Hey all, just looking for some like minded dog people to help me with an opinion on putting an old dog to sleep.
I have a 17 year old English Bull Terrier, that is a very good old age the breed, they usually go 12-14 years. In the past 5 years she has slowly dwindled, but the last year has been particularly tough. We had issues with bladder control and got her medication to stop it. Then the incontinence started and hasnt stopped. The vet can't do anything for it. We tried diapers but they make a bigger mess, it is disgusting.
She has to sleep in a dog crate so that she doesnt soil the house (she will walk around dropping) and she wakes up covered. She has other beds in the house too and will literally let loose in her sleep. She tries to control it but most of the time it is on the floor.
We have a 1 year old that crawls...
She sleeps about 90% of the day and doesn't really connect with the family. I am considering that she may have some mild dementia as she paces around a lot, gets confused easily, and often seems distant. She doesn't connect with us anymore, even if we lay with her she barely seems interested.
I'm not sure she has a wonderful quality of life, but she also isn't dying of anything. I think she probably does feel old age pains but I dont think anything particular is painful, if that makes sense.
She occasionally plays with our youngest dog, who is a complete pest. She is either playing with him or trying to kill him so he leaves her alone.
I spoke to my vet (my brother in-law), my wife and my brother but I still feel a little bad, like we want her gone because she isn't easy. The biggest thing is, she is hard to manage because she is so disconnected from what is going on, and she shits all over the house, multiple times every day. I'm not sure she is really loving life at this point either, I can't imagine she enjoys soiling her bed, and getting covered in shit. She kind of gets around like Eeyore at this point... like she lost her tail and doesnt really care.
We have an appointment for tomorrow and I just can't help but flip-flop on this.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
I have a 17 year old English Bull Terrier, that is a very good old age the breed, they usually go 12-14 years. In the past 5 years she has slowly dwindled, but the last year has been particularly tough. We had issues with bladder control and got her medication to stop it. Then the incontinence started and hasnt stopped. The vet can't do anything for it. We tried diapers but they make a bigger mess, it is disgusting.
She has to sleep in a dog crate so that she doesnt soil the house (she will walk around dropping) and she wakes up covered. She has other beds in the house too and will literally let loose in her sleep. She tries to control it but most of the time it is on the floor.
We have a 1 year old that crawls...
She sleeps about 90% of the day and doesn't really connect with the family. I am considering that she may have some mild dementia as she paces around a lot, gets confused easily, and often seems distant. She doesn't connect with us anymore, even if we lay with her she barely seems interested.
I'm not sure she has a wonderful quality of life, but she also isn't dying of anything. I think she probably does feel old age pains but I dont think anything particular is painful, if that makes sense.
She occasionally plays with our youngest dog, who is a complete pest. She is either playing with him or trying to kill him so he leaves her alone.
I spoke to my vet (my brother in-law), my wife and my brother but I still feel a little bad, like we want her gone because she isn't easy. The biggest thing is, she is hard to manage because she is so disconnected from what is going on, and she shits all over the house, multiple times every day. I'm not sure she is really loving life at this point either, I can't imagine she enjoys soiling her bed, and getting covered in shit. She kind of gets around like Eeyore at this point... like she lost her tail and doesnt really care.
We have an appointment for tomorrow and I just can't help but flip-flop on this.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.