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Additional Posts in Depression/Anxiety Talk
I just want to quit right now. I just can’t anymore
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Start tracking every day (write it down) whether your dog had a good day or bad day. If you want you can break it down further to distinguish morning and evening. Sometimes it’s hard to tell how your dog’s condition is tracking when she’s having days where she feels pretty good mixed with some days where she seems to be struggling. This will help you determine whether or not her bad days are outweighing the good.
Another exercise—think of the top 5 things your dog loves to do. When she can no longer do three or more of them, quality of life has been impacted to the point where most vets would recommend that it’s time. If your dog is no longer enjoying her normal daily activities, consider whether you’re prolonging her life for your own sake rather than letting her go.
…Despite those situations she is generally “in good health” for a dog of her age. I am just unsure if her quality of life is being impacted and my own family’s life for that matter, by how difficult it has come to care for her. I just don’t know if it’s time to put her to sleep or if we should just continue down the path we’re on with her. Any advice would be much appreciated
My puppy was 19 and deaf and blind could barely hold himself up to go to the bathroom. But he seemed really content otherwise. With that said, we did make the decision to do an at home euthanization. The vet was extremely pleasant and she validated that we were making the right decision. It was very very hard to have him pass in my arms, but we did feel at peace with the decision. Especially bc he was never in any discomfort. Had he gotten much worse, he could have really suffered had we put it off. The vet was also really good about taking her time and ensuring us that he was “feeling really good” with all his drugs (there were like 3 phases to the process)
It’s a very hard decision but with the two of mine both 15 years old it becomes obvious at a point when it is time to let them go. Maybe you are getting close but not quite there.
We had something similar with my family dog who was 15.5 years. It was horrific putting him down but afterwards I think we all realized how much stress the family was under making sure he was ok, etc. We all decided we should have done it sooner. Best of luck with your decision.
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We had an 18 year old spaniel when I was younger. She had trouble seeing by the end and a lot of trouble walking but she still had a good appetite until the very end and enjoyed laying in the sun and people would pet her. We finally ended up putting her down when she basically couldn’t keep any food down (from cancer). But before then it seemed like her quality of life was ok relative to her age and I couldn’t bring myself to put her down.
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Sending hugs, friend. This is a really helpful resource from the OSU veterinary medical center about end of life care and decisions:
https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/sites/default/files/import/assets/pdf/hospital/companionAnimals/HonoringtheBond/HowDoIKnowWhen.pdf
If you have to carry her everywhere it sounds like she may have severe arthritis. There are drugs for this, as well as appetite stimulants. You should talk to your vet. If those things don’t help, I would think about putting her down based on the signs of distress she is exhibiting