What what you do? Difficult and sad decision...

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katiejaye

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Our family dog Barney is a 13/14 yr old Cairn Terrier. A few months ago he started holding up and limping on his back left leg. The vets thought it was some arthritis and his cruciate ligament and he was on anti inflammatories, steriods and having hydrotherapy. Basically it's been getting worse and he is clearly in pain and having problems walking on the leg. We took him for an x-ray and sadly they found a tumour which is resting on his sciatic nerve and causing the pain. They said they can't cure the tumour or stop it growing but they did say that by amputating his back leg they would remove the pain/discomfort and give him another 6-9months depending on how quickly the tumour re-grows.

So the choice is either to call it a day now and have him PTS or try the surgery and give him a few more months. We are worried about putting him through the surgery as he's not young (14) and how he'd adjust to it and also worried about whether the few more months we are buying him will be quality months or whether he may find it hard? He is clearly in a lot of pain so we need to make the decision now and we just don't know what to do. He is a much loved member of our family and very special and we just want to do what's right for him.
 
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how quickly the tumour re-grows.

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Is the vet certain it will grow back?
If so, I would say goodbye now.Surgery will only prolong the inevitable(sp?).

*Hugs*
 
Sorry to hear this, but I feel if my JR was in the same position, I would PTS. I couldn't justify putting him through such a major Op. for only a few extra months. Obviously it is a tough decision and you must do what is right for your dog and yourselves. (((Big Hugs)))
 

sorry to hear about your dog. It is an awful decision to make. I'm afraid to say I would call it a day and have him PTS. I don't think the few months you may gain are worth it as your dog will have so much to adjust to. Good luck reaching your decision.

J x
 
I agree with what has been said. If it would cure him I would amputate without a doubt. But to put him through the surgery and then the distress of coping without the leg just for a few months - I don't thinki it's worth it.

A very hard decision for you though - when we love animals we want to keep them with us for as long as possible.
 
I know just how you feel. My very much loved Charlie had a tumour on his hock joint which had spread into the bone and large doses of morphine didn't control the pain. The vet said they could amputate the whole leg but as he was a very big dog by the time he recovered the cancer would probably have already spread. Without doing a painful bone biopsy there was no way of telling what sort of cancer it was and as we couldn't keep him pain free I took the hardest decision I've ever taken and had him pts. He was only 7 but at 14 your dog has had a lovely life and it would be sad to let him end his days in pain.
 
i personally would have him PTS however sad it sounds you are doign the est thing. my dog was 12 and found recovering from being spayed hard enough! and she was very very healthy before she got her infection! but its only a few months inst it! personally i wouldnt say its worth it chick. ut your decision rmember go with what YOU think! [[[hugs]]]
 
If it was a young dog I would not hesitate to amputate, however I wouldn't put an old dog through it.

My old dog had a tumour inside her nose. The vet said she could operate and possibly give her another 6 months, however I let it progress until I knew the time was right and had her PTS at home.

Could you give your dog a few happy weeks dosed up on lots of painkillers and then PTS when you are ready.
 
I think you have to look at your dogs quality of life. Would he adjust to having three legs or would he find it stressful at his age? I think I agree with everyone else and make the decision to have him pts now. Tough decision to make for you. My heart goes out to you.
 
Thank you very much all of you for your responses. It really is heartbreaking and just so awful, my Mum and I have been talking it over for hours and I guess because we are emotionally involved we find it hard to make a decision. However from reading all your objective responses it does seem clearer what we have to do. It had been in our minds but just too hard to admitt it. He's a very loved little dog and while we've had a lot of dogs he's been our "special" one and part of our lives for so long so letting go is very hard.

Anima it will def re-grow but they just don't know how fast, they predict in 6-9months it will spread again.

Thistle, he has been on very strong painkillers for 3 months and they are not really helping. Also they seem to be causing him stomach upsets now which is making things a little hard too.

We are going to give Barney's breeder a call as we've kept in contact with her since we bought him as she will def give a good honest opinion too.

This is the special little man himself who may not be with us for much longer:

IMG_0455.jpg
 
Looking at this deep brown eyes shows he is very much loved little dog... It brought tears in my eyes reading your pilight, I have 9 month old JRT pup on my side which made me bit more emotional.
I have been through PTS stages with my previous dogs... Freud for one had fast growing tumour in his stomach, the vet did say he'll remove it but can't gurattee if it would come back, Freud already gave me the pleading eyes and i knew i wouldn't see him again after he had gone in for biopsy, the vet rang while Freud was under GA He said it was advanced and already spread to his liver, he probably only had few months, so i let him go rather than put him through another few months of pain and suffering. He was only 10. I reckon your Barney would thank you for putting him out of pain.

Lots of hugs and would think of you and your family at times like this...
 
He looks really sweet and special and I'm so sorry for you. Your heart will ache for a while but better to know that you've done right by him. It's been said on here before but I think it fits this situation............better to let him go a week too soon than a day too late.
 
yes he is so loved and he knows it. He has been such a strong healthy little dog up until now so it's just so hard to accept it. We had to let his sister go last year after she went blind and she just wasn't coping...that was also a heartbreaking decision but it did feel like the right thing to do as she had no quality to her life. I think it's just harder with Barney as apart from the leg problem he's still sparky and cheeky...but he does spend a lot of the time in pain...I think we know what we have to do...it's just so devastating to consider we will be losing a much loved family member...thank you for your kind words...
 
What a sad e-mail, if he was mine I would be having this dilema too. From the outside its easy to say PTS. You have given him a loving home and ensuring his last time is pain free is the kindest thing you can do. My hweart goes out to you.
 
I think in our hearts we know the right thing. He's at the vet at the moment just to make the final decision but we spoke to his breeder last night and her words were very comforting and helpful. She said she breed her dogs to bring love into peoples' homes and he has done that for 14 yrs and now we need to reciprocate that by doing what is right for him. She said he's an OAP and doing the surgery would be hard for him to adjust to and she wouldn't consider it...so the decision is made
frown.gif
We're all devasted and gutted. We've decided to have him PTS at home where he won't be scared (as he hates the vet) and we'll all be around him. My heart is breaking at the moment...
 
Exactly the same happened to my friends GSD. They discovered it whilst the dog was sedated for an x-ray. They didn't bring him around and put him down.

The tumour was cancerous and the life expectancy was very short. They were also given the option of amputating the leg - but my friends did not want to go down that road.

Very sad - but what I would have done as well tbh.

Your dog is such a wonderful age - why put it through the stress of surgery, and losing the leg?
 
If it is only going to give him a further 6-9months then in all honesty I would PTS..

If you were to answer honestly would those 6-9months be for him or for you/your family? I think it would be the latter - which if he came through the op OK and adjusted to having one less limb then is it worth the extra month/pain/struggle/cost!

I think the kindest thing for the dogging is to PTS... he will no longer be in pain nor will he have to adjust.

HUGS to you all.

Sorry just seen your lastest reply - HUGS and I think you and your family have made a VERY brave and honourable decision. xx
 
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