i have a collie x who i have had since she was an 8 week old pup, i have had her longer than i have been with my husband, she just turned 10 years old on october 6th.

over the past year or so her front legs have been getting stiff and she limps quite badly sometimes.

she has been a very energetic bouncy dog for most of her life, and really enjoys long walks and running around after her ball.

for several years my mum and dad refused to let me take her when i moved out, they kept her extremely over weight at over 25kg when her ideal weight was closer to 16-17kg. the vet warned us that her legs, especially her front legs as she is pigeon toed, would be badly affected by her weight. so i took her from them and she is now a steady 17kg.

in the past 3 months or so her back legs have started giving her trouble, and she struggles to get up from laying or sitting. she very rarely runs, and if she gets too excited she falls over or her front legs give out and she will yelp and limp to bed.

in the past couple of months she has started to become faecally incontinent. its like she doesnt even realise and it falls out as she lays down or walks around. its a couple of times a week she is doing this now. she has once peed without realising it too, and was walking around not even realising she was doing it. her poop is always firm, so its not too bad for cleaning up but still its not exactly ideal when i have a 5 and 6 year old running around not looking where they are going

she has always been a very clean dog in the house, and she panics when she does realise that she has done it. she will wet herself when she does realise it, im thinking through worry of what she has done. we dont tell her off for it, we put her ouside while we clean up.

im am beginning to think it may be time to consider having her PTS .

its a very difficult decision for us, she has been my baby for over 10 years now. my daughters have known her since birth. she has been in our lives throughout thick and thin and i am dreading it coming to the point she wont be around any more.

i have been looking at incontinent nappies but am not going down that route, i think it would be cruel as they can lead to skin problems, and i dont for 1 second think she would wear one anyway.

shes been on high strength supplements for her joints for months now, and although they did help, shes getting worse slowly but surely as i figure the supplements cant keep up with her deterioration.

the thing is, i know shes uncomfortable some of the time. i know she worries when she has an accident. shes never been a dog to let anyone know when shes in pain (my dad once sat on a chair which he pulled forward, sat there for 10 minutes wondering why she was watching him so closely, and realised he had the chair leg on her tail, with his full weight on it. as soon as he lifted the chair she got up and walked off) she has never yelped/screamed/whined through pain before. now when she runs or plays and her front legs give way she yelps out loud. her back legs fold underneath her when she tries to jump up, and sometimes just when she tries to walk, but she doesnt yelp she just cant stand up without help.

i dont know what to do as i dont want to put her through lots of tests and procedures to find out if it may be something treatable. 1 because she hates the vets,2 because we wouldnt put her through jabs/operations etc at her age and 3 because we simply cannot afford it long term if we could afford it to start with.

ive been reading up a lot and it seems that bowel incontinence it not really treatable. also, theres not much we can do about her legs, shes already on supplements and now it is all 4 instead of just front or back legs so shes walking oddly most of the time, its like her hips twist out as she walks sometimes which she has never done before.

i just keep thinking i would rather have her PTS before she knows real pain, in the hope she already isnt in pain. i would rather go peacefully and without pain than keep living a little longer and have my last days/weeks/months hurting etc. and i feel somewhat i need to look at it from her side.

my mum has a 14 year old jack russell with cancer, growths, arthritis, shes blind and deaf, and has terrible fits regularly which lead to her urinating and deficating over the floor and herself, and because she will run around the living room once a week my mum says she still has quality of life. this little dog can barely walk, cant hop in and out of the door without stumbling, screams if you stroke her anywhere but her back and refuses to go for walks. to me this is animal cruelty and she is keeping her alive for her want of having her around. i dont wish to do this to my Jessie. i want her last days to be as happy as the rest, but my mum keeps on about she wouldnt have her put to sleep until she has no quality of life-for me this is disgusting, to allow an animal to go as far as having zero quality of life what a way to end a lifetime

i will be taking her to the vets for a check up as soon as i can get there. i was just wondering what other peoples thoughts are on it. thanks for reading this essay!

Aww you poor thing, it is awful when you have to start thinking like this but my opinion is death is not the worse thing that can happen to an animal and personally I would talk to your vet about everything you have written here, as it is hard to say over the internet whether there is further help before the end or if this is indeed time to make the decision.

What ever you do decide we are I'm sure all here for you because most of us will have been where you are at some time or other with our animals.

It is a final act of kindness to end suffering IMO.

I agree with molliepops, it is the final thing kindness we can do for them. I've had to make the decision several times myself, we have to do what is best for the animal however upsetting it is for us..


That is exactly how I look at it too - it is what I would want for myself. In addition I want to remember my animals in relatively good health and with some remnants of quality o life, rather than have my last memory being of them in pain and misery. The way my friend put it to me last time I made the decision was "if you leave it another week he may have another two good days, but he will have another five bad days". That said it all for me.

Good luck with your decision, I know how hard it is.

thank you so much molliepops, im thinking i may write down everything so i dont forget anything i want to say. no doubt il be somewhat emotional when it comes to talking properly about it to the vet.

my main worry is if the vet tries to push for us to keep her going longer with tests/drugs etc and we really dont want to put her through it all. im happy to pop a pill in her food etc each day, but i dont agree with jabs and stuff in the hope it keeps them pain free for a few months longer.

before xmas she went downhill rapidly, her back legs would fold as soon as she tried to walk, and she couldnt stand without whining and limping around. i thought it was time then, and i felt so bad seeing her like that that i thought, if it comes down to it i dont want her last days to be like this. after 3 days rest and being forced to lay in her soft bed at all times, and banning her from going upstairs as it seems to make things worse, she got a bit better. we were going to take her to the vets but we couldnt get her in and by the time we could get her there she was looking a bit better.

pets really do cause heartache

my thoughts exactly. i just cant help but remember not so long ago when she was bouncing over 6ft fences, and runnign across the fields. now she potters along behind me when we walk and is left limping after 15-20 mins of slow wandering.

im fighting myself on this though, as she has so many good days and most of the time she will play, albeit very very delicately and she cant run. she seems so full of life still when she is doing well. i think i am being selfish though, and when i see her on a bad day, trying to stand up, whining when she walks, pooping without knowing it and panicking when she does realise, it makes it so much harder to think i could end her hard days, but its also ending her easy days.

i think the earliest i can get to the vets will be saturday, if hubbys not working, if he is then it will be an evening appointment next week. i need to talk it through with them and get their opinions on her health. sometimes though, i feel the vets really push for treatment when the kindest thing would be to let them drift off to sleep. i need to keep my own opinions in mind and not be pushed into things im not happy with.

I never found my vets pushed me into continuing treatment, maybe I was lucky. In fact last time my vet told me his main problem is the opposite - trying to persuade owners that the time has come to have the animal PTS. But I do agree with you, you have to have it settled in your own mind what you want to do, otherwise you can find yourself allowing the vet to take over the decision making process.

Good luck, I will be thinking of you.

The greatest love you can show your animal is make the decision that they dont suffer any more. My experience with my pets is that you just knowwhen that time is, you look in their eyes, they look back and you know.

Hugs.x

my beautiful Jessica. see when shes on a good day she really does look happy. mind you she couldnt run in the snow like she usually does, but she did enjoy going for a walk in it this was when the snow first came down last week or so.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...rubbish188.jpg

this was her last year

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...ingdownwex.jpg

Aw Kelly Jessie is really beautiful and I was in tears reading your post

I think only we as owners can really know our pets and we know in our hearts what is best for them.

I hope you and your vet can take some time to discuss this as honestly and thoroughly as possible, taking all possibilities into consideration and I am sure you will make the right decision.

I am thinking of you. Very difficult time.

If you explain why you need an appointment they should be able to give you an end of surgery slot so you can have a little longer with the vet.

Beautiful pics !

Nothing more to add as we have talked about Jess this afternoon but whenever it happens, you gave her such a loving home and you, your hubby and the girls have loved her and she has loved you.

xxx

I feel for you in your predicament, it is a painful decision to make but you know your dog best and you do what you feel is right for her. I don't want to give you false hope but my vet has a hydro pool for dogs with these types of conditions - it does seem to benefit them. Acupuncture sometimes is beneficial too, however it appears she is beyond these remedies - but ask your vet anyway.

She is one beautiful baby.

we simply cant afford for the different therapies to be honest, but we shall see what the vet says.

thanks for all the kind words.

shes booked in to see the vet at 6pm monday evening

Let us all know how she gets on. Good luck and big hugs.

thank you

Oh Kelly. what a shame. All I will say is you probably "know". My mother-in-law had to make the decision a couple of years ago and she just knew that Sophie's life wasn't waht it was and the vet then agreed.

I took her and was with her with her final moments.

It's not an easy decision but being anaimal lovers does seem to throw us these curve balls on top of everything else in life xx

Your dog is so beautiful. I would not be able to let her go without exploring all the alternatives (personal opinion) . But like others have said loads of people here understand completely what you are going through and will be here for you whatever you decide.

On the positive side, it could be something easily sorted as she's still relatively young for a Collie or rather not a geriatric (I think?) so you never know, all the best .

[quote=Lippincote;37831599]I never found my vets pushed me into continuing treatment, maybe I was lucky. In fact last time my vet told me his main problem is the opposite - trying to persuade owners that the time has come to have the animal PTS.




i had to make that horrible decision yesterday for my cat molly. her heart was failing and had fluid on her lungs. vet said they could do all the tests and probably give her another few months however her quality of life would not be nearly the same as it was, and that i should try to put my feelings aside and think of what was best for molly.

it was the hardest thing i have ever had to do (keep thinking i can hear her padding about ) , but as above the vet was very honest and didn't push us into loads of tests and treatment just to get money from us and for that i really appreciate it.

good luck and let us know how you get on.

xxx

she is beautiful isnt she. believe it or not she isnt actually collie, her mum was a pure bred ginger coloured bull mastiff bitch was hoping for a big dog to take home to horrify mum and ended up with jessie who is slightly shorter in leg than a collie but is very rotund there was a stray collie roaming the area, seen to service stray bitches on street corners so we guessed he must be the dad-hence the collie x as she certainly doesnt look to be bull mastiff x!

we certainly arent going to give up on her if the vet says its worth trying, maybe they can test her without knocking her out etc. i dont want to put her through an aneasthetic at her age, and i dont mind blood tests but i really dont want her being jabbed and poked at too much as she has tender parts along her back and hips. im kind of hoping that it may be a disk slipped or something which is putting pressure on her spinal nerves or something that could lead to incontinence and pain in her legs but could be fixable i have no idea. will find out next week i guess.

thanks for all the kind words

sorry to hear about your cat gizmobabe, im hoping mr dudley our 3 year old cat has many many years ahead of him yet. i hope my vet is as understanding as yours was.

I know how you feel. You fight for your animal until you know its right. I fought for my cat simon in july 09. He was 3 and been ill on and off for almost 2 years with a blocked bladder. The day before we lost him the vet said he hadnt given up on him yet. A friend of mine works at the vets and he explained to them how i felt. I decided that he would have had no quality in life at all. He would have had to stay on a drip all the time. I was the hardest thing i have ever had to do but it was right for him. I lost him in my arms. Money was a part in my descion as well. We didnt have a car and the only pet taxi that would take him could only take the owner so i couldnt go. But if there had been someway i would have managed it somehow. I think we all would do. Thinking of you both. Please let us know how you both are

About 4 months ago we lost our dog, Nanook was 18 and a bit so he had had a good long life. He was older than three of our children.

Looking back though he had struggled with his back legs for over a year, he would walk quite good at times but then struggle for long periods, falling over sometimes and needing help to get back up. He lost a load of weight on his back end.

He had lost his sight and sometimes his No1 and No2's.

The wife used to say as long as he wagged his tail at us and looked like he was in no pain then we put off that final visit to the vets.

One afternoon the wife found him lying down in the garden, he had lost his back end for good.

It was quite a night knowing that we would take him to the vets for the last time.

The vet was understanding and after I commented that we should have done it a few months ago he said that "every pet owner leaves it longer than they should, it's only natural for owners who love their pets".

It is hard and will take sometime to get over it but it is for the best when the time is right.

Your dog is lovely, we have a collie who is 18 months old.

g

Aww, that's so sad, but I think getting her PTS would be the best for her. =[ She is such a beauty

Reading your post really made my eyes fill up. My Snoopy is getting on a bit now and has arthritis and mammary cancer. She still has a good quality of life though, she doesnt sem to be in any pain and still bounces around like a puppy even though she's 12 yrs old. I know what decision to make when the right time comes to give her the best possible ending.

A close friend had a boxer x that she had from being 10 days old and he was 13 years old when he was PTS a few days ago. He had been limping alot and had balance problems, kept walking into things and was incontinent. A few nights ago he had a seizure and was incontinent and vomited. My friend couldn't bear to look at him as she was so scared so her partner went into the bedroom to check on him. He found him on the floor and thought he had died so covered him over with a blanket and phoned the vets. Around 10 minutes later they heard his paws on the wood flooring and found him crawling in the hallway. He hadn't actually died. They took him to the vets that night and he was PTS.

I can't think of anything worse than having to make that decision but I'm sure that when the time is right you will know what to do for the best just by looking into your poochies eyes.

Oh Kelly, I feel for you.
I went through with exactly the same decision with my sixteen year old collie cross last month.

I don't want to give false hope, but several things really helped my dog when his back legs became progressively weaker, and gave him a couple of extra active [and happy] years.

The first was that at least once or twice a week, he had oily fish to help his joints - tinned sardines or pilchards were his favourites.

The second was to give him a raw egg beaten into fresh milk each night. I'm not a vet, only a soppy owner, but this did make a difference.
I actually asked the vet about why my lovely hound looked better after regular bowls of eggy milk - her thoughts were that older dogs are less able to absorb nutrients from their food, so the extra protein and calcium gives a nutritional boost.

Lastly, my old dog had short walks at least twice a day, and this helped keep him supple. Older dogs lose so much muscle tone, but just getting him to move around [even when snoring by the radiator was all he wanted to do!] just kept him that little bit more active.

Hope that helps, but whatever you decide, rest assured there are people here who really do understand, and trust that whatever decision you make, it'll be the right one. You obviously care so much for Jessica.

xxxx

Hi Kelly, I just wanted to say I've been thinking about you and Jess and wondered how things went at the vets? x