Quality of life?

peachyprice

jrtfan wrote: »

The Greyhound's arthritis was in both hips and I think it must have been at the base of his spine, too. Like you, I watched for signs that his quality of life was deteriorating but for a long time, the only thing was that he couldn't really go out with us for longer walks any more (even with the help of a sling to support his rear end, plus Meloxicam, plus Tramadol when needed). Shorter walks were OK for a while, but then he couldn't even manage these. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his appetite though, he was still interested in everything going on around him and he even tried occasionally to spin around and play-bow out in the garden, when I let him out for a tiddle. In the end though, his back legs just lost all their strength so that he couldn't get to his feet unaided and he was collapsing each time he had to do his "business", which really distressed him (he'd always been an immaculately clean dog before in that respect).

Calling time is so very hard. It's the last act of love we can do for our pets, but it hurts so much. I hope that for you and Lucy, that day is still a little way off yet.

This is what happened to my poor old cat, he died earlier this year, the vet called him a 'cut and shut' cat, from the front he was alert and looked like an 8yo, from the back legs downward he was definitely his 17yo self.

The day I decided it was time to let him go was when he could no longer stand up or lift his tail enough to pee. I'm glad we said goodbye when we did, he would have been so distressed if he'd started soiling himself.