I have a x jrt who was 18 in Jan. He is blind and nearly totally deaf. The past couple of months he has become more and more senile and his back legs are very weak and go to one side so he walks a bit crablike. He seems unaware of where he is sometimes and will sit and bark at a wall or something. He will also wee or poo indoors and sometimes when he wees it will be while he is lying down so will be soaked with urine. I usually have to bath him at least once a day. He seems to have gone downhill rapidly since the summer and has also had a couple of ? fits or mini strokes where he twitches and his eyes move rapidly side to side and he wees poos and is sick. He takes a few minutes to recover and then sleeps.  I keep saying I will take him to be put to sleep but then he will do something and I think maybe hes not so bad and then put it off. I just feel that I am robbing him of life and maybe hes happy although my head tells me hes not. What would others do in this situation?

sadly one you will know when the time is right. As for the weeing/pooing, that wouldnt make me make a desision. years ago I had a dog who would poo in his sleep and also wee, he leeked when he got up first thing in the morning. apart from that he had a love of life. So to help with the toileting we put towels on top of his bedding so they could absorb wee, and in the morning to prevent the leakage when walking outside, I put a towel under him (like a harness) until he got outside. he would be rubbed with babywipes to make him smell better, but he loved his walks & his food so there was no reason to consider pts.

Thats made me feel a bit better. He does poo in his sleep sometimes. He doesnt go on walks anymore because he cant walk without falling over and wouldnt get very far. He does have a trolly that I bought from e bay that I wheel him out in the nicer weather. He liked it in the summer and would get out at the field and have a little walk and a sniff but he has gone hill since then and the last time he came out with us in the car he would nt walk and had to be carried. He does still love his food though.

i have always said that my dogs have three loves in their lives, me, food & walks.  that always gives me a guide. with on old boy he decided he wouldnt go out on our walks, turned out he had cardiomyopathy. so he knew what was best for him. then a few years later he started to go of his food. i realised that this was getting near the time and felt i should let him go before he lost the other love.  he alwasy loved to lay in the sun or walk around the garden so the not wanting to go on walks were not a problem.

I always follow the advice from a vet in the book by Laura and Martyn Lee, "Absent friend"
Here it is, in case it helps to make things clear for you 

Is the animal:
free from pain, distress or serious discomfort which cannot be effectively controlled

able to walk and balance reasonably well

able to eat and drink enough for normal maintenance and without much difficullty, and without vomiting

free from tumours which cause pain or serious discomfort and are judged inoperable orotherwise untreatable

able to breathe without difficulty

able to urinate and defecate reasonably frequently without serious difficulty or incontinence

and, is the owner:
able to cope physically and emotionally with any nursing or medication that may be required?

IF the answer to any of these is "No" and treatment is unlikely to help, then euthansia might be the preferred action to take

Andrew Edney, past president of the BSAVA.

I hope this helps

Lindsay
x 

I had my oldie PTS over 2 years ago, he was completely deaf, couldn't see very well and was wobbly on his back feet. He didn't go for walk, but was happy pottering around the house and garden.

He occasioanlly had a vacant spell, where he would appear to not know what he was doing and we would find him in odd places, like just standing behind the rabbit hutch, however, these were infrequent and never bothered him.
He got a skin infection that wasn't responding to treatment.

He was gradully getting less steady on his feet and one evening had a 'spell' when his eyes were flickering from side to side, he appeared unaware and carried on as normal afterwards. The follwoing morning it happened again.

All of the above was no reason for me to have him PTS, becase he was still enjoying his slow-paced life however, when I looked into his eyes it seemed liek something had 'gone'....... He looked tired, not in a 'lacking sleep' sort of way, but his eyes seemed to say he'd just had enough of life.
Sobbing my heart out I took him to the vets and made the hardest decision ever. To let him have eternal peace (I'm welling up :( )...........

ML, that sounds so much like my Beattie; after a particularly bad evening the next day the light had gone from her eyes and she looked scared. The vet came round that evening - it was a year ago on Wednesday, and it still hurts.

sorry, but incontinance isnt a reason to have a pet pts.

Are you referring to the bit I posted? :)
It's clearly not written in stone, that is why it says "may be a reason...."

In some situations, incontinence may be very distressing to the dog, or it may be causing discomfort physically esp. if the owner works...

Lindsay
x

> What would others do in this situation?

I would not have a dog in that condition, I would have let him go peacefully, while held in my arms, a while ago.

It's a personal choice, but the way I look at it is.. dogs don't know they're being put to sleep, they are merely being held and loved and fall asleep, if there is a chance one of my dog is suffering (and not likely to recover quickly) or does not have the quality of life I would wish for them then this is the option I will take and have taken on numerous occasions.

> sorry, but incontinance isnt a reason to have a pet pts.

It can be depending on the circumstances. Does it worry the dog, does the dog hate baths, is it affecting the dogs quality of life.

If it were merely a case of changing bedding daily and bathing an otherwise fit and healthy dog then obviously it's not a reason to let them go.

If a dogs dignity goes and the animal is distressed by being incontinent then yes I would consider PTS.

We helped our Rosie to the bridge last May, still hurts like hell when I think about it, but she had canine dementia, some days were good others bad, on the Sunday we helped her she had gone too far, she was pacing around the garden to the extent her feet were bleeding, she didn't recognise us any more, we couldn't get her to lie down to sleep, on the Saturday she was ok, slept more than anything, she never became incontinent still stood by the door to go out even till the end, but the lack of recognition of her own name and the pacing at the end we knew it was time. 

sorry, but incontinance isnt a reason to have a pet pts.

my first GSD, Zigi went to the bridge 15 years ago age 8¾, He had CDRM.
He had shorter and shorter walks as he tied his back legs in knots every few steps and wobbled or fell over, he was eating well, he was interested in everything then we had about 3 days when he was walking/wobbling about in the house and he started to poo, just used to put hand on his collar to keep him in one place to finish. He was absolutely devastated that he had done it IN the house ( He had never been scolded while house training).

We spoiled him rotten for the next 24 hrs  and asked the vet to come to the house...........

Better a day (or even a week) too soon than a day too late

Chris...having a snivel while she types

Better a day (or even a week) too soon than a day too late

I agree

My last GSD went in exactly the same way 20 years ago, I decided never to have another one as it seemed such a young age to lose a much loved boy.

I now have a 13 years old Elkhound who has good days and bad. At the end of the day you have to ask yourself are you keeping him alive for himself or for you...

> I would have let him go peacefully, while held in my arms, a while ago

I totally agree.

We have to love them enough. 

hard as it is for me , im letting my girl go today. She has been going downhill quickly recently and I know she's not happy anymore. She is confused 95% of the time and last night got stuck under the chair. The panic in her eyes as she tried to get out told me I was making the right decision. Her legs are stiff and she is having trouble walking (tabs from vets haven't helped). She has had a happy life and it's not fair on her to let her carry on distressed and unsettled just because im finding it hard to let go. She will go peacefully and in my arms.

I think deep down you know when the time is right , however hard it may be.

I wish you strength, and eveyone here knows how hard it is to make that decision, you give them love, now give them blessed release.

Thinking of you

Viv
X

Will be thinking of you both today and wishing your girl a peaceful passing
Jane x

to sugar

I know this has been the worst day ever, but just wanted to say that you gave her the greatest kindness, and she knew that you loved her.

{{{{  HUGS  }}}}

Jean

Just reading all these loving posts has made me well up... god knows how I will be when I have to let one of my 2 go, just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.....
They are both under 5 now and I an going to enjoy every second as the time passes so quickly.

The owners on here who have lost dogs must know their dogs had all the love and affection they could ever needed, I suppose its the last thing you can do for your dog when the time comes, a last act of kindness and never ending love......

xxxxx

Another one here who is taking a much loved dog for their last trip to the vets today. Spice is my third dog with lymphoma and she was diagnosed 3 weeks ago. She is still reasonably bright and still eating but the diarrhoea is back so enough is enough. She is very tired and is 14. I would always rather do it too early rather than too late.

Thinking of you Mandy D (((HUGS)))