I'm not sure what to do - My old dog is suffering .

[Bill Poster]

 

So I have an old dog ( Bitch ) that I rescued about 15 years ago as an abandoned puppy , she has grown up to be a loving and loyal family member that we all care deeply about . Her name is Poo . The problem is that several months ago Poo started to continually bark at night time along with increased panting, for no apparent reason . At first I checked to see if she had any physical injuries or skin problems, but I could find nothing wrong in any of those areas . Poo's constant night time barking and panting then slowly progressed to include intermittent barking throughout the day time , again for no apparent reason . Over the following weeks along with the constant barking issue , she seemed to have lost her appetite. I changed her diet , but it seemed not to help .

 

Poo's night time constant barking started to take its toll on myself and other family members and being able to get a good nights sleep started to become very difficult to near impossible. So I took Poo to our local village vet and outlined Poo's behavior .  After the vet physically examined Poo , the vet's diagnosis was the Poo could be suffering from a combination of Two possible issues that can effect a senior dog . The first possible issue was Poo was suffering from arthritis and the second possible issue could be dog dementia .

 

The local vet recommended that a blood test be done on Poo , along with an Xray , but the local vet did not have the facility to carry out those Two recommended procedures . So the next port of call was to take Poo to a city vets who had the facility to carry out those Two recommended procedures , the outcome was confirmed that indeed Poo was suffering from dog dementia and arthritis.
 

The city vet prescribed the following drugs

 

1. Rimadyl ( to manage any pain ) 

2. Trazadone ( to reduce anxiety ) 

 

The city vet did mention a monthly injection that could help with pain management called '' Librela '' at 3,500 Baht per injection. 

 

The city vet commented that there is no cure for dog dementia and only some symptoms can be treated to improve the dog's quality of life and also there is no cure for dog arthritis only pain management with medication .

 

Poo was then given the prescribed drugs on a daily basis and at first her continuous night time barking began to slowly subside , to a point where myself and other family members could finally sleep for a few hours a night. 

 

 

Over the following months Poo's night time continuous barking slowly began to again increase in intensity and also more episodes of random barking started to occur throughout the daytime. So even with Poo now being given the medication as prescribed by the city vet , her continuous night time and day time barking was increasing , and of course myself and my family's sleep was again getting to the point where it was being continually interrupted .The other thing that became apparent was that Poo was now limping more and more , due to the arthritis and her appetite had not returned.

 

Thankfully where we live there are no nearby neighbor's , who would no doubt not be too happy hearing Poo's continuous barking.

 

 

As it seemed the prescribed medication from the city vet was now not having any apparent positive effect , I again talked to the city vet , outlining Poo's current symptoms and how the incessant night time barking had returned. The city vet suggested trying Three other options .

 

1. The drug Fluoxetine ( sold under the brand name Prozac )

2. CBD cannabis oil ( may help dogs with conditions like anxiety and chronic pain ).

3. Gabapentin ( to treat anxiety and nerve pain ) 

 

So along with the original vet prescribed medication , Poo was now also being given items 1 / 2 / 3.

 

Sadly all the combined medication had no real positive effect on Poo , and the same continuous night time barking and panting has over time only slowly increased , to a point where Poo's health is now rapidly deteriorating and we as a family are feeling helpless that Poo our loving loyal family member is now obviously suffering .

 

I took to the internet and it became obvious that indeed Poo's behavior was as a result of arthritis and dog dementia , and the prognosis was that its only a matter of time before the dog's health  deteriorates to a point where to end the dogs suffering its euthanized.

 

So I talked to the city vet about Poo's current situation and the possibility of Poo being euthanized. to end her obvious suffering . The city vet's view was not very encouraging and it seemed that the vet's idea was just to let Poo pass away naturally .

 

 

I'm just wondering if any one has gone through a similar experience with their dog , or if any one has any thoughts or suggestions .

 

We as a family are heartbroken to see our loving and loyal family member Poo suffering in such a terrible way .

 

.

 

 

 

[Lacessit]

Many Thai vets subscribe to the Buddhist concept taking life is a sin. The city vet is obviously one of them.

 

I had a similar situation with our dog DorHu, who was suffering terribly from cancer. I wanted him euthanased, my GF did not because of her beliefs.

 

You need to find a private vet who is willing to euthanase your dog. Some beliefs result in unnecessary suffering.

[fredwiggy]

I immediately thought she was in pain, as the barking came on all of a sudden. Is the dog an inside or outside dog? If outside, her in pain and being all alone would have her do this, just as a person needs company when in pain. She's an old dog, and near her time anyway. No need to have her suffer, no matter what the vet says, because it's cruel. I had a 20 year old dog that got to be where she could barely walk, so we put her down, and 20 years is part of the family for sure, as is 15, so I understand. Too many medications will have side effects which would make her almost lethargic, so that doesn't work, as it doesn't with humans also. She's in pain constantly so the only recourse is letting her go .

[PBob]

You may have to contact a lot of vets to find one that will euthanise a pet.

One of our cats developed a chronic kidney problem and was on daily IV that just kept her alive.

After a month the vet agreed to preparing the required drugs that I administered at home via the IV.

[JimTripper]

5 hours ago, Bill Poster said:

So I have an old dog ( Bitch ) that I rescued about 15 years ago as an abandoned puppy , she has grown up to be a loving and loyal family member that we all care deeply about . Her name is Poo . The problem is that several months ago Poo started to continually bark at night time along with increased panting, for no apparent reason . At first I checked to see if she had any physical injuries or skin problems, but I could find nothing wrong in any of those areas . Poo's constant night time barking and panting then slowly progressed to include intermittent barking throughout the day time , again for no apparent reason . Over the following weeks along with the constant barking issue , she seemed to have lost her appetite. I changed her diet , but it seemed not to help .

 

Poo's night time constant barking started to take its toll on myself and other family members and being able to get a good nights sleep started to become very difficult to near impossible. So I took Poo to our local village vet and outlined Poo's behavior .  After the vet physically examined Poo , the vet's diagnosis was the Poo could be suffering from a combination of Two possible issues that can effect a senior dog . The first possible issue was Poo was suffering from arthritis and the second possible issue could be dog dementia .

 

The local vet recommended that a blood test be done on Poo , along with an Xray , but the local vet did not have the facility to carry out those Two recommended procedures . So the next port of call was to take Poo to a city vets who had the facility to carry out those Two recommended procedures , the outcome was confirmed that indeed Poo was suffering from dog dementia and arthritis.
 

The city vet prescribed the following drugs

 

1. Rimadyl ( to manage any pain ) 

2. Trazadone ( to reduce anxiety ) 

 

The city vet did mention a monthly injection that could help with pain management called '' Librela '' at 3,500 Baht per injection. 

 

The city vet commented that there is no cure for dog dementia and only some symptoms can be treated to improve the dog's quality of life and also there is no cure for dog arthritis only pain management with medication .

 

Poo was then given the prescribed drugs on a daily basis and at first her continuous night time barking began to slowly subside , to a point where myself and other family members could finally sleep for a few hours a night. 

 

Over the following months Poo's night time continuous barking slowly began to again increase in intensity and also more episodes of random barking started to occur throughout the daytime. So even with Poo now being given the medication as prescribed by the city vet , her continuous night time and day time barking was increasing , and of course myself and my family's sleep was again getting to the point where it was being continually interrupted .The other thing that became apparent was that Poo was now limping more and more , due to the arthritis and her appetite had not returned.

 

Thankfully where we live there are no nearby neighbor's , who would no doubt not be too happy hearing Poo's continuous barking.

 

As it seemed the prescribed medication from the city vet was now not having any apparent positive effect , I again talked to the city vet , outlining Poo's current symptoms and how the incessant night time barking had returned. The city vet suggested trying Three other options .

 

1. The drug Fluoxetine ( sold under the brand name Prozac )

2. CBD cannabis oil ( may help dogs with conditions like anxiety and chronic pain ).

3. Gabapentin ( to treat anxiety and nerve pain ) 

 

So along with the original vet prescribed medication , Poo was now also being given items 1 / 2 / 3.

 

Sadly all the combined medication had no real positive effect on Poo , and the same continuous night time barking and panting has over time only slowly increased , to a point where Poo's health is now rapidly deteriorating and we as a family are feeling helpless that Poo our loving loyal family member is now obviously suffering .

 

I took to the internet and it became obvious that indeed Poo's behavior was as a result of arthritis and dog dementia , and the prognosis was that its only a matter of time before the dog's health  deteriorates to a point where to end the dogs suffering its euthanized.

 

So I talked to the city vet about Poo's current situation and the possibility of Poo being euthanized. to end her obvious suffering . The city vet's view was not very encouraging and it seemed that the vet's idea was just to let Poo pass away naturally .

 

I'm just wondering if any one has gone through a similar experience with their dog , or if any one has any thoughts or suggestions .

 

We as a family are heartbroken to see our loving and loyal family member Poo suffering in such a terrible way .

I found an injured bird on the street once and brought it into a vet to be "put to sleep" in which I would pay the bill. There was no reasonable chance of recovery.

 

Unfortunately, they would not do it. Apparently the Buddhist thing is that they think it's suffering is preferable to euthanasia. I'm not sure the bird would agree.

 

I ended up bringing the bird to the local temple where they accept injured animals and learn what's best from the lesson presented!

Edited 2 hours ago by JimTripper

[RamblingOn]

5 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Many Thai vets subscribe to the Buddhist concept taking life is a sin. The city vet is obviously one of them.

 

I had a similar situation with our dog DorHu, who was suffering terribly from cancer. I wanted him euthanased, my GF did not because of her beliefs.

 

You need to find a private vet who is willing to euthanase your dog. Some beliefs result in unnecessary suffering.

True, I was in the same situation and wish that I had euthanized him, still feel sorry for him.

[ronster]

I had 2 old dogs 14 & 15 year old that were put to sleep at the vets due to similar problems.

The oldest started to yelp at night but apart from some form of dementia it seemed to be as he was old and his vision was poor he would feel lonely despite having the other dog near him. He would yelp at night for a hour or so before passing out asleep or if I went and sat outside with him for a while. In daytime he was fine as people were around him all day . He got to the stage he couldn't stand or walk even if helped and would go to toilet where he lay without realising. We decided after 3 days of not moving that it was time to put him to sleep as it was cruel keeping him like that .

The other dog was a husky who was very skinny but could walk around a bit to go to the toilet when he was helped up and as that started to fail at night he would yelp also when he needed to go to the toilet so we would go out and help him stand etc. Sometimes he would surprise us by suddenly moving himself, but then he would run out of energy in the garden and he would yelp for us to come rescue him from a bush etc. He would eat his food no problem and mostly slept but his desire to live was far beyond his body state . After a few months of this he started sleeping more and more and eating less so we took him to the vet as we were sure he was on his way out . The vet said he would have probably been dead in a few days from looking at him , but he was basically asleep when they put him down . Our Pomeranian is about 12 years old and the vet says he has signs of slight dementia also but most of the time he is perfectly fine at the moment.

One thing we used to get sleep the odd night was the travel tablets vets give to transport dogs in cars etc. We would give the husky half of one around 10pm and it helped us but also himas he had a deep sleep so would have energy the next day . We only done this around 2 times a week though unless he seemed to be sleeping good without it .

[andyman57]

I had an old dog for years but I'm divorced now

[harryviking]

Seems to be hard for people to have mercy on an old suffering animal by lethal injection but having no problem killing anyone insulting themselves....

[OneZero]

7 Essential End-of-Life Choices Every Pet Owner Should Know (barkandwhiskers.com)

How do you know when it's time to say goodbye? As pets get older, the human-animal bond gets stronger, so it only becomes more difficult to make that final decision. This seven-point scale can help you know when it's time to stop asking your pet to bear the burden of living and unbridle his body.

[kingstonkid]

The other issue especially in the city is what do you do with the pet after.   One other choice might be university vet school.  They are always looking for research and training 

 

They might look after everything at a cheaper and easier deay

[chickenslegs]

7 hours ago, Bill Poster said:

I'm just wondering if any one has gone through a similar experience with their dog , or if any one has any thoughts or suggestions .

 

We as a family are heartbroken to see our loving and loyal family member Poo suffering in such a terrible way .

It's a very sad situation, but I think that euthanasia is your only reasonable option.

From remarks here, it seems that most vets won't do it, but some posters have found vets who are willing.

Perhaps if you give your location someone might be able to recommend a sympathetic vet.

[Thingamabob]

Very sorry for you, your family. and for Poo. We have always had several dogs. cats and other animals at our place in Rayong, and I'm only too aware of the sadness you are feeling. Our local vet, a lady, would likely be able/willing to help. but I'm not sure where you are based.