Your dog may die what do you do?

[AlaskanJack]

Well this is my dilemna. Vet says even with transfusion dogs chances are 20%. Do I spend as much money as it takes and the dog may still die or live, or Euthenize? I rescued this dog from being euthenized the day I got her and we have had her for 3 yrs. My wife and son are both soooooo attached to her. We had to choose between her and my other dog a Keeshound when we moved to Alaska.

Here is a link to the original thread when this all started
My wife's baby girl

[ahhjaws]

I would say think about the dog. If he/she is in a lot of pain, it may influence your decision, but honestly, I don't really want to make the decision for you.

[AlaskanJack]

Oh no don't get me wrong!!! I have already made my decision. I have always said that pets are replaceable and that I wouldn;t spend gobs of money on them. I would euthenize for sure.

Well I guess I have more of an attachment to this dog than I thought, or I just don't want my wife and son distraut over the dog. Who knows but I was quickly in tears this morning as I drove away fromVet talking on the cell with my wife. So much for my tough macho exterior. I decided to spend whatever it took to see if we could save this dog. My wife on the other hand was tettering the fence. She was concerned about the chances for survival vs the cost, then how she felt about the dog. I truely believe she was in shock because she couldn't give me an answer when I said here's what I will do what do you want.

I only posted this poll to see how others felt. I was surprised when it came down to it my decision was contrary to what I always said.

[ahhjaws]

Well, this decision is one that comes up a lot where I work (Radiation Therapy at CSU vet hospital) and the best decision is for sake of the animal. If he is in great pain, then you shoudn't let him suffer. And it is also is not a very succesful surgery, so I don't think it would be worth it either. I know it is a very hard decision, but it's better in the long run. Being attached to an animal (family member) will be hard to get over, but if the surgery was successful, would your dog be the same? Or, would he not be able to do many things.

[drmoore71]

oddly enough, we just came upon this dilemma a couple weeks ago. we adopted a 7 month old yellow lab we named major, and within a week, he got really sick, his back legs wouldn't work, coughing, blowing snot like a rodeo bull, etc. took him to the doggie e.r. and they immediately put him on an i.v. due to his 105 temperature, said he prolly had distemper, 10% survival rate. they said we should start thinking about putting him down. we were devastated. we called everyone we know and asked them to start praying for our guy. it worked! he was in the hospital for five days, on the i.v. for four of them, dr. bill was just under $1000. suddenly, he just snapped out of it. he has now been home for a week, and is actually running three miles a day with the wife, and is perfectly fine. got a call from the doc a couple days ago, and major tested negative for distemper and everything, for that matter, they said he was prolly just feeling really crappy. i was kind of hacked off at them for the misdiagnosis and for worrying us so much, but i guess that's their job, to prepare you for the worst but hope for the best. btw, i voted for spending whatever it takes.

[Stephen]

Well, my feeling is that a pet is not a thing, and it isn't a decision like "Oh the transmission just went on my car, and its old, I'm just gonna get a new one". I've always felt that a pet is a member of the family, and you do for them what you can. That said, I also realize that not everyone makes the type of money that I do, and to some people the decision to have surgery performed for a pet could be equal to not being able to make the rent or mortgage payment or eat, thats a different story. My point is, if you have access to the money, do the right thing and give the pet a chance. If he is terribly suffering then of course, betting against 80% odds isn't worth putting the pet through any more pain.

My advice to anyone who has a pet, put $20-$40 a month away into a savings account just for pet emergencies, then you'll always have the cash.

[Nate1]

Personally... it's really not anyone's decision down here on earth (at least). I feel like Stephen does, a dog develops an emotional attachment to you that is quite a bit stronger than something like a gerbil or snake. I think that if you can afford it, try. I try to think of it this way... if I were in a hospital, and I had a 20% chance of living, depending on the amount of pain I was in, would I want to live? I think in just about every case, I would say yeah, let me at least TRY to live. Death is a pretty permanate thing, so unless you are comfortable with the decision that your dog is in too much pain, or unless you simply cannot afford it, I would try to help the dog out. If you can bust your chops a little more to raise a couple of bucks, will you? Is it something you can talk to your boss about, be like 'Look, my family is kinda having a hard time right now, our Dog is very sick and my wife and son and I are really distraught, is there any way I can get a little more on my next paycheck?'
I don't really feasibly know what your finicial situation is, or if you are in a position to ask for a little bit more money this paycheck or anything (or even if your dog will survive till the next paycheck) but my vote is definatly for the 'support as long as finicially feasable', unless of course your dog seems to be in too much pain that you don't feel right doing it. This all coming from a kid in a doctor's family, so I'm probably a little partial to giving medicine a try (plus my dog beat the odds a few times, once really bad odds when she was 7), so I say try at least some.
It all comes down to what you think is the right thing to do.
Good luck...
-----Nate

[EliteConcept]

i'd think about how much pain the dog will be in as others said, and possible consider how old the dog is... if the dog only has maybe 2 years left anyways and will be in pain, its not worth it, i wouldn't put any animal though pain.

[mattadams]

yeah it would depend on the pain, I always knew I had a limit I could spend on making a dog feel better, but its quite a high limit and involves maxing out various cards. That's if theres a good chance for survival afterwords. But if the doc is saying even with surgery liek a 5-10% chance of survival, tough call to make. Would hate to be paying for years on a surgery that only extended the dogs life by a few days or weeks.

[Howard]

Jack

The only difference between use and our pets is that we can talk. That did not sound as I thought it would so I'll explain what I mean. In Jan 2000 my wife was diagnosed with leukaemia they started chemotherapy straight away this lead to a bone marrow transplant some nine months later. Six months after transplant my wife was further diagnosed with a thing called CTCL which is another form of cancer with no cure. Of course we cried and she said to me that she had no fight left in her to cope with this. Some four months later she died. Now the point I am trying to make is. Should I have put her through two years of very nasty treatment at gods knows what cost or should I have put her down. I tell you that no matter what the end result could be you have to take any and all chances. Your dog cannot speak for herself so give her a chance to survive. Even if she doesn't make it at least you can rest easy knowing that you tried your best for her. If not you have to live with the doubt of whether she would have lived or not.

I sometimes think back and wonder if euthanasia was legal whether we would have gone that route and I have to say that I don't think I would have done anything different. At least I know that I gave her the best chance there was and I had two more years with her.

I ask myself now if I was now diagnosed with cancer would I go through the treatment. I have to say the the jury is still out on that one.

It is hard to look after pets they can't answer back so we have to do our best for them.

[sunbum]

Good luck to you all with sick or old pets. I'm dealing with mine now, been a champ for 15yrs and looks about 6yrs old... it's truly like losing a family member and I know one of these times to the vets, it will be the last trip which will suck more than I can ever imagine.
I almost lost him as a pup after a series of shots by the vet which his system didn't like... had to feed him with a syringe and he wasnt eating/losing weight fast... took a fair amount of $$ at that time, but he bounced back 4 days after I gave him a 5 day ultimatum and has been going strong since.

Another $$ trip to the vet tonight... but I agree, suffering is the real factor. How much can meds/care do before you have to euthanize is the decision... Fortunately, we're not quite at that point yet, but he's lived a long good life and as much as I don't want him to go, I won't have him stay in pain for my selfishness.
Drop him a visit at http://www.pakayaker.net/chaunce.html
It's mainly so family and friends can keep up with him from afar as he's loved by many.

[biggs92EB]

damn guys got a tear in my eye reading this i say by all means try and save your dog my dogs are my son and daughter and i would sell my X to save either one. there is just something i love about coming home to a waggin tail, no matter what always happy to see me, my male has put his life on the line for me once, and im sure alot of your dogs would too, so whats money? nothin compared to friendship and companionship and the loyalty our pets have for us.

[AlaskanJack]

Wow guys I'm touched!

I feel as though we had made the right decision to do whatever it takes to give her a fighting chance. Time will tell, hopefully she wasn't too far gone and her body can start producing red blood cells.

She's only 6-7. Not sure because I got her 3 yrs ago from shelter where she was slated to be euthenized the day I got her.

The money isn't a problem it was just something we had to discuss. We are building a house this summer and so we have been saving for that.

Like I said this poll was primarily directed to see what you would do. I had already made my decision to do whatever it took. Yet I had always said verbally to my family and friends that I would euthenize immediately. I found it strange how connection to an animal could change my perception.

[matey]

dude i dont know if you can put a price on the friendship you have with your pet, if you can afford to get the dog fixed i would do it, but it is also about quality of life if the dog is just hanging on may be it would be better off sniffing posts in doggie heaven

[AlaskanJack]

Well just to let all know, The dog was put down after a week of giving her all we could. I cried and my family cried as well.

The very next day in Georgia my wife and son got a new puppy and they surprised me when they flew in.

My wife and son have planted a special flower garden in memory of this special family dog.

[explorerjoe]

I would do/spend anything to save one of my dogs, even if it was only a 1% chance of survival. They give you such complete loyalty, they deserve the same.

[AlaskanJack]

Well I tried and now I wish I had the 1,000 back to spend on my truck

[Howard]

Jack

You don't really mean that now do you. A dog is for life, cars are just things.

[explorerjoe]

Sorry about the loss..

[Lifted95X]

Originally posted by AlaskanJack
Well I tried and now I wish I had the 1,000 back to spend on my truck

I hope your not serious.