File :-(, x, )
Emotional question here Anonymous
Hey /an/. The picture is my dog of 14 years, Reggie. It's a few months out of date, just to note.

Now, Reggie has gone completely blind, and I'm beginning to think his hearing might be going out too, but I'm not sure on that. He's also got a condition related to his heart that is causing fluid to build up in his belly. I take him to the vet every so often to get that fluid drained. From what I can tell, he's not in any pain from the buildup.

But here's where it gets complicated. He's on medicine for the condition, which is supposed to keep the fluid buildup to a minimum. The fluid draining bill plus the meds add up to be roughly 300 dollars a month, which is eating into my funds.

I love the dog a lot. He was my first pet who's welfare was entirely up to me. My family and friends tell me I should have him put down, but I can't bring myself to do it just yet. If I knew he was in pain, it wouldn't be such a problem, y'know?

You all know your things, and I've received good advice from you before. Anyone else been in a situation like this before? Love of the dog versus to cost of taking care of him?
>> Anonymous
He's a Cocker, Black Lab, and Rottwieler mix, just to note. And no, I can never manage to spell that breed right.
>> Anonymous
I wouldn't put him down unless
A) You go into debt.
B) He is in pain.
>> Anonymous
Cost has never really been an issue for me when it comes to my animals, because I'm smart and have a good job and would gladly go without a lot of things for my pets. My dog of 13 years had to be put down last October because she had cancer and it finally got to the stage where she was in pain despite taking methadone and it was cutting off her breathing.

When you're in a situation like this, you need to ask yourself three questions:
- Is he interested in food and water?
- Is he still glad to see/hear/smell/be touched by me?
- Is he mobile enough to enjoy life?

If the answers to all these questions are yes, and he's not in significant pain, then I'd let him keep going on and doing his thing. Blindness and deafness aren't that big an issue if the dog's still getting plenty of attention and enjoys your company.

So I'd say it's not time yet to have him put down. You should shop around and see if there are other, smaller clinics in your area you could go to that might perform the draining cheaper. You also might be able to change his diet to prevent water buildup, maybe a prescription dog food? I don't know. But the bottom line is it's his happiness, not your wallet, IMO. <3 It's always a hard thing to deal with, I know.
>> Anonymous
Sell it to a Chinese Restaurant they will take good care of him
>> Anonymous
Just got back from work, thanks for the response.
>>258410
He still drinks a lot of water, but really doesn't eat his kibble. It's the same stuff the vet has, but store brand so it's cheaper. The only way we can get him to eat his medicine is to crush the pills and mix it with some wet food. Other than that, he still enjoys attention, and waddles his way around the house. I know it's wrong, but it's hilarious when he bumps into things.

One other thing about his condition, or maybe just due to his age, but when he sleeps he occasionally will urinate, oftentimes laying in the puddle. I don't know if it's due to the fluid buildup compressing his bladder, or if it's just a sign of old age. I'll ask the vet at his next appointment.

Thanks, /an/!
>> Anonymous
>>258397

I think you should think about putting him down sometime next month. There is no way the continued buildup/drain cycle isn't stressing out other parts of his body, and if he is blind as well as deaf, how is he to look after himself when you're out? You'll be required to spend increasing amounts of time just supervising him, only to feel an incredible amount of guild if you see him spread out somewhere in the house after you've just woken up or returned home.

I once thought I did the right thing by paying for ultimately useless treatments and deluding myself that my dog was 'happy', then went through massive amounts of guilt when I returned from work one day and he was on a cold tile floor with his tongue hanging out.

Ultimately, you're just doing all this for yourself, not the dog. Don't delude yourself, OP.
>> Anonymous
>>258607
>>if he is blind as well as deaf, how is he to look after himself when you're out?

I don't know if I agree with that... I know someone who had a dog like that, and he would play with you and get so excited when people were around. Otherwise he'd go out into the paddocks and get lost rolling in cow patties.

Don't let that dildo make you feel guilty if you shouldn't be feeling guilty, OP. You know your circumstances so you can only judge when the right time comes.
>> Anonymous
>>258607
>>how is he to look after himself when you're out?
Most of the time, he spends the day sleeping. He wakes up when I move around the house, and has been known to sit at the door and howl whenever I'm out in the front yard. I don't let him follow me into the front due to lack of fence and I don't want him wandering into the street.
>> Anonymous
>>258397

Not a vet but I think the heart condition here is right heart failure. Even humans with heart failures don't tend to survive longer than 5 years and in your dog's case its definitely much shorter.

Main thing here is does your dog still enjoy being alive. If you think he is then let him keep going. If you don't think he is, then let him be. Not sure if dogs have thing that they want to do before they pass on, but just keep him well and happy.
>> Anonymous
>>258615

But their dog that was "like that" wasn't 14 years old and was having a heart condition that caused fluid to build up now, was it?
For all we know, THAT dog was blind and deaf from a younger age and was able to adjust well to the household. What are you going to do, tell every single cancer patient to pooh-pooh their condition because Old Mrs Fizzard from the road down Becky's place got cured of her melanoma?

Do you think the dog understands, or is thankful about the vet procedures? Do you think the dog understands the amount of time OP spends on the dog? Do you think the dog is truly happy about its own quality of life? How about turning it around - do you think the dog would have been happy to know that once it carked itself, it left its owner some $5000 in debt?

The point of those questions is, that ultimately you can't answer them, and neither can the OP, really. OP's ultimately paying for the dog to live because of OP's feelings for the dog, and has zilch to do with "as long as the dog's happy".

Also, OP's a damn liar. If the dog is not in any pain from the buildup, then OP would not be paying for a costly procedure and meds for what would effectively be just cosmetic surgery. Whatever it is, the dog IS suffering whenever it builds up beyond a certain point, and it must be building up pretty fast.
>> Anonymous
>>258624
No, you idiot. The dog was significantly old and had tumours all over it, and I lost a lot of respect for that person because they left it way too long. But before those tumours became out of hand, the dog had a good quality of life.

If you think I'm saying that cancer patients should pooh-pooh their condition, are you saying that cancer patients should be shot as soon as they're diagnosed?
>> Anonymous
>>258625

Most cancer patients stop getting the treatments if it isn't going to cure their cancer. This isn't about shooting them once they're diagnosed: This is about "well gee, it's not going to get cured, so when will you withdraw treatment?"

You're being the stupider, irresponsible idiot by telling someone to go into debt for their dog that's going to die very, very soon, with or without those treatments.

If the damn treatments and medicine would make the dog better, I would say go for it, but it's NOT making the dog better. It's not even maintaining the dog's current health. It's just putting off the inevitable, and it probably isn't doing a good job of it.

Surely, you're not going to sit here and insist that this dog will most likely live until 20 provided the $300-a-month bill was paid up?
>> Anonymous
>>258631
I'm not arguing this with you in this nice Anon's thread. You're being an overly emotional, irrational dick.
>> Anonymous
>>258641

So, because OP is such a NICE person, you believe OP deserves to go into debt for costly, useless treatment for an incurable condition that will kill the dog very, very soon, because...oh I know this one, it's because you live under a bridge and you think it's funny to troll someone into thinking their dog has a chance, then laughing at the thought of them BAWWWWING while in financial hardship later on.
>> Anonymous
>>258641

No matter how nice OP is, or how much you accuse me of being irrational and emotional, it's not going to magically increase the chances of prolonging that dog's life, nor will it magically improve OP's financial situation.

The treatment isn't making the dog better.
The treatment isn't even maintaining the dog at its usual health, hence the failed vision and failing hearing.

OP should put the dog down. There's nothing irrational or emotional about it.
>> Anonymous
OP
i think your best option is this:
give yourself a months time before putting it down, during this time, you spend as much time as possible with him and make it the best last month possible
his condition is already pretty bad and honestly, the dog COULD be suffering but you dont know it