My dog is getting really old and will have to put it down soon. Part of me wants to put it down as soon as possible to get it over with both for the dog's sake and my own. I don't want to have the sadness of seeing my dog miserable every day, but I also want it to be around for as long as possible. It's the family dog, but I think if I said to put it down then that would be it. I just don't want to make that decision cause then I'll regret it for months. This is the first dog I've dealt with like this, so its all a little bit confusing.
Why can't they all just have free will like human beings
I lost my dog when I was 20 or 21. We got her when I was 10, so she was the dog I grew up with.
Thankfully, I didn't have to make the decision. I was away at college, and the last time I visited, she was really sick. My parents took her to the vet for surgery, and it turned out that there was almost nothing they could do, so they put her down on the operating table.
If the decision really rests with you, I can't give much advice. The knowledge that it's no longer suffering will be some consolation, but not as much as you'd probably like.
At the same time, if there's no realistic chance of the dog's health turning around, keeping it alive but in pain as long as possible is pretty cruel. It sucks that they can't make the decision for themselves, or if they do have a desire one way or another, they can't communicate it.
The sad fact is that the dog is going to die at some point, and you're going to have to deal with it sooner or later. Personally, if I knew that my pet was suffering and its quality of life was abysmal, I think I'd go with putting it down, especially if a vet says that there are no viable treatment options. That can let you prepare yourself emotionally, and spend some final quality time with your pet, and know that it died relatively painlessly.
Of course, if you think the dog still has some quality of life, you might want to wait it out, knowing that euthanasia is still an option.
It's a crappy decision to make, and I don't envy you.
So in the past couple days, we started feeding her different food. She used to eat typical, hard dog food. Now she's eating the mushier beef stuff, and we've also just been slipping in Asprins since we really can't afford to goto a Vet (Plus she doesn't have the proper shots and all that). She's been feeling noticeably better. Two nights ago she couldn't walk up the stoop stairs and now she can. She's barking and wagging her tail again. She certainly isn't feeling like her old self, and I know this is only holding off the inevitable, but it's nice to see her a little happy again.
