Old and sick dog - fight or give up?

I'm really sad to hear that...
But I think that if you can afford it you should treat him.. If not try to find family that can..
If you won't be able to do that too.. then I think the best thing will be is to end his suffering.

When we bought our dog, a Miniature Pinscher we paid $600 for him. One week after we brought him home, he started losing weight and his stomach bloated so bad he looked like a balloon.

We took him to the vet, who said, after many weeks of testing and watching my dog wither away to nothing, she could not find a problem and referred us to the vet college for further testing.

I carried him around all day in my pocket, to keep him warm, for weeks as he was so small and cold all the time.

At the college, after $500 worth of tests, they found he had a rare problem with his intestines processing proteins. We had 2 choices. Put him down or leave him at college for treatment and then put him on a special diet. The treaments would cost over $1000 for 2 days.

We did not have that kind of money, but I had just spent weeks bonding closely and carrying this pup around. I could not put him down. So, we borrowed the money and went ahead with his treatment.

It was weeks before he was able to walk on his own and become a more normal dog.

Well, he still is very small, as the Dr. said he would not grow to normal size, BUT, he is doing great. He will always need his special food, which is expensive but, we know we made the right choice.:)

Thats a very hard decision to make. I've been through it recently with a 16 year old dog that I had to put down because his hind quarters went out on him. The surgery was going to cost too much and he would have had to suffer too long over it ... it wasn't worth him going through all of that even though I thought of him as my kid.

I also have a 16 1/2 year old dog that has had to have costly medical attention for the past 5 years and she will need her medication for the rest of her life. The difference between her and the other dog I had was that this one is not suffering.

As I have recently learned it is best for us to do what is best for our pets but we also have to do what is best for our pocketbook. It's something that we need to weigh out and follow our logic and not something that we should consider lightly.

If an animal is in pain and they are suffering it is best to put the animal down for it's own good. But if the animal is not suffering or in any kind of pain the question is could you deal with everything that you and your pet will go through for your pet to survive?

Just to give a pet a 'death kiss' is wrong in my way of thinking but my hubby thinks that I should put my dog down because he doesn't want to deal with her. I think that it is selfish of him and definately not the right reason to put the dog down.

Just follow your heart. Thats the advice someone else gave to me.

It would really depend on how much it was...
Cause i can't be going broke completely and in debt trying to save him. I love my dog to death and think of him as a child. So well I guess then I take that back, I'd probably do everything I could do to try and save him. No matter the cost.

My dogs are just like my kids. I think if something happened to them I would do whatever I had to, despite the cost.

fight

I would have to say that it depends on what kind of treatment you are taking about, and what quality of life would your dog have after the procedure? if it is something like a broken leg or something that is costly but needs to be done, then yes. Or anything else that he can recover from. But if not, then I would say, think of him and not yourself, and put him down. That is the greatest gift sometimes for your dog is to just make the pain stop. It is hard for you, but it is putting them first.

You didn't mention what the health problems are and how old the dog is. I think you also need to take those things into consideration.

If it's an older dog, it he still going to have a good quality of life or is he just going to be going on because you prolonged his end with the treatment? Are you wanting to do the treatment to help him, or just to put off the pain you will feel when you lose him?

Don't mean to sound cruel or uncaring - I have held various animals in my arms as they took their last breath - and have also had to have animals put down - been right there with them til they drew their last breath then too.:(

Both hurts badly - so look inside yourself and then do what is right for your PET - not what will make YOU feel better. Godspeed on whatever you decide to do either way.

sad to hear from you i really love dogs and as long as your dog doesnt give up dont give up either as long as can you can afford go for it.

My mom doesntn believe in putting a dog down, all our dogs all went naturally, they know when it their time.