PTS - When?

fidleyspromise

fidleyspromise

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Sam is 14 years old and a GSD.
He's had arthritis for a few years plus a tumour for a couple of years.
How do you decide when is best to let them go?

He's eating, drinking, still wants walks and sometimes initiates play with Tia.

He's had a librela injection and due the second one tomorrow. He's on 400 gabapentin twice a day.

How do I know he's not in pain?
How do I know I'm not just killing him?
Is it fair to just keep adding pain killers? Is that for him or me?

Everyone says you know when it's time and yet I don't.
 
Birker2020

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fidleyspromise said:
Sam is 14 years old and a GSD.
He's had arthritis for a few years plus a tumour for a couple of years.
How do you decide when is best to let them go?

He's eating, drinking, still wants walks and sometimes initiates play with Tia.

He's had a librela injection and due the second one tomorrow. He's on 400 gabapentin twice a day.

How do I know he's not in pain?
How do I know I'm not just killing him?
Is it fair to just keep adding pain killers? Is that for him or me?

Everyone says you know when it's time and yet I don't.
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If he was in pain its unlikely he'd want to still go for walks and initiate play.
And I assume there is no reason to think he is in pain with the pain relief he is on. If he can still have a good quality of life why stop?

Why don't you have an honest chat with your vet tomorrow and go from there. It's hard for us to judge as we don't know your dog like you and your vet do.
 
meleeka

meleeka

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You will. Getting old isn’t a reason to pts, but suffering or just not enjoying life anymore is. I had my old dog on painkillers. It was actually something totally unconnected to her joints that finished her off so they did their job well.

Modern medicine is a wonderful thing so make good use of it and when it’s not working anymore, you’ll know it’s time.
 
MotherOfChickens

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there are online quality of life questionnaires which might be useful to you, some are more involved than others and they won't give you a definitive answer but might help you decide what you consider important.
 
fidleyspromise

fidleyspromise

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I forgot to add the last couple of days he's pacing and whining.

I had my last girl PTS at 13yrs old in 2013. She struggled walking and had incontinence and I still feel guilty I let her go too early.
 
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I think that when anyone starts to question "the right time" then it's likely to be close.

There's no hard and fast rules. Everything you've listed are thoughts I've had (about horses rather than dogs) but I'm a firm believer in rather too soon than a second too late.
 
Moobli

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It sounds like he still has a good quality of life - enjoying walks and food, play time etc. At 14, he is a good age for a shepherd so enjoy every moment you have together. If he’s seeing the vet tomorrow, and you trust your vet, then mention the whining/pacing. Get their view on his general health and take things from there.
 
CorvusCorax

CorvusCorax

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Personally speaking, to answer the question(s), when they cannot toilet themselves and/or are unable to get up/move around without struggling. One of our GSDs got to 14 with no pain relief and was PTS at the first sign of struggling to stand (she had a broken front leg in youth). I wouldn't personally keep medicating but it's your decision, not mine. Sorry you and he are going through this.
 
Books'n'dogs

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fidleyspromise said:
I forgot to add the last couple of days he's pacing and whining.

I had my last girl PTS at 13yrs old in 2013. She struggled walking and had incontinence and I still feel guilty I let her go too early.
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I recently lost my beloved 12 year old German Shepherd and when I was discussing if it was time to say goodbye with one of the vet techs at the clinic I use and how guilty I was feeling she said that in her experience of 25+ years of working in veterinary medicine guilt is never absent in making the decision to pts.

I'm terribly sorry that you are having to go through this with your Sam, it's never easy. My advise is to cherish every moment you have left.
 
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CorvusCorax said:
Personally speaking, to answer the question(s), when they cannot toilet themselves and/or are unable to get up/move around without struggling. One of our GSDs got to 14 with no pain relief and was PTS at the first sign of struggling to stand (she had a broken front leg in youth). I wouldn't personally keep medicating but it's your decision, not mine. Sorry you and he are going through this.
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This for me too.


Plus - although I know I’m in the minority, but when I’ve been faced with dogs with cancer, heart failure or any other long term terminal/life ending disease or illness etc ive had a good few days/few weeks with them and then had them PTS. Even though generally I know there’s more time we could have I always have opted for sooner, before whatever it is going on with them impacts their wellbeing/day to day life. Again, I know I’m in the minority but it’s just a personal stance I have.

So sorry as to what you have had to face. I think you made the right call, albeit an impossibly tough one
 
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