If you had to put an animal to sleep....

[chelsmat]

Our dog is 9, but he has had epilepsy for the past 4 or so years. Lately it has gotten much worse. Despite two meds he is still having about on episode a month where he has as many as 10 siezures over a few days. The. It takes a week or so for him to get back to normal and not be out of it and confused. So basically he's good for 2.5-3 weeks and suffering for 1 week a month. If you've never seen a dog have a seizure you're lucky, it's so sad. His meds and blood work he constantly needs are expensive and because he's getting sicker he's needing more and more treatment.

I just feel bad for him. I keep trying to tell DH we need to make a decision. Maybe not today but we should discuss a threshold so we know when we think it's time to put him to sleep but I think DH is in denial. I love the dog too, but I don't want him to suffer.

How did you know it was time? Did you wait for the vet to tell you? Did you just know? My kids are going to be so upset.

[jag01]

Sorry to hear about your pooch. 😢 It is such a hard decision. For me it was the quality of life. Once I could tell they weren't enjoying life anymore, when the rough days seemed to become more and more. Sending you comfort and strenght to make the decision when that time comes.❤️

[gastro]

I'm so sorry you are going through this. We put our dog down over two years ago. It was a bit more sudden for us. She was her happy self and then all of the sudden lethargic and not eating. We gave it a few days and when it was clear she was not herself we took her to the vet. She had cancer of the spleen with a few months to live. We were given the option of surgery. She had a 60% chance of surviving the surgery. If it was successful they gave it six months to a year before she would pass. With those odds we decided against surgery and took her home.
over the next few days she got progressively worse each day and wasn't eating and not herself. She could barely walk. She was over 100 pounds so carrying her was not really an option, but DH and I did. She couldn't jump into the trunk. On the day we took her in she did jump into the trunk and walk to the vet on her own. Broke my heart - but it seemed like a dignity thing and she would not let us help her.
My DS1 was 4 when she passed and every few months he gets really sad and cries about her.
I don't regret the decision because if it were me I would not want to live with that or remember her last days being filled with pain and sadness.

[cabbagecabbage]

I’m so sorry. To answer your question - We put down our 11 year old large breed dog when it was clear we couldn’t leave him to go on vacation, even with a house siitter who knew him. He was getting aggressive because he was disoriented and scared. He growled and snapped and was in pain and confused all the time. We had to keep him away from our toddler for her safety. I felt awful putting him down “to go on vacation” but really is planning a trip pushed the issue and made us realize how bad he’d gotten. We met with the vet to ask her opinion before we did it and she confirmed our feelings and assured us we weren’t a moment too early.

[dizzycooks]

I’m sorry you’re in this position. We put our 10 1/2 yo dog a month ago and it was terrible. She was fine one minute and then went outside and came back with an injured spine. Her symptoms got worse over the day and the vet couldn’t do much, the options we had were extremely expensive and would have been lifelong for her. We brought her home, loved her up and then took her in the next day. She couldn’t walk, she couldn’t bathroom herself without us setting her up and holding her until she figured it out. She stopped eating unless we hand fed her. It was awful to see and it was only 36 hours.
Everyone has a different tolerance and ability to provide care that creates quality life. Again, I’m sorry. It sounds like you’ve done a lot for him so he can be comfortable.