My gorgeous DDog (10 yrs) was pts on Thursday. I feel riddled with guilt about making the decision to have him PTS.
About a month ago I took him to the vets as he was reverse sneezing a lot, this had been going on for a while. The vet gave him a really thorough check over and couldn't find a reason for the reverse sneezing but did say he had something neurological happening as one of his back legs didn't react well when his paw was turned back. We left with him saying he was in good condition for his age and a prescription for steroids that would help with the neuro issue.
Once he started the steroids his legs got worse, he was knuckling and very wobbly. I took him back the following week and a different vet saw him and prescribed anti inflammatories and Gabapentin. She didn't think this was going to be an issue that would require him to be PTS and arranged for him to have X rays, her diagnosis was possible spinal arthritis.
Again once he started the meds he got worse, he was constantly knuckling, he had broken his back claws from it, he leant terribly to the left and was falling over, he couldn't manage the laminate floor and really struggled to get on the settee.
I went back to the vet on Thursday because of his deterioration and saw another vet. I wasn't sure whether putting him through the trauma of GA for an x ray was fair on him. And I knew deep down he wasn't going to get better. This vet said even if he was x rayed the treatment and operations he would probably need would be too much for him and given that he was deteriorating quickly she wouldn't be adverse to him being pts as he was beginning to struggle, he'd pooed in the house three days in a row which wasn't like him, he was getting cuts and scrapes from his gait being off.
I feel so bad that I made the decision to have it done later that day. She did say it could be anytime over the weekend but probably best to not wait too long. I'm racked with guilt, I brought him home to see the DC and so my our other dog could have one last cuddle with him. I now realise this has been comin gin slowly over the last year or two, he would get stuck in a corner and couldn't navigate the laminate floor, he would bang his hind legs coming in through the door but I put it down to his eyesight failing as he was getting older.
I didn't want to let him suffer anymore or for things to progress even more for him but I feel so, so bad. He was the best boy and was never any bother.
So sorry this has turned in to a long ramble.