Re: tough decision -- Talking Circle Alternative

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Date Posted: Thu, 12/26/02 6:26am
Author: Bella
Subject: Re: tough decision
In reply to: Steve Russell 's message, "Re: tough decision" on Tue, 12/24/02 6:53pm

That is an awful situation to be in Steve, I know how it feels to have to make that decision. I had a dog given to me as a puppy when I was 10, and he started to have strokes when he 11. I thought then I was going to lose him, he collapsed one night and couldn't move his hind legs at all, and was shaky at the front and kept dropping his head to one side. He kept looking at me with a mixture of distress and almost embarassment. The vet was fantastic - he said strokes in dogs are easier to manage than in humans and gave a series of injections, within 2 days my dog was walking and in a week running around again. But he suffered two more strokes over the next couple of years, and finally although he was still cheerful, he suddenly lost his sense of balance and started turning in circles all the time, and leaning to one side. I wanted him just to go to sleep and not wake up, but it didn't happen so I called the vet - who my dog loved so was always please to see - and he came out and put him to sleep.It upset me particularly because he greeted the vet by wagging his tail that day, the same as always, and I felt as if I was betraying him. But he had no quality of life left, even though he was making the best of things and not looking miserable, he was bewildered, he couldn't exercise properly at all and it would have been unkind to keep him going any longer. The vet thought he would have died in a few months anyway, but his balance would have got worse, he would have a lot of falls and there was by that time no treatment left. But it's a very hard decision to take. He was a Labrador/Dalmation, so 13 for that size dog was a good age, but it upset me he had the illness he did for the last couple of years.

I think in your situation, I would be wary of the possible side effects of the treatment, and considering treatment would only give a further few months, I'm not sure I would want to put a dog through that. I know exactly what you mean about not being able to ask the dog, it's how I felt. And afterwards I carried on wondering if I'd done the right thing, because despite his illness he was still relatively cheerful. Left to nature, he would have died much earlier but medical treatment had kept him going for a couple of years with a good quality of life, but as soon as that diminished I just felt their wasn't enough left for him, just his discomfort. I have known a lot of humans enduring treatment which is prolonging their lives not curing them, and some of them have wished their lives could just be ended, rather than having to go on in the state they are in. I think a dog who has had a good length of life is probably better being able to go peacefully to sleep, rather than go through treatment which might cause distress or side effects. But I think it's very hard to make the decision.

Bella

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Replies:

Re: tough decision -- Steve Russell, Thu, 12/26/02 9:02am
- Re: tough decision -- Bella, Thu, 12/26/02 4:34pm