Am I hard hearted?

MurphysMinder

MurphysMinder

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I received the following email this morning. Please note it is nothing to do with the GSD rescue I help out with www.germanshepherdrescue.co.uk, but another group with a very similar name.

Beany was found as a stray in the West Midlands. After serving her time in the pound she came into the care of ............ A stunning liver short coated girl, she has a lovely soft coat.
We knew before taking Beany from the pound that she had a mammary tumour that needed investigating. What we didnt know was the full extent of Beany's suffering.
Let me tell you a little about the girl that Beany is. She is a very gentle, sweet natured girl. Beany is quiet and so loving, always wagging her tail , and always eager to please. Beany is not a bit of trouble, loving the company of other dogs, and even has kisses for the cat!
Beany is housetrained, sleeps peacefully on her bed, doesnt pull on the lead, loves children, and is generallly just an absolute joy to be with.
Which makes it harder knowing the pain she must be going through.
Beany went into surgery last Thursday, to remove the mammary tumour and spay her. The vet found several other tumours, and health problems that Beany has been suffering in silence.
Beany had 2 rotten teeth that were removed, explaining why she would only eat soft food.
When the vets were intubating Beany they found a tumour on one of her tonsils. They removed the mammary tumour and went to spay her, and found a further massive tumour in her cervix. She was in surgery for nearly 2 hours, with the vet trying to make sure he has removed all of the tumours he can find.
Beany had to be kept in overnight to stabilise her pain relief, and check that the drain from where the mammary tumour was was working properly.
Beany was allowed back to her foster home on Christmas Eve. She has a wound which is massive, and a drain that will remain in for 5 days. She is also on regular pain relief and antibiotics.
We wont know the results of the biopsies until later in the week , due to the Christmas holidays. We can only pray that all 3 tumours in different parts of her body are nothing serious.
Even after such a traumatic time at the vets, Beany still wagged her tail for the vet & veterinary nurses. Even after being in obvious pain and discomfort she still gave my little boy her paw when she saw he had come to take her home from the vets.
Beany never cries, never whinges, and always looks pleased to see you.
The awful thing about Beany's story, is that most of this suffering could have been avoided if her owner had only had her spayed years ago.
We are determined that Beany will never suffer pain and discomfort again. Even if her biopsy results show the worst , we will give her the best possible treatment, and she will remain in our care until the time comes where she leaves us.

Beany's vet bill already stands at £492. It will most definitely be more as the weeks go on.
If you have just a few pounds you can spare after the Christmas season, please, put it to good use, and send it to Beany.
This sweet, gentle lady deserved so much better from humans. The least we can do now is try to put it right.



FGS am I the only one who thinks this poor bitch should have been put to sleep. The vets used were named in the email, I have removed it but am shocked vets would treat a bitch with so many problems, althought the bill does seem low for all that work.:(
 
Why should she be pts? If it turns out they are all benign (unlikely) or that removal will have given her a significant amount of more time? If the opinion of the vet is that she will not be dying in the next few weeks/months as far as he/she can tell, thenr emoval is the best option if it is not going to cause suffering. I know they say she has massive wounds etc. but that is 'owner' speak so to speak, i.e to you or me that could be a small surgical wound, or she could have half her side split open.
I don't agree with treating just to do somehting, but neither do I agree that just PTS anything as soon as it becomes a difficult issue, the bitch sounds like she is still relatively comfortable, again it's hard to know without seeing her. It's very emotive language used as well which makes me think it may not be that reliable as a statement regarding the prognosis etc.
 
Yes the writer does use emotive language, she was actually asked to leave the larger rescue because she was a little "economical with the truth" on certain issues, so maybe I am judging with the benefit of more knowledge. I am prepared to be told I am wrong, it just annoyed me to receive a begging email for a bitch, who doesn't have a home, and in the photos that were attached looks very depressed, when there are so many dogs in need of homes.
 
I would say you are being realistic.

Irresponsible IMO to take on a dog (or any animal) without the funds to sort it out.

The bill sounds light for treatment so far and I would not consider chemo for a dog having seen some suffering that goes with it in most cases.

It is a shame but IMO resources would have been better put towards more re-homable prospects.
 
I don't think you're hard hearted. PTS is far from the worst alternative in some circumstances.

It is different when it's our own beloved pets - we only have a responsibility to our pockets then - when it's a charity/rehome situation and the dog doesn't have a home, it should be slightly more detached (sorry, can't think of a better word) JMHO.

Mind you, in saying that I'm a sucker for a sweet heart dog so would I do any different? Probably best that I don't rescue directly:o
 
Jesus, tell me which vet, having just been told over £600 to stitch up a paw!

She should have been PTS, IMO. There are plenty of healthy dogs in need of rescue and who's to say more tumours won't develop or if all of them have been found.
 
I'm hard hearted too, but then you know that, lol! What a money making vet (even if the bill is small in comparison) for putting the bitch through all that; totally unfair for me. As to help with the vet fees, on your bike.
 
At the risk of using emotive language too, she looks so sad in the photos. And to me the fact that she is described as quiet, gentle etc makes me think she is in pain :(
 
It sounds an awful lot to put one dog through at one time and I have my doubts if a vet would put a dog through all of this, I may be being cynical but it could all be a tall story with a photo of a dog attached just to pull at peoples heat strings.
 
The simple question, it seems to me, is that it should be questioned whether it's in the dog's best interest to put it through all the treatment suggested.

Allowing a vet free rein, and allowing them to run up a bill, with no real positive prognosis, is cruelty. In my view, it's that simple.

The poor dog.

Alec.
 
Difficult one. If this was my dog and the vet thought she had a chance I would try the operation, but we have a fund set aside for animal vet treatments so we could pay. I would only PTS if I felt the dog's quality of life was too poor and it's impossible to say without knowing the dog. Since this is a dog in a rescue centre, I think it depends on the funds the rescue centre has and how best to use them. If this money could have gone towards rehabilitating and rehoming 10 other dogs, it may have been extravagant to spend it on one dog, who in all likelihood is very seriously ill.
 
Had that been my dog and they had given me the news of what they had found when she was still under, then I would ask for her not to be brought round :(.

I have allowed a dog to go through surgery when I should probably have let her pass peacefully, I certainly won't be doing it again, however sad I will be to see them go.
 
I don't think you're being hard hearted at all, if it were my dog i'd have told the vet not to bring her round from the anaesthetic. I appreciate that when you've built up a relationship with a dog it is tempting to try everything possible, but this girl doesn't sound like she had much going for her in the end. I couldn't let one of mine go through all that with no guarantee of a positive outcome.
 
I've discovered the vet has aged her at around 10 years old too, so not even a youngster. :( Glad I am not alone in thinking she should have been allowed to go peacefully while under the GA.
 
Although I don't think you are hard hearted to say that she should be pts, I think there are circumstances where this kind of treatment is ok. The rescue organisation has taken her on, she is a kind and rehomable dog. She had a mammary tumour and she was to be spayed and tumour removed- this is relatively straightforward. When she was under they found a couple more- cervix is near the parts to be removed anyway so not much more of an issue. Tonsil tumour- not something I have had much experience of I must admit but I would think relatively easy to remove? All in all, the dog was under for a spay anyway so really the extra surgeries weren't too much of a problem for her.

I don't know the rescue or anything about anyone involved so bear with me on this next bit!!

Costs involved are quite small as we all have pointed out so paying for the surgery and associated costs is not a major issue, not like they paid £5k for chemotherapy. The dog was thought to be easily rehomable, no temperament issues etc so surely it would be better to fix up this dog and get her into a nice new home than have a bonkers dog with child-chewing tendancies in your kennels for 5 months?

It is unlikely that this would ever happen to one of our dogs because we would keep a closer eye on them presumably so we can't really say what we would do for our own. A rescue kennels has to draw a line somewhere but why should that somewhere be "only dogs with no health issues need apply"?

Ouch, twisted ankle getting off soapbox. ;)
 
You make some valid points, however it would seem the cost is a major issue as they are emailing random people asking for donations! I am nothing to do with this rescue, the founder only had my email address because she was previously involved with another rescue I do help.

Try some ice on that twisted ankle. :)
 
MurphysMinder said:
You make some valid points, however it would seem the cost is a major issue as they are emailing random people asking for donations! I am nothing to do with this rescue, the founder only had my email address because she was previously involved with another rescue I do help.

Try some ice on that twisted ankle. :)
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Yes, good point- perhaps the bonkers lady is just using the story to pull at heart strings then, instead of saying "I need more money to fund my dog hoarding" or something.... :D

I'm trying ice. And some rum and coke with it, seems to be helping.
 
We had a bitch with a mammary tumour a few years ago; she was gorgeous, an Anatolian Shepherd dog and we were all immensely fond of her.

The vet basically said that if he didn't remove the tumour, it would very likely start to haemorrage at some point, and it wouldn't get better, ever, so we made the sad decision to PTS.

Think that the only humane solution to the dog mentioned in the OP would be PTS. FGS how much more do they expect this poor doggie to go through? Where's the humane response in all of this? The prognosis isn't exactly rosey is it, so why the hell are they keeping the poor dog alive and in pain?
 
TEN? :( Poor girl. TBH our girl crashed and burned after a surgery to remove a huge tumour on her spleen, aged ten.
She came around from the surgery initially, but in the end it was too much for her.
If I knew then, what I know now, I would have asked them to not bring her round when they found it. It was the size of a football :(

Maybe being a bit controversial here, but the 'colour' breeders are a pretty tight bunch, I wonder whether they have been made aware of Beany's plight?
 
she sadly had muptiple tumours .. most likely secondary to the primary one. no it is not harsh or cold hearted to pts.many human cancer patients would wish this choice. the dog is a rescue, and old as posts reveal. i too am hard hearted, maybe cold hearted .... quality of life versus quantity! but i love my animals to bits and like to think if i had a choice with good advice i would make a hard decision. (as i have done in the past)
 
Maesfen said:
I'm hard hearted too, but then you know that, lol! What a money making vet (even if the bill is small in comparison) for putting the bitch through all that; totally unfair for me. As to help with the vet fees, on your bike.
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agreed ^^

i wouldnt put my best friend through that, so why would i donate to put another dog through that??

pts would have been the kindest option imo.
 
I think if my vet had found multiple tumours I would of made the decision there and then not to let her wake up. I am sorry but multiple tumours are unlikely to be benign.

So in reply to your post no, I don't think you are hard hearted just realistic
 
SusieT said:
Why should she be pts?
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Because it clearly says, she's in pain. Therefore she's suffering, why prolong her suffering? If she was mine I'd let her go peacefully and painlessly not drag it out as long as possible "just incase".

I also wouldn't even consider putting any dog under for such evasive surgery at 10yrs of age, but that's just my opinion.

We lost one of our Vizslas in April, she had multiple tumours, vet said they could do this and that to prolong her life, we decided not to go down that road, she was 13. The only difference is that she wasn't in pain.
 
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