My senior dog is suffering. How do I know when it's time to let go?

Oh no, I'm so sorry that Santeri is so sick! I work for a home euthanasia service, so I face this question all the time with my clients. I suggest making a list of five things Santeri loved to do. If he's not doing at least two of them, then his quality of life has decreased to a point where humane euthanasia should be considered. It's always a hard decision to make, but if he has a poor quality of life, letting him go peacefully would be a great kindness. If you'd like to discuss this further, I'd be happy to consult with you. Just click the "consult online" button under my answer. Otherwise, I hope my answer helps and I'm sorry you are facing this issue :-(

Oh no, your poor dog! It sounds like she is in really bad shape physically. I would have her seen by a vet first thing in the morning to see if there are any treatments possible for her symptoms. If there aren't, it would be time to discuss letting her go peacefully. I know that's not something you want to hear, but it may be best for her given her symptoms. I recommend making a list of five things she loved to do, and if she's no longer doing at least two of them, then her quality of life has declined to a point where humane euthanasia should be considered. I work for a home euthanasia service, so if you'd like to discuss this further with me, I'd be happy to consult with you. Just click the "consult online" button under my answer. Otherwise, I hope this helps and you should take her into the vet in the morning.

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.

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.

Hello, thank you for using PetCoach. I'm sorry you are having to deal with this issue. The right time to euthanize a pet is based on quality of life. If you feel his quality of life is diminished then it is time. In my opinion, no veterinarian will turn you away or judge you for wanting to euthanize her based on the information you provided here. Quality of life is based on many factors. You can check out this link as it may help you to make a decision. ( https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/sites/default/files/import/assets/pdf/hospital/companionAnimals/HonoringtheBond/HowDoIKnowWhen.pdf ) I hope this helps. Best wishes.

I'm sorry you are faced with making this decision. It is always tough. The best thing to do is to assess her quality of life. If her quality of life is poor then you know it's "time". I think these links will help you more. ( https://www.petcoach.co/article/the-decision-of-euthanizing-your-pet/ ) ( https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/sites/default/files/import/assets/pdf/hospital/companionAnimals/HonoringtheBond/HowDoIKnowWhen.pdf ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Hi there! Thanks for letting us take care of you today! Sorry to hear about Ruger. I definitely know where you are coming from as I mostly see cancer patients. What I usually tell my clients is that the time to consider humane euthanasia is when they stop being themselves. For example, when they stop doing 3 out of their 5 favorite things (eating, playing, or whatever these are), it is time to let them go without suffering. Of course this is if not considering treating the cancer. There are always palliative medications you could consider like prednisone and anti-nausea medications (as cancer can cause nausea depending on the type) just from a palliative standpoint to try to make Ruger feel better in the meantime. Sorry you are going through a rough time.