Paul wrote:
Thanks all for your comments..
Things have moved on slightly now and I think having visited the vet
that today Sandy will go to sleep for the last time. Her quality of life
is not what it was, she does not go out for walks, she doesn't play ball
and she is not interested in cuddles, everything she does seems such an
effort.
She finds it difficult to get up, in particular her back legs are week
to the point where I have seen her sat in her own mess as she was unable
to get up to go.
I hear her whimper at times and know it is either through pain distress
It is still very difficult, she seems to enjoy her food but finds it
difficult to eat... I hope I am doing the right thing but something
inside me this time is saying "let her go"
I feel this is going to be the worst day of my life.
Paul
"Shadow Walker" wrote in message
...
Quality of life is when what you used to enjoy is no longer an option.
Long walks to no walks , playing ball to no interest, cuddling to
aloofness. Basically hurts too much to do what used to be fun. If your
dog did these things and slowly stopped with age than that's normal.
As for the potty in the house you may need to let her out more often
and there is always the puppy diapers, they help some. You can clip
her bottom hair so that the waste doesn't stick and you change her
bottom instead of clean the carpet. My parents dog made it to 22 years
of age and he staid house broken up to his last day.
"Paul" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I have a 15 and half year old English Cocker Spaniel who is now
getting old and tired. During her life she has had little in the way
of health problems but over the last two years in particular has
slowed down to a point where she spends the majority of her time
sleeping and only wanders as far as the back garden. She now poo's
and wee's in the house which we have learned to cope with (Vax is
very useful!) and will walk around in circles and not be so
interested in contact and been with us. Due to the leaking if is
often necessary to bath her once a day to avoid her smelling too
much, we intend to replace all the carpet once she is no longer with us.
We can no longer leave her with friends/neighbors for the day and it
would now be difficult for us to take her away in the caravan so this
year we have made no plans to go anywhere as we need to stay with her.
I will be devastated when she finally goes, she is my first and only
dog and has been a real friend to me and I will find it so difficult
if I have to make a decision at some point to have her put down.
I guess what I am asking here is am I doing the right thing at the
moment, I do not know what her quality of life is and I suppose I
just want to think its ok and let things carry on for now. It's easy
for me to get emotional over this and a number of years ago I found
this poem which I have kept the link to that brings tears to my eyes
every time I look at it
http://www.la-spca.org/pet_loss/comfort/last_battle.htm
I happen to be a 43 year old bloke with a wife and two young children
but when my dog is finally put to rest it is going to be very difficult.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Paul
We wnt through this on May 18 2007 and we are still heartbroken. Time
will heal that more or less.
Our dog gave us her unconditional love for 9 years. She made us happy
and laugh at the crazy things she did and the only thing she ever asked
us was to let her go. She told us she was sick and could not be healed.
she told us that she lost her spirit, although her soul and body were
still here. She told us that the quality of her life was such that she
no longer enjoyed it. We did let her go. On that last day we took her
for a ride. She watched the fields, the trees, the sheep, the flowers.
My friend, I tell you it is going to hurt more then you can imagine and
even more than that. I hope that in a while you will realise that you
made the right decision. god bless.
Case