scootiepie Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I guess I just need to vent. I don't really know what to do so maybe airing it out will help. My 12 yr old dog has rapidly become paralyzed. No hind leg walking and now bladder and bowel incontinent. (Just the test to narrow down the problem for possible surgery would be over $2000 (MRI) and it has progressed so quickly we may be out of the surgical window anyway.) I think I might pay that much to "fix" her, i.e., surgery, but just for the preliminary work up? And then more thousands for the surgery .... It would be a foolish financial decision given our situation, and I can't tell you how guilty I feel just saying that. I mean, we could come up with the money, but we'd feel the financial consequences for years. My husband thinks it's time to put her down. If only there were something else wrong I could agree with him. Everything else about her is normal and healthy. Right now her pain is controlled, she's eating and drinking, and alert. She has no other diseases to deal with. Yes, it's pathetic to see her like this, but I'm finding it hard to come to terms with this being the only reason to put her down. It's just so sudden. It's not like she's been going downhill for a while, giving me time to mull it over. She's "my" dog. I'm her person. So I feel a need to protect her, and it feels like I'm failing. Thanks for listening and sorry for the downer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I know exactly how you feel. And I'm so sorry you're going through this. Hugs to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 You're not failing her. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Oh, I'm so sorry. Our cat was killed a few weeks ago on our street, where we'd NEVER seen him go before. His breed's personality is more canine than feline: come when you call them, greet you at the door, stuff like that. Some folks think we're weird to miss our cat, but when it was more like a dog with its devotion and keeping us company, well, it's just different. We're taking it hard. I keep telling the family it's much harder to have to put one down. I know, I had to put down my beloved dog the day my son was born. That was more than 15 yrs ago and I'm not over it yet. I vowed I'd never have another pet again, but that cat appeared on our back porch as a poor, helpless kitten and we fell for him. (Of course we checked to see if he belonged to someone else. Nope.) Just hugs. I'm so sorry. So very sorry. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 :grouphug: :grouphug: When I worked for a vet many years ago, that line when it became time to make a decision was pretty clear. They were just starting to treat pets for some of those bigger more expensive health issues, most out of budget for the average pet owner. When a pet gets to incontinence and paralysis, it's time to think of long term outlook and quality of life. It is okay if it is this one thing, it really is, at hard as it sounds. When I worked at the vet, he's probably have recommended a basic blood panel and maybe a xray and give you an idea of long-term prognosis. These decisions are never easy and I would not feel any guilt over not pursuing an expensive course of action - saying this as a life long pet owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeontheprairie Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 If it came on quick, could it be something she ate? I ask because earlier this winter our dog(10) woke up nearly paralyzed with bowel issues. we will close to taking him outside and putting him down. He was in so much pain. But we waited, that evening he seemed a little better, two days later he was fine. If it came on so suddenly, and you just called the vet about what to do, maybe wait a day or two. If it's already been several days... I'm d sorry. I know how hard it is to put down a pet. And you aren't falling her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I understand. We came home from doing some shopping at the end of July to find our Dachshund Sasha, paralyzed from the midpoint down. Our vet also told us that it would be thousands for surgery. Instead he gave her a shot of cortisone and an anti-inflammatory med. About a week later she could move her legs again! She never had complete control (she stumbled/hopped everywhere) , and she never regained bladder/bowel control. A couple weeks before Christmas she started having trouble with her legs again, she couldn't even do her stumble/hop thing (more cortisone would help most dogs at this point ). Her right leg lost all of its hair. The vet said she was losing blood flow in that leg and they were going to have to take it off. She was already so miserable because she couldn't get around on her own (this little thing used to "climb" trees and jump, and run) if she lost her leg she wouldn't even be able to stumble around. We finally had her put to sleep after Christmas. So, the nuts and bolts. If she can hold her bowels, at least long enough to be taken out, then you could put a diaper on her for the peeing. We tried this but couldn't keep the diaper on her. I ended up getting a basket and put a pillow and blankets in for her to lay on (made her "mobile") I had to wash/change them 1-2 times a day. I was okay with that. Then she lost the ability to control her bowels at all and I couldn't carry her around (pee smell bad, poop a whole lot worse). So she had to stay in her crate 24/7. That sucked, for both of us. It's also when she started to go downhill again. It was amazing the amount of time it took to care for her. We rarely did school, the house became a mess, I was a wreak (very depressed). I kept doing it though. After all there was nothing else wrong with her. I'm glad I did. It gave everyone time to say goodbye. She knew she was loved. In the end she could have gotten better (other stories on this forum about Doxies who recovered). So I say stick with it until you can't or she worsens but realize it will put a huge kink in all your plans (we couldn't leave the house for more then a couple hours). Good luck and I hope she gets better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 :grouphug: I'm sorry. I hope you can come to a decision you feel at peace about. For me, it's about quality of life and i guess that might look different for individuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datgh Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Never an easy decision. If your dog was much younger I might consider going forward with the testing but at her age would she survive any surgery that might be needed? What would her quality of life be afterward? I think these are questions your vet needs to answer before you make any decisions. I loved our vet because he would always lay all the possible scenarios out and what the cost would be and how it would effect the pet in the long run. A couple of times he said to me if I was a little old lady and the pet was my life then he wouldn't have minded going forward with expensive treatment but when we had young kids to raise, he couldn't in good conscience push us to spend all the money to try and save a pet. I always appreciated that about him. He never, ever pressured us to treat a very sick animal and he never questioned our decisions. He would cry right along with us when he had to put down one of our animals because he knew how much it hurt. He retired over a year ago. I really miss him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanier.1765 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Oh, I'm so sorry. Our cat was killed a few weeks ago on our street, where we'd NEVER seen him go before. Hugs for the both of you. I'm "the" person for several of our animals so they are my constant companions. I would miss them horribly if they were gone, like a void in my little world. Nothing I can say will make this any better for the two of you but I did want you to know I'm thinking of you during this difficult time. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootiepie Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 We do still have elementary age kids, are middle aged ourselves, and have a modest income. So replacing or repaying $5000 for a surgery would take years. It is neurological, unfortunately. She went from being a little gimpy to completely immobile in a couple of days. With the suspected problem (disk compression of the spinal cord), there are lots of stories about crate rest and medical management to at least staving off progression, if not allowing for some improvement. I guess I was hopeful this would happen. But instead it's gotten worse. The vet said it's not a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cakes Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I am so sorry that you are having to face this. We had to put down our sheltie last April, he was 14, and it was the hardest thing that I ever had to do. When it was over though I did feel a sense of relief and I knew that I made the right choice. His quality of life was gone and trying to keep him going was for my own personal benefit...not wanting to make that hard decision. Best of luck and lots of hugs to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 This is one of the toughest things. Is it cancer? If it is, given her age it would likely return and the money spent would be unfortunately wasted. Also, surgery for a dog this old is hard on the animal. :grouphug: We had to say good-bye to our dog on January 30 and he was nowhere near 12 years old which made it even more difficult. HUGS to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootiepie Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 All the stories and responses are very helpful. It's so hard to be objective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 12 years is a good run. It is my belief that it is better to choose to let your pet go a few months "too early" rather than a few months "too late". Suffering is not a good thing, IMHO. Dh is a vet, and we are devoted to our pets. Even as a vet family with our own hospital and so mostly free vet care, we have financial limitations, too, especially with regards to specialist care (which would cost us nearly the same as any other family). In your position, dh would do all the diagnostics he could do, but I don't think we'd seek MRI or specialist care. It'd be different if the dog was younger and the problem likely "fixable" -- that we'd likely pursue -- but in an elderly pet with a problem that is unlikely to be fixable, then we wouldn't be investing many thousands in diagnostics or care. A $3000 orthopedic surgery in an otherwise healthy dog, with a likely good prognosis and long life ahead, sure, we'd bust our budget . . . That said, dh is a really great general practice vet, so he'd be confident in a "probable" diagnosis (or diagnoses) (and thus prognosis and understanding of likely treatment options and their costs and likely outcomes). We recently had a serious and mysterious neurological issue with one of our elderly dogs, and we considered "sending out" his radiographs to a boarded (specialist) radiologist to see if there was something dh couldn't see. That'd be a few hundred dollars, and it'd be worth it just for some peace of mind with the off chance that there was some subtle something that dh couldn't see but could be informative for care options. Fortunately, our dog's problems resolved (for now) with some treatment before we sent out films, but we had already decided not to seek MRI (the only modality that might have been helpful that dh couldn't do himself), due to the high probability (actually, near certainty) that anything found on MRI would not have been something that could be reasonably treated with a reasonable expectation of a decent outcome. We didn't need to invest thousands to find out which of a few horrible and (untreatable with good outcome) tumors or conditions our dog has . . . If you aren't certain your regular vet is as good as you can possibly get, then I might consider investing $100-400 in getting another great vet to give a second opinion. They should be able to use the films and any other bloodwork already completed . . . so if the films are good (not guaranteed) and bloodwork is either not indicated or also good (more likely it should be fine, as most practices use various reliable labs), the cost should be closer to the $100, and if films need to be redone (50/50, as not all practices take great films, or there might be other "views" another vet wants) or bloods done, then the cost might be closer to the $400 mark. Of course, this is a wild estimate, but those prices would work for most regions and most practices. Once you have a GP vet's solid evaluation, they should be able to give you a list of "rule outs" that sum up what conditions they suspect could be causing your dog's symtoms. If one or more of those conditions is treatable with both a prognosis you feel OK about (say, 2 year survival with comfort . . . as opposed to 6 months with great suffering) . . . and the costs involved to get to that best outcome are something you can afford, then you can make a choice. It's all about odds, really, as if there is a $3000 cost to get to a diagnosis, and only a 10% chance that the diagnosis will be something treatable, and even with treatment, it only extends life expectancy a short while . .. well, for us, that's not a choice we'd make. We'd keep our pet comfortable, and we'd euthanize when he was no longer enjoying life. FWIW, steroids are nearly always tried as a treatment of last resort in these sorts of neurological issues. "No dog should die without the benefit of steroids" was a famed quote by a pharmacology professor at dh's school . . . This same professor was so anti-steroid in general that he actually refused to say the word in general, lol. Be sure to ask your vet about palliative/hospice options that might buy your dog some days or weeks or even months of good quality of life before it is time to let him go. ((((hugs))))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootiepie Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 That you for the vet perspective. She had a pretty thorough round of tests/exams to date... just minus the neurologist, which is 2 hrs away (the closest). The vet told me the smaller dogs (dachshunds) that usually have the surgery do much better than a dog that's bigger. Not sure if that's true - but given that info, plus her age, plus recovery time, plus no guarantee of any functional gain, I can't see it. The vet is giving her support if we decide to put her down. I guess she knew I needed to hear that. I'm not ready but I think maybe I'll go get her a ham bone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 We have a dachshund that developed sudden rear end paralysis when he was seven. We had the diagnostics, surgery, and physical therapy done. The surgery was not successful but physical therapy did result in spinal walking. That said I would probably not put a twelve year old dog through the surgery and possibly not even the physical therapy regardless of financial considerations. Our dog was very athletic and he seemed to enjoy the physical therapy but he probably wouldn't like it nearly as much now that he is older. An older dog would probably get rather sore especially if previously sedentary and they would not understand the potential benefit. Also, our dog is now fifteen and seems to be going downhill. I doubt that we will have him much longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Be sure to listen carefully if the vet discusses "rest" . . . Sometimes rest can actually resolve a seemingly severe and serious issue. So, if rest, steroids, whatever are an option for a potential healing, seriously consider it. Sometimes "cage rest" (or, on-a-leash-by-your-side rest) for some period of time (often 6-8 weeks) can allow really serious issues to heal sufficiently for many more months or even years. I've seen it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljpisme Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Poor pup :( Has your vet indicated what her chances of recovery might be with surgery? Our 15 year old terrier mix had the surgery 2 years ago. Her back issue came on very suddenly as well. (She was otherwise very healthy) We were at a loss as to how to proceed until our vet referred us to a neurologist. Within a few minutes of a physical exam he knew where the issue was and what her prognosis was (90% recovery). Honestly I was concerned that 13 might be too old to endure the surgery, but he assured me that her age would not put her at much of a disadvantage. In her case, it really didn't. Recovery was 6 weeks and she gained back most of the use of her hind legs. She is still doing fine. If the prognosis had not been as good, our decision may have been very different. Knowing what the likely success rate of the surgery was made all the difference in the decision. Good luck to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm so sorry! We paid for two back surgeries for our dachshund but this was before kids when we were both working. He went down again at about 14-15 years old but was in no pain so we got a wheelchair. Is that an option for you? They are about$300, but ask yr vet if it's an option. IF she's in a lot of pain it prob isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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