My old dog is very sick with bloody stool and raspy breathing. What to do?

I'm so sorry to hear that you and Sammi are struggling with end of life decisions. This is one of the most difficult and agonizing decisions that we make as pet owners. Anytime difficulty breathing is involved, suffering is occurring. Given her heart disease, it seems most likely that the breathing difficulty and coughing are a result of heart disease or congestive heart failure. Without examining her and seeing her chest x-rays, I can't accurately speak as to her current situation and if a change in medication may be beneficial to improve her quality of life and breathing issues for the time being. Finding blood around her stool is another concerning sign, and could be related to issues with her colon or anal glands. Given Sammi's difficulty breathing at this point, it sounds as though your best two options are either a) further evaluation by her vet urgently to determine if medications can be adjusted to improve her quality of life, or b) euthanasia to ease her pain and suffering. On a personal note, I understand the difficulty of this decision as I recently went through it with one of my own older dogs. Making the decision was difficult, but in the end, I felt a sense of relief knowing that he was at peace and no longer suffering. I hope this helps you and that all goes as well as possible for Sammi.

OH my. I can understand your despair, especially after having already taken her to your vet. It sounds like she needs to have some testing done to determine what the underlying problem is so that she gets the proper treatment. A pet that is having difficulty breathing, not eating and blood in the stool (could be due to stress), sounds like a possible lower airway infection or even pneumonia. She needs to go to another vet for a second opinion, bloodwork and chest radiographs to evaluate her lungs. If she does have pneumonia, then she will likely need to be hospitalized and treated symptomatically for a few days until she is hopefully well enough to go home. Here is a finanical assistance website in case you need help affording her veterinary care. http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html I hope that Bea is able to make a full and speedy recovery from her illness. Best of luck to you. Take care.

Poor Xica! I'm so sorry that she's sick, and that you're in the position of having to consider what is best for her right now. This is always a difficult situation. Her x-rays do appear to show very severe pleural effusion. As I'm sure your veterinarian has probably discussed with you, pleural effusion of the type that you have described (bloody fluid) is almost always caused by one of two things: congestive heart failure, or cancer. The amount of fluid in her chest makes it hard to get a good look at the size and shape of her heart, or to determine if there are any obvious tumors in her chest, so it's hard to say which of these possibilities is more likely without additional testing. But unfortunately, even with aggressive treatment, neither of them have a good long-term prognosis. Knowing this, if I were in your position, I believe I would probably decide to let her go rather than pursuing hospitalization, chest tube placement, etc. - these are invasive, uncomfortable procedures that are unlikely to make a significant difference in the outcome for her, because of the severity of her underlying disease. That being said, the decision of when to consider euthanasia is a very personal choice, and one that is different for every pet owner. If you feel that you need to do everything possible, and want to pursue advanced diagnostics to try and get a more specific answer as to what's wrong, there is nothing wrong with this at all - but if you were my client, I would try to gently caution you that her underlying condition will almost certainly be fatal regardless of what you do. I hope you're able to find peace in your decision, whatever it might be.

Poor Mylo! I would look at his quality of life. There could be something more serious causing the vomiting and bloody feces than just worms. It could be due to cancer, which is unfortunately common in senior dogs. It would also cause him to lose weight. If you have a dog who is blind, deaf, is passing blood in his feces, and is vomiting, my opinion is that he doesn't have a very good quality of life. I would have Mylo seen by a vet tomorrow. Together you can discuss his symptoms and quality of life, and the vet can give you an in-person assessment of how they feel his quality of life is and if it's time to let him go peacefully.

First off, I'm so sorry Jack has cancer! I work for a home euthanasia service, so I face these questions with my clients all the time. I tell them to make a list of five things their dog loves to do. If he isn't doing at least two of them, then their quality of life has declined to a point where euthanasia should be considered. Another factor to consider with Jack is his appetite. If he stops eating all together, he will slowly be starving, and that will be quite painful for him. I wouldn't let him get to that point. Oftentimes, our dogs are ready to go before we are ready to let them go, and they hang on longer for us. Dogs are quite good at hiding their pain, especially if they see their owner is distressed. I would make that list I suggested, keep trying to get him to eat, and have blood tests done to see if he is getting anemic. This may help you decide when it's time to let him go peacefully. I understand it's hard to say goodbye when he's still running and playing, but it may be better to let him go sooner rather than later as he will leave you happy and in a good place, rather than extremely ill and weak if that makes sense. Only you can decide what's best for him, and I'm so sorry that you have to face this decision. I'd certainly be happy to consult with you if you'd like to discuss things further, just click the "consult online" button under my answer. I hope I've been helpful.

If Charlie has blood in his stool I highly recommend a veterinarian. Here they will look to see if he has hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. This can be caused by ingesting something that upset his gastrointestinal tract. At the veterinarian they can hydrate Charlie and give medications to help this resolve. I hope Charlie feels better soon and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Poor Charlie! You did the right thing by taking him into the vet. It is likely that he had a cut from hitting himself, and that would cause the bright red blood in the vomit. The black color of his feces indicates digested blood, so if he had blood in his stomach from the injury, it passed through his GI tract leading to the black color of his feces. He may be painful as well from hitting his mouth, causing him to be more lethargic than usual. Now it is concerning he is breathing funny, but that can also be pain related. Keep an eye on him tonight, and if he's still showing these same symptoms in the morning, take him back into the vet. Do not give him any human pain medications, as many are toxic to dogs and can be fatal if given. Best of luck, I hope this helps!