly difficult decision would be very appreciated.

Oh honey, I know where you are, but if he’s holding his leg up
or it’s locked due to the arthritis and the vet is pretty much telling you enough is enough it really does sound like you need to do what’s best for him. It’s the hardest, but kindest thing that you can do. With my last two dogs, one I leg go sooner rather than later, the other I probably should have done sooner. I have much more peace thinking about the one that definitely didn’t suffer…. Sending you hugs and strength.

Your vet is telling you it's time. I'm sorry

I have cairns OP. My last one was 16 when we lost her. I've currently got a 3 year old.

If he is still continent and eating I wouldn't rush. You can pick him up to take him outside into the fresh air.

You will know when the time is right. Don't feel rushed by the vet. .

Let him go, don't make him suffer, it's quite common on her for people to say better a week too early than a day too late.

Its pretty unusual for a vet to even hint that its time to say goodbye so maybe you should give it serious thought?
I am sorry, I know its very very hard

I know he has other issues but have you excluded cruciate ligament as my sisters border x JRT did one and he couldn’t weight bear properly for quite a while . Best wishes whatever you decide , we lost our lovely dog at the start of November , in our case it was a sudden middle of the night decision, which although unpleasant is probably easier to make but my boy didn’t have the death I’d planned for him , which is difficult .

This was my thought too - it's really unusual for vets to mention being PTS unless they really think it's necessary.

Thanks all. He was very tired after a day of tests at the vet yesterday and the vet was initially suggesting further tests such as a CT scan but we decided not to put him through that and further sedation. The vet also mentioned bone biopsies which is definitely not happening.
He is currently walking and sniffing around the back garden and so it feels like the immediate crisis is over but obviously, if his other hind leg was also affected then we would have to make that decision.
Going to hopefully get him through Christmas so our adult children can see him and then see how he goes. Thanks again, he is very precious to us but we won’t allow him to suffer.

Fingers crossed. I’m in the same boat with one of my cats. Trying to stabilise a condition at the moment and not doing very well. If we can’t soon we will have to say enough. He doesn’t look comfortable and isn’t living much of a life as things stand. In our case the vets are happy with his progress as his test results are much better, but to me he looks really uncomfortable and a little sad.

We just had to say goodbye to our 15 year old Jack Russel. Absolutely the hardest decision I’ve ever made. He was still good for a mike plus walk but just stopped eati

Just a quick update as I remembered posting this in December and how sad we felt at the time. I hope it also gives some hope to those of you with older dogs.
Thankfully, we didn’t follow the vet’s advice and decided to make decisions a day at a time. We decided that he would have no further treatment including his monthly librela injection. Instead, we asked a dog physiotherapist to assess him and see if she could help or improve his quality of life.
Well, he is still with us, back going for walks and while limping a bit, still chases the foxes in the back garden. He eats well and has started to play again.
i know this won’t be the case for all old dogs and at his age we have difficult times ahead, but I wanted to share some hope and good news!

Oh what happy news 😀 x

@eternalsummer Oh how lovely 🥰 My last girl was a Cairn and I still miss her every day, such fantastic little characters. Give your beautiful boy a hug from me would you x