Decision time - Advice please.

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filly190

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My oldest doberman bitch has arthritis in both of her hind legs and hips. Over the past year this has caused her to run in a crooked way. During the past couple of months her back legs have given way on her and so goes down and takes a little while to get back up.

She began to yelp with pain mostly in the mornings and then would continue her day without crying out. Of all the vets visits they keep perscribing Rimadyl tablets and acknowledge there is a problem.

Now the pain has been well controlled for some time. However her collapses are getting more frequent and it is taking her longer to be able to get up.

She is eating well and happy in herself. We have two other dogs, one of them is her 4 year old puppy and she still loves to play with them. She slows down of her own accord and takes things easier.

I am having difficulty in watching her collapse and struggle. Each vets visit is terrible, we gently lift her in the car, but this causes her to collapse and it is heart wrenching.

I have always said that I will not let an animal suffer and would be prepared to have them put to sleep.

What I am asking you for advice is this; am I allowing her to suffer. At what stage do you make this sort of decision.

I have another vets appointment on Tuesday and I am dreading taking her, as the travelling causes her to collapse and a day to recover.

I would really value your opinions on this one, as I am struggling to know what to do for the best.
 
I've just sent you a PM
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I have to say, it doesn't sound as if the quality of life is too good if she's always collapsing and taking so long to recover either so hate to say it but I wouldn't be even thinking of taking her to the vets again; I would be making an appointment for them to come out to you and put her down at home so she has no more pain; it's the last thing you can do for her.
It's a horrible decision to have to make but you say yourself she is obviously in pain a lot of the time and unless you can find a medication which is tough on the pain but kind to her system for long term use, then I'm sorry, I wouldn't hesitate. I know it's not what you want to hear and I do sympathise with you but she's had a wonderful life and it could only get worse if you continue.
 
Thank you for your advise, and yes I do want to hear your opinion, it is very valued and it is my train of thought. I dont want her to suffer and her quality of life just go down hill. My husband and I will be talking a lot about this over the weekend.

If I can find a suitable drug to help her out, I would ideally like to give her a little longer, not for myself, because otherwise she is such a happy dog, eating, playing etc.

Thanks again
 
Have you tried Metacam? I have my two oldies on it and my old Dobe bitches both had Metacam which I felt gave them a better quality of life for a while longer.

Decisions are always hard but I am sure you will make the right one for your lady. My heart goes out to you, I have a 13 yr old Lab and a 14 yr old Vizsla - these decisions are going to come to me too in the near future. I hope I have the strength to do the right thing when their time comes. God bless, and didn't you know that Heaven is full of Dobes!!
 
I think you have to make a distinction between whether she is in pain or whether she just isn't as mobile as before.

My old collie developed arthritis at about 5 years old. She deteriorated over the years and by the time she was about 10 she used to fall down from time to time and it took her a little while to get back up again. I spoke to the vet and he said that it likely wasn't painful at all for her, just that she didn't have the muscle strength to bounce up any more. He gave me medication for her and I kept her on it for a number of months - never did anything to help her at all, in my opinion. That was when I switched over to the mussels.

She's now 13 years old and has never looked so good. She's obviously old and much slower than she used to be, but she gets along fine and very rarely collapses these days. She runs straight now, which was unheard of a few years ago, and all in all she is looking pretty darned good.

She hasn't collapsed because of her arthritis for probably about 2 years now but she does sit down or lie down a lot now. I don't take her out riding with me anymore as she just cannot keep up but she seems perfectly happy wandering around down by the farmhouse all day.

My uncle always had a saying "the day they don't want to go for a walk is the day they need to go to a better place". We have always stood by this and certainly my little collie is nowhere near ready to give up the ghost at the moment.

I know you will make the right decision for your girl, at the right time. I'll be in your shoes at some point in the next few years so I do have a lot of sympathy for anyone having to make this decision.
 
How about trying her on cortaflex? You can get it for human and dog arthritis as well as horse.

I really don't know what to suggest, my oldest dog's backend is going yet she's happy in herself and still wants to go for walks. It's a hard one.
 
Many thanks for all of your replies and advise. I have decided that she is happy, eating and wanting to play, so her little life is happy, just not very mobile.

I am going to the vets Tuesday morning for another review and have decided to obtain a repeat perscription and buy the drugs on the internet (half price!!!!). Apart from the drugs, I am going to have a go at your suggestions. I will have to choose one, try that, see how she goes, and if not, try another.

I really appreciate your advice and I want to make her more comfortable. As you have said Tia, if she did'nt want to play and run around, then that is the time. But clearly she does and the other dogs seem to know she is more delicate nowadays and are not playing with her as roughly.
 
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