Comments: When to say good-bye to your dog

“may your soul rest in peace my dear ones Dusky,Flurry,Zoro,Kinder,the bliss we felt with you will remain in our heart till our last day, wish God could grant my only wish to get you four back to our life.” — Anupriya, Nov 20 2009

“may your soul rest in peace my dear ones Dusky,Flurry,Zoro,Kinder,the bliss we felt with you will remain in our heart till our last day, wish God could grant my only wish to get you three back to our life.” — Anupriya, Nov 20 2009

“I have read your article, and the postings, but it is still a very hard decision. One vet told me to consider quality of life, while the other said that it was not time until they stopped eating, stopped wagging their tail, or could no longer go to the bathroom. I don't think our 13 year old beagle with terminal cancer will ever quit eating or wagging. But she can no longer do anything without suffering. She eats when I change her food, and I now put her pain pills in raw venison meatballs. She has been suffering since Labor Day, but after the vet told me not to bring her until she quit eating or wagging. Well, now she is again incontinent like before her bladder surgery and this time she has blood in it and today it was fresh blood drips. I am going to call again in the morning. She will probably "smile" at them with a tail wag, and they will want to treat for bladder infection, although she has bladder cancer which has spread all through her. I will be so glad when she is no longer suffering and I don't have to watch her and think about this all the time.” — Teresa, Nov 15 2009

“OUR 10 YEAR OLD BORDER COLLIE TORE HER CRUCIATE AND HAD SURGERY IN APRIL. IT TOOK UNTIL SEPTEMBER WHERE SHE WAS WALKING WELL AGAIN. IN THE MEANTIME WE POSTED HER FOR SURGERY NEXT WEEK BECAUSE THE VET SAID SHE HAD TO ROTTEN TEETH THAT HAD TO BE REMOVED. DOING THE PRELIMINARY BLOOD WORK THEY FOUND THAT SHE HAD AN ABNORMAL BLOOD COUNT THAT HAD TO BE FURTHER INVESTIGATED. YESTERDAY WE HAD TO RUSH HER OFF TO THE VET AGAIN BECAUSE SHE TORE THE CRUCIATE IN THE OTHER LEG. IT CAN ONLY BE FIXED SURGICALLY. SHE IS ON PAIN KILLERS NOW BUT WE ARE THINKING THAT IT MAY BE BEST TO PUT HER DOWN....WHICH IS INCREDEBLY HEART BREAKING. WE DON'T WANT TO SEE HER SUFFER ANYMORE. ITS ALSO THE COST FACTOR TOO. JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO” — PATTY, Nov 05 2009

“my beloved German Shepard was diagnosed with bone cancer 2 months ago he has been fine till yesterday when he couldnt get outside without falling as his back legs have now decided they dont want to move he is still alert and barks at the noises outside and eats drinks but I know I will have to decide to let him go to his brother in Heaven who died last year but I am so torn and I know my husband would not want to let him go I wish someone could wave the magic wand and let us all have our lost pets be with us but I know that cant happen we do have to say goodbye but when is the hardest decision we have to make .God bless you all who has had to do that
Ann” — Ann, Nov 02 2009

“I got my dog Duchess( Lab/ Shepherd mix) when she was just a few months old from the dog pound in my home town. She was so small, that she made the six hour trip home in the sleeve of my coat. She is now 11 going on 12 years old and has been suffering from a rapidly growing tumor on her upper jaw since April of this year. I have been to two different Vets., a Veterinary specialist, and had a consult from the oncology team at a local veterinary college. With in the last two weeks she has lost a significant amount weight, she is lethargic, and hasn't had much of an appetite. I have been crying all day trying to figure out if we should"put her to sleep". After reading many articles (especially this one) and a lot of these comments, I think my decision is yes. I feel so guilty, but I know she doesn't deserve to suffer any more. I pray that she knows how much I love her and what a wonderful friend she has been to me. Thank you for making this information available, it has truly been helpful...Alaina,” — Alaina, Oct 26 2009

“We just had to put down our 9 year old great dane, his name was shy and he was not shy at all, everyone who met him just fell in love with him, whenever we would walk him people would love to come up and pet him and he absolutely loved the attention, we would have people stop their cars when we walked to get out and pet him he had such a presence about him it was unbelieveable. I got him when he was about 3 1/2 when a friend had to either give him away or take him to a kennel, well when I meet him there was no way that I was letting him go to a kennel, so we took him and it was the best decision I could of ever made. He was by far the best dog that I ever had, his attitude was so wonderful and he was such a "mamas boy" as my family would say. He gave us so much love and always loved to be with us all the time and going for rides was his all time favorite thing to do and laying in the sun was his second favorite, but when he stopped eating and just wanted to sleep and had a hard time moving around I started to get a little nervous, then he tried to bark and when he did it was such a deep bark and it seemed so painful for him and then he starting vomiting, so we took him to the vet and he had lost 18 pounds and when they took the x-ray the vet told us that he had stomach cancer and it had metastisized, well of course we were devastated, so we brought him home so we could all spend some time with him to say our goodbyes and give him extra love and attention if that was even possible. Well we made the decision to put him down and it was the worst feeling I have ever had in my life, we stayed with him in the room and I have never cried so hard in my life when it happened and when we went home it was just not the same and I so wanted him back but knew that we had made the right decision because he was suffering and he did not deserve that. And as I sit here crying again I know he is in a better place and not in pain anymore, but I will forever keep him in my heart and my memories” — Laurie, Oct 23 2009

“Our beloved Jasmine (a doby mix) was diagnosed with bone cancer on Thursday last week. We spent so much time chasing other possibilities to her troubles that by the time we found out she was at the point she wasn't putting any weight on her leg. It has gone so fast since last week. We are now on 8 Tramdyl tablets a day which is the max. She can't sit anymore and it hurts when she lays down. I know she eats now because I want her to. But she still loves to get out and go for a walk with me (using only three legs now). But I know our time together is coming to an end and I have no idea how to say goodbye to my best friend of 10 years. She has climbed 3 14,000 foot mountains, has been many canoing, she was in our wedding and has been the fundamental piece of so many amazing memories. I can't imagine being without her, but I know our time is coming to an end. Thank you for your article ” — Elizabeth, Sep 30 2009

“I'm sitting here weeping while reading all your comments. The day has come to make a decision to say "aloha" to my 15 yrs old Min. Schnauzer, "Koa". 15 years ago my husband brought him home. He was the runt of the litter and someone just returned him. I guess he was meant to be w/ us. He was full of energy and the best home alarm. He protected us from would be thief , he loved to chase squirrels, fetch ball and play w/ our children. He was my comfort while my husband was deployed. He was hit by a car when he was about 7 yrs. old. We thought he was not going to make it then but he gave us 8 more years of happiness and joy. About a year ago we were told by our vet that he had bad kidney.Since then he lost his sight and hearing. I think he was senile. He would get stuck in a corner and can't get out. He would bump into stuff. He still likes the outdoors. He would sometimes just stand in one place and doesn't move. Or he would just go around circle. He has his good days and bad days where he would just sleep all day. He still ate okay but he lost alot of weight. Recent, he became so weak that he could barely keep himself up while pooping. I was hoping he would go peacefully at home but I guess that was selfish of me. I know this is the right thing to do. He will always be in our memory. Naomi...” — Naomi, Sep 11 2009