My rat terrier Teddy - the avatar driving my car - is 13 years old and has had cancer for about 3 years. It's anal sac adenocarcinoma - big lumps on his rectal area. http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/identifying-and-treating-anal-sac-adenocarcinoma-dogs
It was found during a routine anal gland expression. He's lived much longer than the vets and canine cancer specialists thought he would. The canine surgeon said surgery would help (at over $6000) but would probably also cause problems such as inability to hold his poop in - poop could spill out at any time.
The consensus was to let him live as long as he was comfortable, then opt for euthanasia.
I've had animal put down before, due to medical problems. An 18-yr-old cat who had a stroke and lost the use of her legs. A Chihuahua who had a tumor in her neck and congestive heart failure, and suddenly couldn't breathe. A 17-yr-old cairn terrier who had kidney failure. It's always heartbreaking, but those were clear cut decisions.
This one is not.
Teddy is still active, although he sleeps a lot. He tries to catch his dog cookie treats. One eye is blind and the other is getting hazy, so his vision isn't the best anymore and doesn't like steps, but he's mostly the same old Teddy. Happy, devoted, eager for food, wanting to be near us around the house. His hunger is constant, due to the cancer using up so much of his energy.
The tumors are very large on his butt - round, stick out about 2 inches and cover side to side. The vet has said the inside growing is probably even larger. At last x-ray it hadn't spread beyond his back area, but it's beginning to cause some problems.
His behavior has changed in a few areas - most problematic is that he seems to have lost the knowledge about going outside to pee and poop. We have a dog door - in the past he was excellent on using it, never had an accident in the house. Now we have daily poop piles and pee stains. The vets told us that at some point he would probably not be able to poop, that the tumors would compress his rectum too much, but the opposite seems to be happening. He's lost control of his ability to hold it until he gets outside.
In the last couple of days he's also forgotten how to eat his kibble from the bowl on the floor. In the morning the dogs (we have two) get a bowl of wet food and a bowl of dry food each, in the same room but separate spaces. He'll eat the wet food but ignore the dry food bowl, but go searching around the other dog for more food. If I show him the dry food bowl he doesn't seem to recognize it - unless I pick it up and tip it toward him, and then he'll eat from it. Or if I hand feed him from the bowl, he'll eat the kibble. He just can't recognize the kibble in the bowl on the floor.
My husband thinks it's time we think about having him put down. He's tired of the constant poop messes and worries that things are going to get worse for Teddy. I am losing my own cancer battle and this is tearing me up emotionally. I'm not ready to let him go - he's my buddy dog! - but don't want him to suffer.
But he doesn't seem to be suffering - that's the dilemma. The situation is just - inconvenient, in my mind. Picking up poop and cleaning up pee stains, yucky yes but ok. I can hand feed him.
I won't leave my husband to face this problem alone, so at some point within the next 6 months maybe, we will take Teddy to his last vet visit. But when should that be? It doesn't seem right to end Teddy's life just because his habits are inconvenient ...
Damn it, this is making me cry too much. I need Teddy emotionally but that can't be the deciding factor. I have to do what's best for him. A friend, long ago, waited a day too long and came home to find her bull terrier had hemorrhaged blood all over the house. She wishes she'd had the courage to let her dog go peacefully.
But how to decide?
This is a long post - am I trying to justify myself or talk myself through this? I don't know. I'm really struggling with this. This post may be confusing but I don't have time right now to read back through it. Must get ready for job.
I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you.
It was found during a routine anal gland expression. He's lived much longer than the vets and canine cancer specialists thought he would. The canine surgeon said surgery would help (at over $6000) but would probably also cause problems such as inability to hold his poop in - poop could spill out at any time.
The consensus was to let him live as long as he was comfortable, then opt for euthanasia.
I've had animal put down before, due to medical problems. An 18-yr-old cat who had a stroke and lost the use of her legs. A Chihuahua who had a tumor in her neck and congestive heart failure, and suddenly couldn't breathe. A 17-yr-old cairn terrier who had kidney failure. It's always heartbreaking, but those were clear cut decisions.
This one is not.
Teddy is still active, although he sleeps a lot. He tries to catch his dog cookie treats. One eye is blind and the other is getting hazy, so his vision isn't the best anymore and doesn't like steps, but he's mostly the same old Teddy. Happy, devoted, eager for food, wanting to be near us around the house. His hunger is constant, due to the cancer using up so much of his energy.
The tumors are very large on his butt - round, stick out about 2 inches and cover side to side. The vet has said the inside growing is probably even larger. At last x-ray it hadn't spread beyond his back area, but it's beginning to cause some problems.
His behavior has changed in a few areas - most problematic is that he seems to have lost the knowledge about going outside to pee and poop. We have a dog door - in the past he was excellent on using it, never had an accident in the house. Now we have daily poop piles and pee stains. The vets told us that at some point he would probably not be able to poop, that the tumors would compress his rectum too much, but the opposite seems to be happening. He's lost control of his ability to hold it until he gets outside.
In the last couple of days he's also forgotten how to eat his kibble from the bowl on the floor. In the morning the dogs (we have two) get a bowl of wet food and a bowl of dry food each, in the same room but separate spaces. He'll eat the wet food but ignore the dry food bowl, but go searching around the other dog for more food. If I show him the dry food bowl he doesn't seem to recognize it - unless I pick it up and tip it toward him, and then he'll eat from it. Or if I hand feed him from the bowl, he'll eat the kibble. He just can't recognize the kibble in the bowl on the floor.
My husband thinks it's time we think about having him put down. He's tired of the constant poop messes and worries that things are going to get worse for Teddy. I am losing my own cancer battle and this is tearing me up emotionally. I'm not ready to let him go - he's my buddy dog! - but don't want him to suffer.
But he doesn't seem to be suffering - that's the dilemma. The situation is just - inconvenient, in my mind. Picking up poop and cleaning up pee stains, yucky yes but ok. I can hand feed him.
I won't leave my husband to face this problem alone, so at some point within the next 6 months maybe, we will take Teddy to his last vet visit. But when should that be? It doesn't seem right to end Teddy's life just because his habits are inconvenient ...
Damn it, this is making me cry too much. I need Teddy emotionally but that can't be the deciding factor. I have to do what's best for him. A friend, long ago, waited a day too long and came home to find her bull terrier had hemorrhaged blood all over the house. She wishes she'd had the courage to let her dog go peacefully.
But how to decide?
This is a long post - am I trying to justify myself or talk myself through this? I don't know. I'm really struggling with this. This post may be confusing but I don't have time right now to read back through it. Must get ready for job.
I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you.
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