Denisemomof4 Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 My 15.5 year old rat terrier, who has congstive heart failure, is getting worse. Her legs gave out on her a few times last week so I thoight it was time. They have been fine for nearly a week now. She has, at least a couple of times, had to stand at night to catch her breath. Mostly, she seems ok. The dry hacking coughs are getting worse. I have no carpet AT ALL downstairs so her issues are more of an inconvenience than anything, but in the past week we are letting her out to go to the bathroom every hour or two. She Pees and poos every time (sometimes misses a poo) but has many daily accidents in the house now. You are probably thinking it is time. I fear....... Am I putting her down too soon because of the accidents? Maybe it's NOT tome. How does one ever really know if it truly IS time? Tonight she squatted and peed at dd's feet. She never does this. :crying: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I am torturing myself with guilt but the daily accidents and squatting at our feet to pee is getting to be too much. :( I just pkaced her in a HUGE crate. If she can be happy in there, I will be happy to clean up after her. This is getting so hard! She must be sicker to be peeing so much now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I think in your heart you just know. With our basset who had cancer last year, we just knew in our hearts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I didn't just know with most of my dogs. The clear cut ones I knew...... My dog has bad days, but the daily accidents are really wearing on me. Also, i don't understabd how she can possibly pee so much when she doesn't drink a lot. I am torn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Is she on any medication? A diuretic is a common treatment for humans with excess fluid. Those strong medications can really make you have to go every hour (or more.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Is she on any medication? A diuretic is a common treatment for humans with excess fluid. Those strong medications can really make you have to go every hour (or more.) Three meds. She is out every hour or so. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeteranMom Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Honestly, I still don't "know" about a couple of the dogs we put to sleep. :sad: They are the ones where I still go back and forth about their last days and what I might have done differently. I guess the "easiest" ones to put to sleep have been the ones who had frequent visits with the vet and were only getting worse- not eating, losing weight, meds weren't working, and seemed to have no joy in life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I would check with the vet about discontinuing the meds. :grouphug: Three meds. She is out every hour or so. :( I am torturing myself with guilt but the daily accidents and squatting at our feet to pee is getting to be too much. :( I just pkaced her in a HUGE crate. If she can be happy in there, I will be happy to clean up after her. This is getting so hard! She must be sicker to be peeing so much now. My 15.5 year old rat terrier, who has congstive heart failure, is getting worse. Her legs gave out on her a few times last week so I thoight it was time. They have been fine for nearly a week now. She has, at least a couple of times, had to stand at night to catch her breath. Mostly, she seems ok. The dry hacking coughs are getting worse. I have no carpet AT ALL downstairs so her issues are more of an inconvenience than anything, but in the past week we are letting her out to go to the bathroom every hour or two. She Pees and poos every time (sometimes misses a poo) but has many daily accidents in the house now. You are probably thinking it is time. I fear....... Am I putting her down too soon because of the accidents? Maybe it's NOT tome. How does one ever really know if it truly IS time? Tonight she squatted and peed at dd's feet. She never does this. :crying: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We put my Emily down 6 years ago this June. In addition to CHF, she also had cancer...she was bleeding...and just not herself. We could still love on her, but she couldn't play, and really simply laid around and watched. I was also 8mos. pregnant at the time, home with 3 small children during the day and working on the weekends. The vet told us we could take her to a specialist, and get her meds that would (at most) extend her life by three months. I wasn't extending her life for her -- she wasn't my loveable, playful, happy-go-lucky, roll-around-in-the fresh manure puppy anymore. I would be extending her life because *I* didn't want to lose her. She'd be on medication which would help for a little while, and then we'd be back to where we were now. She didn't come home from the vet that day. I knew when we took her she wasn't coming home, but I also knew it was time. My brother's dog had stomach cancer and suffered to the very last day...that whole situation troubled me greatly. I didn't want Emily to suffer any more. (I'm balling my eyes out right now...my dad would have a field day with this!). Perhaps some of this attitude has been passed down because of a strong farming heritage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 (edited) My parent's rat terrier was only 8 when they put her down. Her heart failure had gotten to the point that she would walk across the yard and have an attack and fall over. Her meds were already at a high dose. The vet said any higher and she would pee everywhere without any control at all. Plus, at that point the meds weren't stopping her attacks. She peed on their bed while she was sleeping. That's when they decided it was time. Edited May 17, 2012 by Kleine Hexe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 My dog has CHF now. He occasionally has some weakness in his legs and when he was on diuretics he had some accidents. We stopped the diuretics and just kept up with the other meds. He seems happy with life so for now will carry on - he pants a lot at night but doesn't seem worried about it. OUr other dog had to be puit down a few weeks ago - she collapsed after a lot of vomiting. She'd been having vomiting episodes pretty regularly and it really was getting to be difficult - hard to leave her, she was losing weight. But the rest of the time she seemed fairly content to do her thing. For me that is the big issue - do they seem able and happy to carry on with their activities, be it sniffing around the yard or sleeping or whatever. But it is hard to know sometimes especially when they are creating a lot of extra work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.