[Discussion] Is it time to put my dog down? M[8]

[pcdirectuk]

My dog has a large tumour in his rectum, which means that sometimes when he poos there'll be blood and screaming. Doesn't happen every day, but 2 to 3 times a week he'll have a horrible eposide of non-stop bleeding and straining to defecate, which leads to more bleeding and pain. These episode can last somewhere between 30 mins to 1 hour, the rest of the time he's totally fine: hungry and playful, being himself.

The surgeon said he can remove the part of the intestine on which the tumour is attached; however, the likelihood of it being a cancerous tumour is really high, which would only give him about a year and half left to live. On top of that, removing that part of the intestine means there is 90% chance he will suffer from fecal incontinence.

The cost of the surgery is 4k, without added cost of everything already spent, plus the chance there'll be more control appointments and medicine.

If we don't do the surgery our only other option is to put him down. We've been stretching it by treating him with pain medicine and laxatives, and while this helps, he still continues having episodes and being in pain.

It's hard to think of putting him down because he is still mentally there. He wants food all the time and wants to play, but paying for a surgery that has no guarantees of an improved quality of life (for him and for us), doesn't make much sense to us.

TL;DR: Dog has a tumour and doing a surgery will leave him without the ability to hold his poo, in the best case scenario. In the worst case the tumour is cancerous and he will not live for longer than 1 or 2 years before it spreads everywhere else. Sufery is 4k, and we're considering putting him to sleep, despite him being still playful and wanting to eat (and being his real self). Any toughts, ideas will help!

 

[oldwoodsman]

@pcdirectuk One tool that can be used to help make the decision is the HHHHHMM Quality of Life scale. In your case, I might suggest that you run the numbers three times; once assuming the surgery is successful but he has the fecal incontinence, one for his current situation, one for the surgery if there is no incontinence afterwards and it turns out that it is cancerous.

I will also consider what is the endgame if the tumor ruptures. Some tumors (and I do not know if this is one) can rupture leaving the dog to die an agonizing death over the course of several hours. I had friends put down their dog because this was a strong possibility for their dogs tumor, and they did not want the dog to suffer if the rupture occurred when they were not home.

 

[drogheda]

@pcdirectuk I’m not sure if this can be used, but I wrote a list of all my dog’s favorite things to do and once I crossed off majority of the list I knew his quality of life wasn’t there and it was time. I know this may be a different circumstance but hopefully this can help a little.

 

[pcdirectuk]

@drogheda Thank you! Definitely a different circumstance. My dog likes to sleep all day and eat. He can still do both well, just the little time of suffering is intense..

 

[thecigarlady]

@pcdirectuk My dog had colon cancer. He had blood in his stool and a lot of straining to go to the bathroom. I tried chemotherapy, but dr said he would probably not recover. I put him down before it became worse. I didn't want him to suffer. I still miss Max. Fond memory of him kissing me with a carrot in his mouth.

 

[bronschito]

@thecigarlady I’m really sorry for your loss. You did the kindest thing for Max. I bet he is looking down from doggy heaven knowing you took care of him until the end, and is grateful you saved him from more pain.

 

[thecigarlady]

@bronschito I hope so. We miss him, the silly boy.

 

[bronschito]

@thecigarlady It sounds like he loved you and you gave him the best life you were able to. I hope I can be as strong if my dog is in a similar situation. I can’t imagine the difficulty in making that decision.

 

[thecigarlady]

@bronschito It is difficult, very difficult. But you just have to remember it would be selfish and cruel to keep him alive while he is in pain. Just try to take lots of pictures and give snuggles and let him go I feel your pain!

 

[cmorehouse]

@pcdirectuk If you don’t feel the surgery is right for you, snd he’s screaming multiple times per week- it’s probably time.

It’s hard because you still feel he’s ok, but he really isn’t. It’s ok. It’s hard, but it’s ok