When to call it a day.....

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L&M

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My elderly spaniel will be 15 this year. Her sight is failing due to cataracts (vets won't do anything due to her age), is deaf, has a few ominous lumps, and occasionally her back end gives away. She can also be occasionally incontinent at night but have solved this with a dog 'nappy' which she seems happy to wear.

The positives are that she still wants to go for a short walk twice a day and eats reasonably well, and is of a cheerful, if occasionally confused, disposition.

She seems to be ageing more quickly now and her eyesight is the major concern as although she can see into the distance, can't see things right in front of her for example will walk into the patio doors when going out for wees, and can't find her food/water bowl unless it is put right in front of her nose.

All of these things can be managed but as I was taking her for a plod this evening, I started to debate with myself whether it would be better to call it a day now rather than wait for something catastrophic happening, which would ultimately be more distressing for her and us.

So I guess this is a 'wwyd' post.......
 
its difficult, but i would go by quality of life......is she distressed when she bumps into things,is she still exited to go for a walk, is she eating ok, you have said these things are not a problem so she seems to have a reasonable quality of life at the moment. when they are this old it is not a bad thing to let them go while they are still reasonably ok IMO...my lurcher had arthritis in her hips and although she was eating fine and wanting to go for a walk, she didnt want to stay out long and wasnt interested in chasing the bunnies or squirrels, as pain killers didnt seem to help i made that decision and havent regretted it for her sake but miss her like crazy and wish she was still here.....good luck and whatever you decide dont feel guilty....
 
Thanks splashgirl.

Yes, for all her ailments, I do think she has a reasonable quality of life. She is still excited for her walks, but these moments of excitement are a double edged sword as she can get over excited and take a tumble. However she gets us, shakes herself off and carries on as if nothing has happened.....she is a tough old cookie.

It is an even harder decision as she came to me through a very good friend who died of cancer, and I promised I would look after her, so feel I am having to make the decision on her behalf too.

Old age is a ****** - in the last 2 years we have lost 3 horses, my other dog and our pet goat. You would think the pain would get easier......but it doesn't.
 
At the moment it sounds like she is still having a good quality of life. When my old staffy was getting to the end ill admit she probably could have been pts a few weeks before she was, but it was hard to tell as she was still hopping out of bed to get fed and go piddle and was always generally a quiet reserved type dog but on the day before she died she did not jump up and that was a deal breaker. You know her well enough to know when it is time..they really do tell you.

We had to laugh though, on the D day she hopped up, ate a christmas dinner, tried to kill our other dog and was generally having a whale of a time. We seriously doubted our decision, but as soon as the vet saw her they gasped at how much she had deteriorated in just a few weeks (she had terminal cancer) so i know it was the right choice.
 
My old collie was a lot like your girl sounds. We kept going as she still had an interest and could get around. One day she was play wrestling with her rope and mouthing my hand like a puppy. The next day her backend failed completely and she couldn’t get up and the light drifted out of her eyes. She told us very clearly that one day she was ok and the next day she was done. I don’t feel bad about waiting, I think we did the right thing. But I wouldn’t have felt bad if we had let her go a little sooner either. Big hugs to you, whenever you decide is the right time.
 
Thank you all.

alibali that was so helpful. She came up with a score of 55 which has reassured me that she is still happy and has some quality of life......
 
I'm glad it gave you reassurance, it can be very hard to look at the situation dispassionately and see what is really happening and not either what you want or what you fear.
 
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