How Do I Know When it’s Time?

Assessing the Quality of Life of your dog

 

As pet parent to many senior dogs, the question I am asked most often is how do you know when it’s time to let them go? I know this varies with different people and their feelings on putting a dog to sleep, but for me there is often (although not always) a window where it could be considered the ‘best’ time for a number of reasons.

There are some situations where the answer to this question is pretty clear-cut:

• When a dog is in severe, chronic pain which can’t be relieved.
• When a dog is critically injured and won’t be able to survive the injuries or the rehabilitation of the dog is too painful or too long to give the pet any quality of life (Keep in mind that a month to us is about 7 months to a dog. If I would not want to rehab myself that long, I surely wouldn’t put that on a pet.)
• If a dog’s quality of life is so poor that he/she is merely ‘existing’ not ‘living’.

 

What decision do your choose when:

• My dog is in long-term chronic pain, but it IS relieved by medication/treatment.
• He isn’t able to run/play and barely eats, but still seems to be comfortable.
• She has a terminal disease, but doesn’t have any insurmountable symptoms – yet.
• My dog is mostly anxious/confused but has short periods of being her ‘old self’.
• He has no appetite, often refuses to drink, and has trouble with incontinence.
• When your dog could survive for some time to come, but his life will be full of vet visits, painful treatments, anxiety, and stress… with no hope of recovery, just management.

 

For me, the situations listed above are on a dog by dog basis and I keep notes and videos to help decide.

As pet parents, we know our fur babies better than anyone. The one factor I always weigh is WHY I’m choosing to keep my pet alive. Am I selfish? Will I miss them too much? Do I need more time? These are important questions! I then turn the tables and look at what my dog is getting out of staying alive. Are they happy? Comfortable? Would they choose to be in pain or be uncomfortable? Would they love life laying around or trying to breathe or have pain that is only managed by making a dog nearly unconscious? Usually for me, that answer is no.

Loving your pet may mean euthanizing them to end unnecessary suffering. The quality of their life includes their overall physical and mental well being. Remember, pets are different than humans. What may be poor quality of life for a human, may not be the same as a dog. We’ve all seen perfectly happy 3 legged dogs that don’t even miss that 4th limb. But would they want to be shivering in pain and hiding in a corner? Probably not. Make a list of a few things your pet always loves to do. Can they still do them? If not, it may be time.

If you’re having trouble deciding, try using my chart and get the help of your favorite veterinarian. When you talk to them, listen to their responses and ask good questions! I can’t tell you how often I’ve overheard a Veterinarian tell someone in the room next to mine how the pet is suffering or that there is no hope or that nothing can be done to fix the pain/misery/wound/cancer/etc. The people often ignore that advice and order expensive tests (that cause pain in many cases) or treatments, all to have another day, month or whatever for them, because they are not ready to let go.

My goal is to allow our fur babies to die with dignity. I hope this helps if you are in a situation and aren’t sure what to do.

 

 

 

 

 

My dog(’s)	All the time	Most of the time	Some-times	Rarely	Never
Does NOT want to play
does NOT respond to my presence
Does NOT interact with me the same way as before
does NOT enjoy activities as he/she used to
Is hiding
Has different behavior/demeanor than before diagnosis or illness
Has a distended stomach
Holds his/her breath when touched
Does NOT seem to enjoy life
Has more bad days than good days
Is sleeping more than normal
Seems depressed
Is in pain or exhibits behavior consistent with pain
Is panting (while resting) or excessive drooling
Has episodes of aggression
Is pacing or restless
Is crying out
Has a difference in posture (head down, tail down)
Is constantly licking or grooming
Is shaking or trembling (even when it’s warm)
Has a change in potty habits
Is vomiting or seems nauseous
Is not eating well (needs treats or fed by hand or appetite stimulants)
Is not drinking well or drinking too much
can’t sleep laying down
Is coughing and medications don’t help
Is losing weight
An extremely low heart rate (varies with dog size)
Has diarrhea often
Has trouble breathing (distinct rise and fall of chest)
Isn’t urinating
Is not moving normally
Is not as active as normal
Needs help to move around
Unable to keep clean after potty or eating
Has a coat that is different than normal (greasy, matted, rough)
Overall health is worse than initial diagnosis/illnes