any opinins?

tigger

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My parents have had Cricket, the springer spaniel for 14 years now..... She is getting quite old. My mom & dad say she is not doing well, and IMO I believe they should put her to sleep. Within the last 2 years, she's had surgery on both knees
I guess just recently her spine has gone out. She lays down & can't get up on her own anymore..... I guess if she tries, her legs spread farther & farther apart. She also poops when she's laying like that. They even take her to a dog chiropractor! I guess since March she has gone from weighing over 45 lbs to 32 lbs. They took her to the vet's office & they think she has a liver illness. The vet thinks she is critically ill. They want to do surgery, but my parents don't want to because of her age. My mom was saying the most she will do is the x-ray to see if there is a mass on her liver. I asked my dad if they have taken her to another vet for a 2nd opinion, and of course, he said no
Anyways, my mom and dad dont think she is suffering, but I think she is ...... just because she is alert doesnt mean she isnt suffering. What would you do?
 

hissy

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I would put her down. If the vet thinks she is critically ill then she is critically ill and suffering. I had a cocker spaniel growing up and when I moved out, my father convinced me to turn over Sam to his care. It was such a mistake. My father kept him alive so long that by the time Sam did pass over, he was blind in both eyes (he had epilepsy all his life) he was deaf, and losing the movements of his muscles. My father just couldn't bear to say goodbye to him. I was in colorado at the time, or I would of gone over and taken Sam in myself to get him out of his misery. There is no reason for an animal to suffer just because the owner can't let go.
 

jeanie g.

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This is so sad. I had a Collie with a cancerous growth on his neck which, despite his 14 years, was successfully removed. About six months later we noticed that his walk was not quite normal. The vet said it was unusual, but he thought our dog had had a stroke. Each time I asked if he would have a quality life, and the answer was yes. However, six months later, he evidently had another stroke, and couldn't use his back legs at all. I begged my son to take him to the vet, because he was too heavy for me, but he wouldn't do it. I convinced him to put him in the station wagon. A vet tech carried him in for me. I knew what the vet would say, but I think I went back and kissed him at least six times, crying and telling him how sorry I was. That dear vet said nothing when I kept coming back to kiss Laddie again and again. It's one of the hardest things I have ever done. I understand the difficulty your parents are having. My son was 24 years old , a 6'4" weight lifter, but he didn't have the strength to do it.I just couldn't see Laddie go on like that. It still hurts. I'm crying now, just writing about it.
 

badhabit

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Your parents know their dog best and they need to look at her and determine whether or not a decent quality of life is there or not. It sounds as though the best thing they could do for her would be to put her to sleep but if they are not ready they won't. She's lived a good long life and they've done the best for her but it sounds like it's time to say goodbye.

Unfortunatly I have a dog who suffers from some of the same problems. She has severe arthritis in her spine, so bad you can see it and severe hip dysplasia. Natala moves around like a 12 year old but she's only 7. She has a difficult time walking up stairs and getting up. I dread the day when she can no longer get up but I will never keep her going just because I can't say good bye as hard as that may be. I've seen too many suffering animals kept alive because their owners cannot deal. It pains me to see it almost as much as it hurts the owners to make a decision.

I would advise your parents for a second opinion. Not for a vet to tell them that she's ok rather a vet to tell them that the dog is clearly suffering. I hope that they will be able to see that keeping her going isn't doing either of them any favors. My thoughts will be with you Tigger, your parents and Cricket.
 
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tigger

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Unfortunately, my mother thinks she isn't suffering..... My dad.... I don't know. He said he hates to do it because they have had her for so long, but to me, that is a very selfish reason. My mom says she hates to leave the house because of Cricket's problems. I also forgot to mention that she is deaf; she went deaf about a year or so ago. The vet wants them to do the surgery, too...... My mom wants to give her some medication that is a natural steroid because she heard it helps, but my dad is against any type of steroid.
 

valanhb

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Regardless, it sounds like they should get a different vet. How many surgeries can anyone or anything go through and still keep having problems? To me, it sounds like the vet wants to get as much money out of your parents as he can regardless of quality of life for his "patient".
 

lorie d.

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I think your parent's dog is suffering and needs to be put to sleep. Your parents need to concentrate on doing what is best for the dog, and hopefully, they will be able to do this soon. After all the years of unconditional love and loyality our pets give us, they don't deserve to suffer when there is no hope for improvement.

I know how hard it must be for your parents to make the decision to put their dog to sleep. I had to put my cat, Midnight, to sleep about a year ago. Midnight developed glaucoma in both eyes and, in spite of all the efforts the vet and I made to help her, it kept progressing and she went permanently blind due to the serious damage being done to her eyes. She had periodic flareups of severe pain and inflamation in her eyes which required the attention of my vet ASAP each time, and follow up visits after that. When she wasn't having a period of severe pain and inflamation, she had a duller type of pain. The vet wasn't satisfied with the way the medication we were using was working. The only way Midnight could have been relieved of her suffering would have been to surgically remove both of her eyes, my vet recommended not doing this due to Midnight's age.

When I did have Midnight put to sleep I had to ignore all of my own feelings and concentrate on what was best for the cat. I didn't have any good options left to help Midnight, but I was able to spare her from further suffering which would have kept getting worse.
 
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tigger

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I guess she has taken a turn for a worse since last weekend -- she keeps falling down, and according to my dad today, she hasn't peed in over 8 hours. Course, they are waiting on the results of her bloodwork
He has now made a sling (towel) for her so she can walk. He's mentioned how depressed he is, and of course my mom thinks she is just fine. I told him what I thought, but I don't think it did any good. Oh, and they took her to a 2nd vet -- an accupunture vet
 
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