when to call it a day with our beloved pooch ?

balmaiden

My lovely collie x is 14 she is deaf ,has a bad heart the beginning of kidney disease and arthritis.Sounds dreadful but she still enjoys her walk, wolfs down her grub and "guards" the house.

The problem is she is terribly incontinent it literaly runs away from her. She is on propaline syrup it did work but not now.She was on hormone tablets, they didnt work at all.We have excluded her from all areas with carpet wheras she did have the run of the house.

Any tips for coping or is enough enough I just dont know what to do.

bluebell13

Really sorry to hear about this. Very sad. Dont know much about dogs but when my cat was ill I just knew when the time came that she had had enough. What sort of quality of life has she got? Does she look happy or seem miserable? It sounds as if she may be coming to the end of her life. What does the vet think?

tiff

Hi, I was in the same situation in February with my 14 year old dog, Sam. It got to the point where I couldnt cope with having to clean up all the time, possibly just before we were off to school or wherever. He was deaf, had cataracts, arthritis and also had a bad heart and spent most of the time asleep. I went to the vet and asked if it was the right time. She said it was my decision but she had no problem with it from her point of view. As I had already prepared the kids that Sam might not come home today I decided to go ahead and have him put to sleep.

It was recommended to me on a dog forum to put towels down on the carpet, or plastic runners. I did do this for a while but we have two children and it just wasnt practical.

Have a chat to your vet, I know exactly what you're going through and it's horrible. I kept putting it off until that day I knew I couldnt cope any more.

All the best x

LilMissEmmylou

for me if she seems happy i couldnt put her down, but i can see how it would be hard to deal with. Not really got any advice though sorry

BettyDebt

I rescued an 11yr old dog for the very same reason. He is now 13yrs old. The owner couldnt cope with the dogs incontinence. I however feel that if the dog is happy and able to lead a normal life ie: (eat and enjoy gentle walks and plays) and has given you years of happiness, that in return looking after them in their old age is a responsibility even if it means more work for us. My dogs problem is due to kidney problems and a change to a low protein diet made the problem less severe. Speak to your vet. But all those medications you mentioned just simply dont work and clog the kidney system more. Leave them out and spend the money on vet beds, bed pads.

I use pampers bed mats on his beds. And simply change them when they are wet. Vet beds are ideal and soak up the liquid. I use some vet beds sporadically around the house for when he joins us in the living room dining room etc. He can only sit on those spots and is very good at that. The vet beds get washed and they are durable.

The bed pads can be a bit pricey so I just use them for his bed. I have also got beds that are waterproof and just need a change of cover. Anything that can be popped into the wash. As a big dog he needs a big bed but you'll be able to cope with collie sized beds going into the wash.

I just personally think that if an elderly dog has a near normal and happy life then being pts for incontinence is for your own best interests and not actually for the dogs best interests. We take on the responsibility for an animal and if in no pain we owe it to them to see them through their senior days.

All the best I hope you can come up with a solution you feel happy with. Its really hard watching our beloved pets get old.

SSB

Hi
Our dog was nearly 20 years old and I was hoipng that she would just die in her sleep peacefully. Unfortunately, no such luck...
She became terribly incontinent, but it was when she did not want to go for a walk anymore that we knew enough is enough. I started to question if we are keeping her because of our own selfish reasons and minimising how diminished her quality of life was. I was terribly upset when we finally took her to the vet but ultimately it was the right decision for us.
Good luck with your situation, it is just so difficult to decide.

Eels100

From the dog's point of view, if her quality of life is good then it makes no difference when you call it a day. There's nothing wrong with putting a dog to sleep because it's incontinent - nobody can expect you to deal with it every day, and many dogs become distressed when they aren't clean, expecially after a lifetime of being housetrained.

Remember that putting a dog to sleep is not cruel. It doesn't hurt, the dog doesn't know what's happening - all the dog knows is that it becomes sleepy and drifts away, often in the arms of its much loved owner. In many cases it's better to make the decision early in the course of a disease - heart, kidney and joint problems can be unpleasant for the dog if they progress, and this suffering and indignity is something you can prevent your dog experiencing if you decide to call it a day now.

Try to let your gut feeling rule your head - it's vital that you can look back without regrets. But never forget, better a day too soon than a minute too late.

Eels100

BettyDebt wrote: »

But all those medications you mentioned just simply dont work and clog the kidney system more. Leave them out and spend the money on vet beds, bed pads.

I totally disagree, in the case of this elderly !!!!! she is suffering from true incontinence, which is obviously exacerbated by increased urine volume as a result of renal failure. But the medication described (Incurin and Propalin) is used to improve sphincter tone so WILL be effective at the correct dose and if the underlying polyuria can be controlled. These medications do not 'clog up the kidney system', which in this case is a secondary issue anyway.

BettyDebt

Eels100 wrote: »

In many cases it's better to make the decision early in the course of a disease - heart, kidney and joint problems can be unpleasant for the dog if they progress, and this suffering and indignity is something you can prevent your dog experiencing if you decide to call it a day now.

Personally I can appreciate your point of view but imo... If you make the decision early on in a disease, despite having a dog with a good quality of life, you are quite simlpy making the decision for yourself and not really in your dogs best interests.

If my dog had been put down at the age of 11 before I rescued him, that would have been 2yrs less than he has had now. And despite kidney problems and arthritous he has lead a very active and happy life right up until his 13th birthday. I will do all I can to continue to ensure he gets that quality until the day comes. Because of incontinence - but really because of not being able to cope with extra washing or cleaning up - a dog doesnt need to be pts.

My dogs arthritis is controlled with herbal supplements glucosamine chondrotin. And his incontinence lessened with a renal diet. He still wees, still has puddles or accidents. BUT he has clean beds, bed mats, bed pads. He doesnt like to sit on a wet bed, so scratches the top layer off, where I have left a second layer to soak up the next lot. (this is for overnight). He is happy. Full of life.

But if someone had made the decision to have him pts just because it made their life less convenient then again thats a decision based not on the dogs quality of life but rather our own.

I am not telling you what to do but offering you an example of what could have been but now is. If I can do it I dont see why others cant.

ktb

we had to make this very hard decision with our 12 y/o Alsation a few years ago... she had lost the use of her back legs & then became incontinent...so just used to mess all down herself and all over her bed and the floor. She lived like that for quite a few months as it didnt feel right to put her down - she was still the same dog mentally. Poor girl used to get very distressed about it tho.. so in the end we made a very, very hard decision indeed.

But for her own dignity and for hygiene's sake it was the right thing to do in our case. Obviously she couldnt even walk or anything... so those pleasures we denied her too...It really seemed like the right thing to do.

BettyDebt

Eels100 wrote: »

I totally disagree, in the case of this elderly !!!!! she is suffering from true incontinence, which is obviously exacerbated by increased urine volume as a result of renal failure. But the medication described (Incurin and Propalin) is used to improve sphincter tone so WILL be effective at the correct dose and if the underlying polyuria can be controlled. These medications do not 'clog up the kidney system', which in this case is a secondary issue anyway.

Sorry perhaps I need to just reword this. IN MY CASE these medications did not work for my elderly dog. And dogs do get kidney failure at all ages and live a long life as well as incontinence due to age. And for some these medications do ease the situation but as the OP said it had not worked for them.