re: When did you know it was time to put your dog down?

My 15.5yr old daschund passed away earlier this year. At 14yr old he was still happy, ran around albeit slower, begged for food, got excited to see me and car rides, he was still doing great and had all his senses. But then his hearing went within a few months and had an obvious seizure around 14.5yrs old so I brought him in for a checkup. He developed a fairy significant heart murmur since his last checkup at 13yr old. He was put on heart meds and scheduled for a 1 month check up every months for the next few months. He was also janina seizures like once every 2 months for like the first 6 months. After about 6 months his kidneys were getting damaged by the heart medicine, and he was put on diuretics to flush his kidneys. He became incontinent and could no longer hold himself and had to stop sleeping with us. He would wake up 3-7 times per night laying in his own urine crying for us to help him... his seizures started happening about once or twice a month at this point... but he was still active, eating, excited, and happy so I never made a decision. The last month he had alot of seizures. The 2nd to last week he had a seizure daily. Then he had the worst one so far, it was on a Thursday, he barely moved after that one, he would only get up like once a day to get something to drink. He would stare at me so scared and confused at what was happening. I'm 26 and only child and had him since I was 10, he was my best friend nearly my whole life and I didn't know when to bring him. But that Saturday we had decided to bring him to the vet to put him down and free him from the suffering... he passed away that night while I was at the store, I wasn't with him and my little brother watched the final seizure take his life... he died in pain screaming before his heart stopped, and I wasn't there... I didn't help him when I should have, he suffered longer than he should have and he wasn't with me when he left...

Don't be selfish and pay attention to when it's time for your friend to pass on. I cried more for that dog than anything in my life...

Had to put my boy Buddy down last summer. He was 13 years old, but had larygeal paralysis. When their quality of life suffers, whether they are in pain, or having trouble breathing and eating like Buddy, you have to make the call if you love them. I truly feel for you, brother. It is gut-wrenching, and leaves a hole in your heart.

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After a bit of research I learned that in many cases the bladder shuts down first. Then other organs do the same afterwards.

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Pretty much what was happening to the last dog I had. She was an inside dog and she started by taking a while to get up in the a.m. to go outside.

Then one day she just stayed on her bedding and I could smell the urine as she had peed in the bed-----something she had NEVER done before and I knew something was very wrong.

Took her to the vet and was told she was loaded with tumors and really didn't have much longer to live. I took her home and she perked up for a few days, but then it was evident she was going downhill again, so I did what needed to be done.

It's never easy losing a pet.