It's just a dog.

[liv2ski]

Your a good man Moeghoul. Hopefully, she will be there at the end for you. At least that is a nice story I like to tell myself when I have to let a pup go. Take care.

[skifishbum]

vibes m well written and vibes all the others who send their besties onward

my old boys showin his age sleepin a good 20 a day needs help in an outta the car n boat
and his non bionic hips starting to go
I need to remember 8 years ago being worried about a year old dog needing a hip replacement and reflect back on the outstanding quality of life we shared and know when to say when

[NW_SKIER]

Sorry M. You are not selfish.

When my Mike became sick to the point I couldn't bear to hear or see him vomit anymore, I felt the same way you do now. He would always hide his sickness from me and I would convince myself he was still enjoying life, but towards the end he couldn't hide it anymore and I felt terrible as if I had let him go too long. I never received an accurate diagnoses of his condition either.

You don't want to see them suffer, but at the same time you don't want to lose your best friend. You didn't do anything most of us here wouldn't do ourselves. Vibes.

[sb]

Vibes

[Moeghoul]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, This thread helped me get through it. We rescheduled for 2:30 this afternoon, we canceled 2 hours before her appointment last night, just couldn't do it. I'm at peace with it today, I'm telling myself this is the best alternative, because she could have something catastrophically painful happen at 2AM on a Friday night, and watching her truly suffer as we all get traumatized would be unforgivable. She's got a spot on her own little shelf with the other pooches ashes in the Vermont house when we get up there again. Hopefully soon...I gotta get outta here for a while.

[BigDaddy]

So tough, Mike... my thoughts are with you. You gave Jewell the best life possible and are doing the humane thing for her now. Peace and be well,

[Bromontana]

Tough to read Meoghul, I bet that pup feels and truly appreciates the love and support. They're all temporary friends, you're doing the best anyone could do. Good luck finding peace with it.

[PNWbrit]

Sorry M.

[old goat]

The dogs I've lost have gone quickly, on their own and the loved people in my life have all gone the same way--I've never had to make a decision to euthanize a dog or withdraw support from a loved one, so I can't relate personally. I do know from my experience caring for dying people that every positive sign, no matter how small, is taken by family to be a sign of recovery, and that the hard thing to do is to step back from the moment by moment and look at the overall picture. But I've never had someone tell me after we had withdrawn support that they regret the decision and feel they gave up too soon.
I also think that vets and doctors have an obligation, not to dictate to an owner or family member but to guide the decision and take a lot of the burden on their shoulders and off the loving one. Too often today, in the interest of autonomy, too much burden is placed on the owner or family member.
As I think about the death of my old girl--she's ok now but she's 12 so she can't have too much time--I think about how painful it will be to lose her, but also how much more painful it would be for her if I were to go first (which is not impossible).
Unfortunately, pain is inevitable flip side of love, always.

[Moeghoul]

She's in another place now, hopefully getting acquainted with all our other dogs in the past. I gotta believe that can happen.

[Supermoon]

Vibes M. It's always tough, but you did the right thing.

[stevesmith7]

Nothing worse than every day having to make that decision or not. At least you can start to recover now. This thread always brings a tear.

[Plainview]

Saddest thread on the internet, but one of the best.

Condolences Moeghul - you did what you could for as long as you could. Jewel couldn't ask for better than that.

TNKen & SFB - enjoy the time left. Must be hard knowing there's not much of it Ken...


I've been wanting to ask the Maggot dog lovers opinion on my situation for awhile and Moeghul's description of his last days with Jewel has prompted me to give it a go. I have an 8.5 year old mutt who has a history of developing Mast Cell tumors. He's had 4 of them removed over his lifetime. The last one got really big before it became obvious (it was on the underside of his butt, kinda between his sack and bung so not exactly the place you feel around a lot...) and ended up costing over $2K to deal with by the time all was said and done with various appointments, surgery, etc. It was a pretty major surgery with lots of staples and an incision that was about 6 inches long.

That was in March and now he has another tumor on his neck. My regular vet wants me to take him to a specialist because of the tumor's location - she's not comfortable operating on it. So far all the tumors have been low-grade according to the pathology reports. I don't know what to do. He's such a great dog and otherwise the picture of health. I do okay financially but I'm not raking it in and I simply don't make enough money to be spending thousands every few months for surgeries and lab work and x-rays and pathology reports, etc. etc. I want to do what's best for my buddy but I need to be able to pay my rent and take care of myself, too. I had a horrible dream the other night where he'd been shot and was laying wounded and crying for me to help him and I just turned my back and walked away. That's pretty accurately how I feel at this point. I don't even feel like he's old yet. At 8.5 he should have a few good years left at least. How can I reconcile my need to eat & pay my bills with the need to take care of my bestest buddy?

[Sicks]

She's in another place now, hopefully getting acquainted with all our other dogs in the past. I gotta believe that can happen.

You're amazing Moeghoul. I hope you someday open yourself up to another four legged friend. Pups deserve dads like you.

[TNKen]

Sorry about the pupster Moeghoul.

Not sure where you stand on the subject Moeghoul, but... A few weeks ago, our pastors conducted a Wednesday night service on "do dogs go to heaven." Pretty nebulous discussion, but to sum it up, if you believe the afterlife is a "happy" place, and your pets make you happy, then your pets will be there in the afterlife. Interesting analysis, but hopefully spot on.

[old goat]

Saddest thread on the internet, but one of the best.

Condolences Moeghul - you did what you could for as long as you could. Jewel couldn't ask for better than that.

TNKen & SFB - enjoy the time left. Must be hard knowing there's not much of it Ken...


I've been wanting to ask the Maggot dog lovers opinion on my situation for awhile and Moeghul's description of his last days with Jewel has prompted me to give it a go. I have an 8.5 year old mutt who has a history of developing Mast Cell tumors. He's had 4 of them removed over his lifetime. The last one got really big before it became obvious (it was on the underside of his butt, kinda between his sack and bung so not exactly the place you feel around a lot...) and ended up costing over $2K to deal with by the time all was said and done with various appointments, surgery, etc. It was a pretty major surgery with lots of staples and an incision that was about 6 inches long.

That was in March and now he has another tumor on his neck. My regular vet wants me to take him to a specialist because of the tumor's location - she's not comfortable operating on it. So far all the tumors have been low-grade according to the pathology reports. I don't know what to do. He's such a great dog and otherwise the picture of health. I do okay financially but I'm not raking it in and I simply don't make enough money to be spending thousands every few months for surgeries and lab work and x-rays and pathology reports, etc. etc. I want to do what's best for my buddy but I need to be able to pay my rent and take care of myself, too. I had a horrible dream the other night where he'd been shot and was laying wounded and crying for me to help him and I just turned my back and walked away. That's pretty accurately how I feel at this point. I don't even feel like he's old yet. At 8.5 he should have a few good years left at least. How can I reconcile my need to eat & pay my bills with the need to take care of my bestest buddy?

We take loving care of our dogs, keep them with us as much as we can, and ease their pain for them. We keep them alive for us. While a lot of folks may feel that dogs and other animals have the same right to live as we do, and while people with the means don't hesitate to spend very large amounts of money treating their serious health problems, I don't think you would be wrong to have him euthanized, if your vet is willing, which she may not be. The repeated surgeries are painful. The worst thing would be to keep him alive but not treat the tumors as they become uncomfortable. Some people will say that money doesn't matter--but that's not true. Depending on our individual circumstances, how much is too much? $100? $1000? $10,000? Should people borrow money for their dogs' medical care? Letting them hurt and not helping is cruel. Letting them die painlessly is not. The one option you might want to check out is whether there is a vet school near you that might offer the surgery at a reduced rate.

[Plainview]

Thanks for your thoughts oldgoat. Nowhere near ready to put him down yet. The tumor on his neck is small and doesn't appear to be growing at this point and by all other indications he's perfectly healthy. The tumor on his butt was there for quite awhile and the main reason I dealt with it it was it ulcerated and started bleeding. So far the pathology reports have called them "low grade" which means they weren't aggressive or metastasizing. I'm going to take him to a specialist and see what they say.

[skifishbum]

saw this on the news the other day
lifes but a journey of shared experiences w/ family and friends
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2015/05/...5701432920881/

[skiJ]

Plainview --

oldgoat presents reasonable comments -- my concern (and the reason for my comment) is :

in my experience - and it is getting to be a long time ago - veterinary schools are one of the most expensive sources of animal health care --
they may, for experimental treatment, discount Care., but more often(,) they offer state-of-the art Care at breath-taking cost .
perhaps better to ask your vet. to forego some of the supportive diagnostics and testing(,) and provide Care based on 'past medical history' and a balance of desired-outcome with cost-effective/ managing expense(s) .

good luck ... skiJ

[Bronco]

vibes m well written and vibes all the others who send their besties onward

my old boys showin his age sleepin a good 20 a day needs help in an outta the car n boat
and his non bionic hips starting to go
I need to remember 8 years ago being worried about a year old dog needing a hip replacement and reflect back on the outstanding quality of life we shared and know when to say when

Our 9 year old Newfie/Great Pyrenees collapsed early Sunday morning 6 miles from the trail head after camping out all night. Her body was limp as a noodle, no signs of fatigue or overheating on the hike in Saturday. She lost her bowels and everything but after half an hour was able to sit up and half an hour later was showing interest in the chipmunks. We slowly walked out, stopping to soak her down at each creek and keep her cool, we all thought she was done for but seems to be recovering slowly. Vet said everything looked normal, prescribed something for pain and an antibiotic. She now seems to act more like a typical newfie, sleeps like the dead most of the day and doesn't try to chase and tackle everything that moves. I think her hiking days are over but thankful to have her around for a bit longer. I hate this thread but as the best friend of our aged dog, can't help but think of it often.

If she hadn't been able to walk out, I thought we'd burry her by the lake we camped at, it would be a perfect final resting place. Glad we didn't have to do that or have to try to carry her out

[PNWbrit]

Saddest thread on the internet, but one of the best.

Condolences Moeghul - you did what you could for as long as you could. Jewel couldn't ask for better than that.

TNKen & SFB - enjoy the time left. Must be hard knowing there's not much of it Ken...


I've been wanting to ask the Maggot dog lovers opinion on my situation for awhile and Moeghul's description of his last days with Jewel has prompted me to give it a go. I have an 8.5 year old mutt who has a history of developing Mast Cell tumors. He's had 4 of them removed over his lifetime. The last one got really big before it became obvious (it was on the underside of his butt, kinda between his sack and bung so not exactly the place you feel around a lot...) and ended up costing over $2K to deal with by the time all was said and done with various appointments, surgery, etc. It was a pretty major surgery with lots of staples and an incision that was about 6 inches long.

That was in March and now he has another tumor on his neck. My regular vet wants me to take him to a specialist because of the tumor's location - she's not comfortable operating on it. So far all the tumors have been low-grade according to the pathology reports. I don't know what to do. He's such a great dog and otherwise the picture of health. I do okay financially but I'm not raking it in and I simply don't make enough money to be spending thousands every few months for surgeries and lab work and x-rays and pathology reports, etc. etc. I want to do what's best for my buddy but I need to be able to pay my rent and take care of myself, too. I had a horrible dream the other night where he'd been shot and was laying wounded and crying for me to help him and I just turned my back and walked away. That's pretty accurately how I feel at this point. I don't even feel like he's old yet. At 8.5 he should have a few good years left at least. How can I reconcile my need to eat & pay my bills with the need to take care of my bestest buddy?

We had three similar sounding tumors removed from our 9 year old golden (about 18 months ago) a post operative infection that he nearly didnt make it through and just keeping immobile as possible for close to a month was hell for us and him.

He never fully recovered, or rather he came out of it an old dog rather than a robustly healthy middle aged one.

He is slowly developing a ever more lumps. I couldn't put him through the whole process again.. for probably what would only be a very little extra time and that would probably require several big surgeries.

We've decided that we'll do the kind thing for him when time comes.. and fear it will be sooner than later it's been nine years since our last Golden was put to sleep in my arms while I sobbed into his fur. Dreading having to face it again.

He could have every penny I own if it'd cure him from living seven years to my one...

[Plainview]

Thanks for the thoughts folks. He's doing well for now. The tumor doesn't seem to be growing and he's otherwise happy and healthy and in a few days we'll be departing on a week long backpacking trip. I do these every year and I hope he gets to join me on a few more - he never seems as happy as when we're in the mountains together.

[GiBo]

She's in another place now, hopefully getting acquainted with all our other dogs in the past. I gotta believe that can happen.

So sorry man.

[TNKen]

Vet bills.... We spent a little over $3k on Molly's 24 weeks of chemo. I'm not sure where the line is, but we were close. We were betting on getting another year of life for her, and 30 days later found out the treatment didn't work. Since then, we've probably put another $500 or so for palliative care.

She is doing well. The prednisone is making her real sensitive to heat. She doesn't like going out now, preferring the AC. We've been in the 90 degree range for the last several weeks, kinda unusual for East Tennessee. Doc gave her three weeks, three weeks ago.

Ken

[TNKen]

Well, if I can bring myself to do it, tomorrow is Molly's day.

About two weeks ago, I was helping her off the bed and she hurt a leg. Its been a downhill cascade ever since.

I've cried. Best dog I've ever had, and we've had a ton of them over the years. I'm loosing a great friend and companion, and a great fishing buddy.

Please give me the strength to do what I need to do for her.