sick old dog

[h90]

We have an old soi dog, since years.

Actually he has only 3 legs.....Now he is getting really really old. And I think he has something like cancer and don't eat much.

Can hardly walk a few meters and sometimes fall (3 legs).

So hard for him to pee but he does it only 3 times per day.

Rest of the time he is sleeping or sitting or in the night sometimes singing with the other dogs (sound is very bad now, very different than a year ago, but he enjoys it). Now already very skinny and look bad.

But he seems to be happy and without pain. So I think nothing to do at the moment....no pain and happy=no problem. And happy when he gets some attention or a favorite food (even he don't eat much).

What do I do if that changes?

He is upstairs, outside and no way I could carry him down without hurting him or scare him to death (he is scared of the stares of being lifted + he is pretty big, a soi dog but unusual large one, maybe something big mixed inside).

If he get pains, I guess there is nothing like morphine? Just because the government would be paranoid for human abuse. Or let a vet come to kill him? If can do without that I would prefer it and the natural date can't be long away. And my experiences with Thai vets aren't that good.

Any recommendations?

[PMK]

If he later seems to be in pain: There are pain killers for dogs, not morphine of course. A vet will probably give you some without bringing the dog in. Ask around, and explain it's difficult/impossible to bring him in. Some vets will make a house call without charging too much especially if they are close. Try the smaller, 1-2 vet shops not a big animal hospital.

You could also try getting a vet to come around right now - just to get a diagnosis, even without blood tests. An experienced vet might be able to make a pretty good guess what is going just with an examination. If he has just started having problems peeing he could just have a urinary tract infection which inexpensive antibiotics would clear up. If you can collect some of the pee, then bring it in yourself for testing. That is what the vet would ask you to do anyway.

If/when the dog is clearly dying: Few vets will put an animal down (kill) but some will. I've found they sometimes charge more than major surgery to do it!

This is just personally what I would do and have done. Death is natural. From what you've said here, I would not try to prolong his life with expensive and painful treatments. But, please, I'm not a vet and have only a few sentences of yours to go by, and it's not necessarily the right thing, or the wrong thing - it's just what I would do. Anyway, if a dog is dying, and does not seem to be in serious pain, I would just make it as comfortable as possible and let him pass on (die).

[h90]

If he later seems to be in pain: There are pain killers for dogs, not morphine of course. A vet will probably give you some without bringing the dog in. Ask around, and explain it's difficult/impossible to bring him in. Some vets will make a house call without charging too much especially if they are close. Try the smaller, 1-2 vet shops not a big animal hospital.

You could also try getting a vet to come around right now - just to get a diagnosis, even without blood tests. An experienced vet might be able to make a pretty good guess what is going just with an examination. If he has just started having problems peeing he could just have a urinary tract infection which inexpensive antibiotics would clear up. If you can collect some of the pee, then bring it in yourself for testing. That is what the vet would ask you to do anyway.

If/when the dog is clearly dying: Few vets will put an animal down (kill) but some will. I've found they sometimes charge more than major surgery to do it!

This is just personally what I would do and have done. Death is natural. From what you've said here, I would not try to prolong his life with expensive and painful treatments. But, please, I'm not a vet and have only a few sentences of yours to go by, and it's not necessarily the right thing, or the wrong thing - it's just what I would do. Anyway, if a dog is dying, and does not seem to be in serious pain, I would just make it as comfortable as possible and let him pass on (die).

Just one thing I didn't explain clear.

He doesn't has problems with the act of peeing. He (3 legs) has the problem to walk to his pee place and keep standing while peeing. That is a bit of a sad to watch struggle.

Thanks for your ideas!

Edited January 28, 2014 by h90

[gerry123]

please do your dog and yourself a big favor its called go to the vet and have a long peaceful sleep (only the dog i mean)

[Mobi]

please do your dog and yourself a big favor its called go to the vet and have a long peaceful sleep (only the dog i mean)

As had already been posted, most vets WILL NOT put a dog to sleep. It is against their Buddhist beliefs.

[Sealbash]

please do your dog and yourself a big favor its called go to the vet and have a long peaceful sleep (only the dog i mean)

As had already been posted, most vets WILL NOT put a dog to sleep. It is against their Buddhist beliefs.

From experience, I would beg to differ. Thai vets are no different than anyone else, and yes, they will end an animal's suffering.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[96tehtarp]

I sympathise with you as dogs sometimes really are a man's best friend. At least they sure do think so.

My dog that we raised from a puppy died last year of cancer. It was quite painful for the pooch and for me to watch.

My vets wouldn't give me anything to put her down. My wife begged me to do it myself.

You don't mention how old your dog is, maybe you don't know. A vet can determine the dog's age in about one minute. Once you know its age you can better make a decision on putting it down. If he's not really too old the vet can recommend some very cheap meds that will perk him up so he can stand and pee pain free and start wagging his tail again for a few months or year or two.

Eventually after he does finally die you will feel better that you did try something. You'll probably regret it later if you do nothing.

If you do decide to put him down, and the vet won't help you can ask around. Needles are easily available in pharmacies and there are plenty of things that will cause him to die peacefully in his sleep.

If you can't find a suitable vet try talking to a few pharmacists/chemists.

Good luck with your pooch.

[h90]

I sympathise with you as dogs sometimes really are a man's best friend. At least they sure do think so.

My dog that we raised from a puppy died last year of cancer. It was quite painful for the pooch and for me to watch.

My vets wouldn't give me anything to put her down. My wife begged me to do it myself.

You don't mention how old your dog is, maybe you don't know. A vet can determine the dog's age in about one minute. Once you know its age you can better make a decision on putting it down. If he's not really too old the vet can recommend some very cheap meds that will perk him up so he can stand and pee pain free and start wagging his tail again for a few months or year or two.

Eventually after he does finally die you will feel better that you did try something. You'll probably regret it later if you do nothing.

If you do decide to put him down, and the vet won't help you can ask around. Needles are easily available in pharmacies and there are plenty of things that will cause him to die peacefully in his sleep.

If you can't find a suitable vet try talking to a few pharmacists/chemists.

Good luck with your pooch.

No idea how old he is, but we got him approx. 5 years ago and then he was already considered an old dog, by people who know more than I do.

Few month is maximum, I think he has massive cancer. he has big bulge (and no it is not in the skin it is below) in volume of approx 1-1.5 liter and a second one as well......

He doesn't eat enough....get more skinny.....But yesterday, he got some Starbucks Pie we didn't like, and saw him truly happy and enjoying it. (That dog never liked dog food much, but almost every peoples food). So life surely has value for him.

I think they give steroids (same thing as bodybuilder steroids) for this....

[PMK]

To euthanize the dog, if you have a separate, sealed room, like a storage room, or where you can close all the windows and doors, this is what I would try. I've never done so, but there are references to it on the 'net, and given that probably 1000's of people die accidentally ever year this way never sensing what is going on,I see no reason it shouldn't be painless and effective, and much less stress than an amateur trying to give an intravenous injection even if they got the drug and dosage right. Actually the stress on the animal should be zero

Carbon monoxide, which is given off from charcoal burners is deadly, odourless, and if the charcoal has burnt down a bit, should not give off much in the way of smoke. Make the animal comfortable, even give a tranquilizer or painkiller from the vet, put the now smokeless but burning charcoal burner in the room. Close the door. There is still the option of not going through with it if the animal then clearly indicates they are being highly stressed.

If the day comes with one my guys (maybe even myself for that matter) needs some help to pass on, that is what I plan to do.

[96tehtarp]

Few month is maximum, I think he has massive cancer. he has big bulge (and no it is not in the skin it is below) in volume of approx 1-1.5 liter and a second one as well......

That's the same experience we had with our dog. A great massive hanging tumour the size of a big grapefruit.

Be prepared when the time is right to put him down. Talk to some chemists or pharmacists. Until then it sounds like there is still some happy life left in him.

Good luck.

[96tehtarp]

To euthanize the dog, if you have a separate, sealed room, like a storage room, or where you can close all the windows and doors, this is what I would try. I've never done so, but there are references to it on the 'net, and given that probably 1000's of people die accidentally ever year this way never sensing what is going on,I see no reason it shouldn't be painless and effective, and much less stress than an amateur trying to give an intravenous injection even if they got the drug and dosage right. Actually the stress on the animal should be zero

Carbon monoxide, which is given off from charcoal burners is deadly, odourless, and if the charcoal has burnt down a bit, should not give off much in the way of smoke. Make the animal comfortable, even give a tranquilizer or painkiller from the vet, put the now smokeless but burning charcoal burner in the room. Close the door. There is still the option of not going through with it if the animal then clearly indicates they are being highly stressed.

If the day comes with one my guys (maybe even myself for that matter) needs some help to pass on, that is what I plan to do.

This solution uses poison gas. The carbon monoxide gas will still be in the room when the OP enters the room afterwards. Accidental CO poisoning is quite common. PMK has a good idea, however it also carries a fire risk. There must be less risky methods.

[h90]

Few month is maximum, I think he has massive cancer. he has big bulge (and no it is not in the skin it is below) in volume of approx 1-1.5 liter and a second one as well......

That's the same experience we had with our dog. A great massive hanging tumour the size of a big grapefruit.

Be prepared when the time is right to put him down. Talk to some chemists or pharmacists. Until then it sounds like there is still some happy life left in him.

Good luck.

size way bigger than big grapefruit already.....but no pain...

[PMK]

To euthanize the dog, if you have a separate, sealed room, like a storage room, or where you can close all the windows and doors, this is what I would try. I've never done so, but there are references to it on the 'net, and given that probably 1000's of people die accidentally ever year this way never sensing what is going on,I see no reason it shouldn't be painless and effective, and much less stress than an amateur trying to give an intravenous injection even if they got the drug and dosage right. Actually the stress on the animal should be zero

Carbon monoxide, which is given off from charcoal burners is deadly, odourless, and if the charcoal has burnt down a bit, should not give off much in the way of smoke. Make the animal comfortable, even give a tranquilizer or painkiller from the vet, put the now smokeless but burning charcoal burner in the room. Close the door. There is still the option of not going through with it if the animal then clearly indicates they are being highly stressed.

If the day comes with one my guys (maybe even myself for that matter) needs some help to pass on, that is what I plan to do.

This solution uses poison gas. The carbon monoxide gas will still be in the room when the OP enters the room afterwards. Accidental CO poisoning is quite common. PMK has a good idea, however it also carries a fire risk. There must be less risky methods.

I didn't think it was necessary to spell it out, but in hindsight, and prompted by your comment, probably I should have. When finished wear a mask - one with granular carbon inside instead of a simple surgical one - they are easy to find - most pharmacies have them, and reducing the exposure of fumes to any living creature particularly yourself to an absolute minimum, quickly open all the doors and windows, air out the room and put the charcoal burner outside.

About less risky methods, there are plans available on the 'net for building a chamber to do this which would not be practical for this OP. Having twice had a vet (different ones) put down a dog - vets that up to that point were competent - it was a very stressful experience for the dogs. Intravenous injections are usually difficult at the best of times. I think this is the better way.

Edited January 30, 2014 by PMK