feistyS2K

I have this same problem. My soon-to-be-9-y/o Pug was diagnosed with Malignant Melinoma last month. He is vibrant and happy go lucky as ever after his surgery to remove the tumor, but the vet already stated she couldn't get all of it and it's aggressive... translation: he doesn't have a very good prognosis. She estimates 6 months MAYBE. She told me to pay attention to when he doesn't eat anymore and moves slower. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it when that time comes.

My parents had 2 un-spayed Pomeranians that lived to be 16. Both had cancer, blind, and deaf. My mom said the ONE thing she regretted was not putting them to sleep earlier. She says she looks back now and hates that she let them suffer.

How do you look at the dog you've loved as a child and say to yourself "I think it's that time"?

thanx a lot guys

1036AP2

how do you guys feel about burying your dog in your backyard?
we have a half acre backyard and shasta loves this yard.
she roams the land all day. sleeps in the rain, she loves it
the other 4 dogs that we lost, we ended up cremating...
we were thinking about burial...

thoughts?

Kyras

When Kyras died we had him cremated and took his ashes to his favorite place, Kennedy Meadows in the Eastern Sierras.

Here's an idea you might be interested in... We had Whiskey and Kyras, and they were best buds. When Kyras died, he was at the vet's office so I took Whiskey to the vet's to see him, dead. I had heard that dogs will keep looking for the missing animal/friend, if they don't know what happened. Whiskey was quite freaked out, shaking, and wanted to leave, but she knew Kyras was dead. She did not look for him. She was very depressed, like we all were in my family of four.

1036AP2

^we did have similar situations that happened to us when we tragically lost our dogs... the other dogs did freak out.

when we lost chewy the pom, we found her dead lying on the floor. we knew that shasta tried protecting her cause when we got home, we noticed that shasta was limping pretty bad. she was about 9 years old then. against a 2 year old rott in his prime, i know there was little that shasta could do... it makes me so sad and angry at the same time thinking about this.... the other dogs gathered when we got home, they were freaked out... they came into to smell her and lick her a few times. it is all a blur now, we cried our eyes out that night...

that's for the info

kreestofur

that really sucks to be in a position like yours. i agree with someone's quote from another post that if the dog is suffering more than living, then it's time.

i've personally never had to put my dog to sleep. but last year, my dog died. she was sick before and all but never thought she was suffering. but one day, she was really sick and breathing hard. even before we took her to the vet, i knew the vet would tell me to put her to sleep. i just knew for some reason that that day would be the end. so i was hugging my dog and crying just as a last goodbye. then my father was driving to the vet while i was in the backseat of the car and RIGHT in front of the vet's place she died in my arms. i looked at it as almost a favor she did for me so that i wouldn't have to make the decision to put her to sleep, but it was pretty dam heart wrenching to literally have my dog die in my arms.

i wish you and shasta the best. i think you'll know when the right time is... and just put your dog's interest at heart first.

biki (toy poodle) getting her bath.

psychoazn

This is the saddest thread I've read in quite a while. My eyes are tearing up as I read this thread...