When is it time to let a young dog go?

[Bloominginmyfifties]

A family member has a 3 year old rescue cockapoo. He's always had slippy knees but in the last few months it seems his hips are actually the problem.
Google tells us hip dysplasia is common in this breed but the only way to tell definitely is nearly £900 worth of xray.
Insurance won't cover so it's a lot of money and it feels like if his hips are causing pain then an actual diagnosis is neither here nor there. He's on painkillers but the question really is how bad do you let the discomfort get before it's kinder to let him go. He's always been extremely active and there is no way he would cope with being a sedentary dog. Surgery isn't really an option either as would cost thousands with no insurance and he would find the restrictions incredibly difficult. Quality of life over quantity always but he's so young.
Before pain relief he's gone for us a few times when we've had to move him and you can see how tense he is when he's worried he's going to be touched in that area. He's also wet himself a few times when he's moved and the pain has caught him out.
His owner doesn't want to give up on him but also desperately doesn't want him to suffer because they aren't ready to lose him.
Is it best to carry on with pain relief until it can't be increased further and he's still showing signs of pain?

Yes, statements like: my dog who has had no exploratory treatment and I don't know what's wrong with it needs putting to sleep.

You seem to be trying to continue to justify putting the dog down. Yes, things were different in the 70s, but your friend has many more options open to them now. Have they tried calling the insurance company to discuss the treatment?

Worst case scenario, the dog can be signed over to their vet if treatment isn’t affordable.

The dog can be made pain free, please give it a chance to live a long, healthy life.

a dog that will have very little quality of life at the end of it because a double hip replacement, double knee replacement and the depression that months of confinement and limited mobility aren't easy to recover from

What? Luxating Patella and Hip Dysplasia surgery have very high rates of success. Particularly in a young, otherwise healthy dog. It isn't 'months' of confinement either. And you've probably caused the hip issues by not getting the LP sorted long before now. You haven't even done X rays so I've no idea why you're continuously implying you've exhausted all avenues.

As for And honestly I don't know where all these magic rescues with unlimited funding for medical treatments are

You've been told, more than once, SpanielAid, who literally state the following on their surrendering page:

"My dog has a medical issue, will you still take them?"
"Yes, we will never make the decision on whether or not to accept a dog into our care based on the cost of their care. However, we will need to ensure that we have a foster home suitable to look after your dog, and this may take a little longer if the dog will need ongoing care".

Utterly appalling. I don't know who you think people on The Dog House are exactly, but there are plenty of long time rescuers and ethically sound breeders here, you seem to think we must be as green as we're cabbage-like. If you want to put a young dog to sleep, who has a decent chance of a good life via rescue, then do it, but stop attempting to salve your conscientious by repeating the excuses in the hope someone agrees with you.

I sometimes think some rescues put animals through too much treatment in their desperation to save everything.
I would get the dog xrayed and make a decision from there. The price sounds very high for x rays. I’d try to get some quotes from other vets’s. I’ve had horses xrayed for less than that.

Absolutely agree with this…. Finances appear to be a huge driver in this and it shouldn’t be with adequate insurance…. Shameful if such a young dog doesn’t get the chance of treatment…. Let’s hope they don’t ‘rescue’ any more animals.

Maybe it's just me. I see animals as animals and not as proxy humans.

But this is also why I don't have them as I know I'd be shit at it! And I certainly wouldn't spend a fuck load of money on them either sorry. (dons hard hat)

While I absolutely think the OP should call rehoming centres on behalf of her friend to try to find a solution for this dog if she can't pay for x-rays, I don't think we should kid ourselves that there is a solution for every dog.
A quick google check suggests that around 500 dogs are pts every week in the UK. There will be many reasons for this but one of the them is likely to be the cost of medical intervention makes saving them unachievable.
Rescue centres are overwhelmed with the sheer number of dogs being surrendered, not all maybe, but many.
Even Spaniel Aid state at the bottom of their surrender form: "You owe it to them to find them a good new home. We will try to help, when we can."

The poor dog, has the owner spoken to the rescue for advice or help?

Currently looking at 2 of mine who have had major surgery and joint replacements. They are not and have never been, in anyway, “depressed”. They dealt with the confinement and rehabilitation very well and have had many YEARS of healthy, happy, pain free life since. This is a financial issue for you op, don’t pretend it’s not. And I get it, it’s fucking expensive. But at least explore the option of rescue first. My two are rescue and I took them on knowing what I would need to do. There are people and charities that will.

But she hasn’t taken everything into account, doesn’t have a proper diagnosis or treatment plan to be able to cost or decide she can’t afford, and therefore no idea of what quality of life the dog can expect or what level of care he will need.

True of course, but this is an example of someone who doesn’t actually know the underlying issue and therefore doesn’t know the cost. Different from having an unaffordable treatment and therefore limited options.

I don't think they're incompatible thoughts. I see animals as animals, but I've also taken animals into my home and heart, and I'm responsible for their wellbeing. I don't think contacting charities is an excessive or difficult action (other than emotionally of course) and I don't think doing so humanises animals. If I saw injured wildlife i'd try and contact an organisation that can treat it, I still think of it as wildlife.

I can't believe this spans 4 pages to be honest. Set yourself a limit you can afford and find out what's wrong with the dog. If you can't afford to treat it (or afford to find out what's wrong with it), try and find someone who can (charity), and if you can't find anyone who can, you've exhausted your options and you should put the dog to sleep as otherwise you're leaving it to suffer by not diagnosing it or treating it.

The crux of the matter is, she's convinced herself she knows what's wrong with her dog without actually knowing, because she doesn't want to spend £900. I don't understand the reluctance in contacting charities because it must be a similar level of embarrassment as asking a vet to put a dog down without even knowing what's wrong with it. I can only assume the reluctance is the emotion of handing the dog to someone else.

I know people are saying it's putting the burden on the charity, and it is, but if the owner won't accept or can't accept the burden, then that's part of the reason the charity exists. It's a shame they need to exist and for reasons like this, but there you are, let's be grateful for them.

it seems to me that your family member has already given up on the dog due to cost . For gods sake contact the spaniel rescue charity and see what they say and I suggest your family member thinks twice before getting a dog again. Poor dog

The owner did have insurance but they refused to pay out. So your comment is entirely arrogant and supercillious. A lot of older people have pets for company. Would you say they have to live alone and lonely? Because big corporations have gobbled up independent vet practices and in conjunction with insurance companies are ripping off pet owners right, left and centre. It you must apportion blame then attribute it to the people who have made pet ownership unaffordable

I don't really understand the point of this post if both you/friend think euthanasia is the best option.
Personally if had some funds I'd want to shop around/travel to a cheaper vet area to get the x-rays done to be sure what the issues are and severity to check how fixable it maybe before deciding on euthanasia for such a young dog. Though if can't afford the long term healthcare anyway I'd try give the dog a chance and seek a rescue willing to take them to get the vet work done and donate what id have spent instead. If was adopted from a rescue by a previous owner possibly they had a contract to take it back of circumstances changed during the dogs life.

Not all dogs need surgery for HD sometimes it's just pain relief & lifestyle management and possibly as vet said it maybe the body offloading for for patellas is causing strain elsewhere. There is also cheaper option of femoral head removal too with hip dysplasia though full joint replacement tends to preferable.

lol not me, my dog is happy and healthy thanks and yes adequately insured too.
The dog in question has been with said family member since 5 months of age and is a loved and cherished pet.
having discussed with DH we have decided we will help with cost of xray so there's a definitive diagnosis and see where that takes us. There are dogs that can cope with all sorts of change and there are others that don't cope at all. You don't know the animal in question and I get that in an ideal world we would do whatever but we're not in an ideal world so we will just have to do whatever we can.

I work at an independent vets and our xrays are nowhere near that much even with a general anaesthetic which would be a necessity for the xrays needed.
My suggestion would be to ring around vets and get some prices, the owner will probably have to have a 2nd opinion consultation prior to the xrays, they will have to request their vet send the dogs history to the new vet.
Then if they find prices within their reach and a diagnosis that then leads to a plan , if the condition can be managed with pain relief the owner will be able to control their finances further by buying their meds from an online supplier with a purchased written prescription from their vet.
If online meds can be claimed on their insurance they would need to keep their receipts.
By asking the vet for a multi use script they will save further as the script can be reused legally - the vet will explain how it works.
Lots of vets are now offering payment plans similar to Klarna , they may need to ask about this as not all vets are happy to openly advertise this.

Agree 100%.

Absolutely. The owner or a person willing to help the owner needs to find a way to get her properly assessed.
But even if they achieve that there's potentially a lot of things that need to happen before the dog has a chance of a new life in a suitable forever home.
And considering that healthy dogs without any issues are being pts in the UK every day, I'd say the dog needs a decent amount of luck.
I hope she gets it. I hope her fairy godmother is out there and she goes on to have a wonderful life.
But I do think we need to be honest about the massive problem which exists in the UK which in part boils down to, too many dogs, too few homes.

The whole point is you haven’t done any investigating , you’ve written the dog off already .
You’ve come on here to attempt to justify putting to sleep .
And I’m so sorry ,but whilst nobody is disputing £900 is a lot of money it’s a relatively small amount in the world of vets bills & xrays should absolutely have been done as a bare minimum .

I agree. I know someone whose dogs have ‘accidentally’ managed to have four litters, the mother dog herself the product of the first litter. Despite being reported to RSPCA and environmental health, the dogs are still unneutered.

That’s the thing with insurance, they will always find ways to get out of paying if they can, so it’s not always enough.

I didn’t say anyone should have to live alone and lonely. If your answer is that all lonely people should have pets, regardless of their means, how do you propose the vet bills are funded? All pets need vaccinations, parasite prevention and check ups, and eventually more expensive care. It’s neither supercilious nor arrogant to point out the facts.

No-one is blaming anyone - what even for? - but the fact is that owning animals is now expensive. That’s unfair I agree, and I’ve been part of campaigns to bring vet fees down and for more independent practices, but while it is that way it should be a warning to people not to take on animals without a contingency.

So it’s both had 4 holes in 3 years, and been with your “friend” since 5 months old? And that’s why you think it shouldn’t be given a chance with a charity who could support its health needs?

I think you’re making it up as you go along but long story short a young dog should be given every chance of a good life, even if that life is with someone else.

It's a 💔 situation all round but your friend needs to put her dog before her own feelings.

She needs to surrender the dog to a charity who has funds to sort him out and deal with the heartache it will cause her to give him up.

Not easy. But the right thing is to give him a chance.

@Bloominginmyfifties - I say it again, please shop around. Find an independent / different vet.
My veterinary chain is good for some basic things, they are local and have good out of hours care, but are pricey. For example, one of my dogs needs their teeth cleaned, usual local vets £850.- for anaesthetic, clean & polish. Independent vet, but 45 minutes drive: £350.- for the same treatment. It's the only independent vet left in the area, but worth every minute of that drive.