01-19-2016, 08:31 AM
This is not to scare you, just part of my beagle's story. He had a checkup a week before and I asked what all the lumps were on him, she said fatty deposits.
A week later after having steroid medication for a rash on his foot, he was walking towards me and collapsed. The absolute worst thing was he did that on my birthday. I thought, I'll never have a good birthday again.
But I do! It definitely stung but it just gave me a connection with him that I won't forget. The doctors wanted 10K to operate. It was hard to tell him that he was 14, and beagles expectancy is only 15 - so it wasn't "worth" it. It's hard to say money is worth more than life, but his quality of life would have suffered.
One thing I will tell you, is to get your dogs orthopeadic beds. One of my sadder memories is he wasn't moving much and sleeping a lot, I decided to buy him 3 or 4 ortho beds. He went to each of them and slept on each of them throughout the house. He obviously wanted them. Get them an ortho bed.
When the time comes, the vet will ask if she/he is having more bad days than good. That is when you know. Also obviously eating/drinking, pooping OK. When dogs decide it's time, they will go outside and not come back in.
When we brought him home from the cancer specialists, he decided to sit outside in the rain in the front yard. I covered him with an umbrella and sat there with my sister. A van drove by full of kids and slowed down, stopped, stared, then kept driving. That was the most rude thing I had ever experienced in my life. As if the adults don't understand what was happening.
With my new beagle, we will not let her suffer. It took a long time for the whole family to come to a consensus that he had to be put to sleep (almost a month of suffering). My mom especially couldn't understand it, which was the biggest broken heart of all, I couldn't convince her.
A week later after having steroid medication for a rash on his foot, he was walking towards me and collapsed. The absolute worst thing was he did that on my birthday. I thought, I'll never have a good birthday again.
But I do! It definitely stung but it just gave me a connection with him that I won't forget. The doctors wanted 10K to operate. It was hard to tell him that he was 14, and beagles expectancy is only 15 - so it wasn't "worth" it. It's hard to say money is worth more than life, but his quality of life would have suffered.
One thing I will tell you, is to get your dogs orthopeadic beds. One of my sadder memories is he wasn't moving much and sleeping a lot, I decided to buy him 3 or 4 ortho beds. He went to each of them and slept on each of them throughout the house. He obviously wanted them. Get them an ortho bed.
When the time comes, the vet will ask if she/he is having more bad days than good. That is when you know. Also obviously eating/drinking, pooping OK. When dogs decide it's time, they will go outside and not come back in.
When we brought him home from the cancer specialists, he decided to sit outside in the rain in the front yard. I covered him with an umbrella and sat there with my sister. A van drove by full of kids and slowed down, stopped, stared, then kept driving. That was the most rude thing I had ever experienced in my life. As if the adults don't understand what was happening.
With my new beagle, we will not let her suffer. It took a long time for the whole family to come to a consensus that he had to be put to sleep (almost a month of suffering). My mom especially couldn't understand it, which was the biggest broken heart of all, I couldn't convince her.
![[Image: 43325991030_4d39723a8f.jpg]](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1947/43325991030_4d39723a8f.jpg)
