Damn dog

[redsquirrel]

Well, I told you all a few months ago we found out our Rott had cancer in the bottom of his mouth...The tumor is on the bottom of his mouth growing next to his bottom teeth. We first noticed it after he was playing with his ball, and the ball was bloody. The vet gave him about 2 months before it would get bad.

We are right at 2 months right now. We went out of town for the holiday and had someone house sit. He called us Sunday morning to tell us there was several blood spots on the carpet, etc. So, since Sunday, his mouth has been bleeding off and on...leaving spots all over the house. We looked in his mouth, and the tumor has now grown to the outside of his mouth. Last night, we had to lay towels down where he sleeps to catch the blood. I woke up this morning to a huge spot on one of them.

Obviously, it's almost time to put him down. However, my husband is now saying that until his spirits are affected, we aren't doing anything. We may be miserable, but until the dog is, we will continue to deal with this. I'm pretty furious. How do we know he's not suffering right now? Why do we want to continue his life until WE can tell he's suffering?

My husband is accusing me of being selfish about this, and saying I'm not going to kill HIS dog. (He got it when we were dating) I am just in awe. Is this just MY baby I am carrying???Who the F has fed that dog, taken him on walks, and most of all- cleaned up his messes. What he is doing is selfish. Over the years, this dog has destroyed a lot just from his size. Now, we are going to deal with it for God knows how long???

[FitnessBrat]

I would say ask the vet his opinion about whether the dog is suffering or not. That way you'd have a more "expert" opinion. Usually when we want to keep animals around for as long as possible - it's for OUR benefit, which unfortunately, makes us selfish. I'm sure it's a tough situation for both of you. Losing an animal is very, very hard. I'm sorry :(

[mormonmuscle]

Well, I told you all a few months ago we found out our Rott had cancer in the bottom of his mouth...The tumor is on the bottom of his mouth growing next to his bottom teeth. We first noticed it after he was playing with his ball, and the ball was bloody. The vet gave him about 2 months before it would get bad.

We are right at 2 months right now. We went out of town for the holiday and had someone house sit. He called us Sunday morning to tell us there was several blood spots on the carpet, etc. So, since Sunday, his mouth has been bleeding off and on...leaving spots all over the house. We looked in his mouth, and the tumor has now grown to the outside of his mouth. Last night, we had to lay towels down where he sleeps to catch the blood. I woke up this morning to a huge spot on one of them.

Obviously, it's almost time to put him down. However, my husband is now saying that until his spirits are affected, we aren't doing anything. We may be miserable, but until the dog is, we will continue to deal with this. I'm pretty furious. How do we know he's not suffering right now? Why do we want to continue his life until WE can tell he's suffering?

My husband is accusing me of being selfish about this, and saying I'm not going to kill HIS dog. (He got it when we were dating) I am just in awe. Is this just MY baby I am carrying???Who the F has fed that dog, taken him on walks, and most of all- cleaned up his messes. What he is doing is selfish. Over the years, this dog has destroyed a lot just from his size. Now, we are going to deal with it for God knows how long???

Let me just first say that I am sorry for the positions you are in, both with the decision you have to make and for the problems facing your dog. My pets are like my family, and it pains me when I have to come up with the decision to put them down but I do so they don't have to suffer. I just wanted to say that I have heard from numerous vets that animals hide their pain very well so even though your husband doesn't think anything is wrong your dog could really be hurting. We had a dog that was so old that you could actually smell her flesh decomposing and we would find maggots crawling out of her flesh, and yet she never showed any signs of pain, and her spirits were never down. I hope this helps, in some way.

[blm]

I understand where you are coming from but I feel that too many pet owners prolong pain and suffering of their animals in an attempt to cling to their beloved friend/family member (even when they think that the pet is not suffering). It wold absolutely destroy me to have to make a concrete decision to end my dogs life but if he was terminally ill and visibly dying to me that is when I would have say out of respect for my companion and the years of love and happiness that he blessed my life with it's time to end the pain and give him some peace.

[redsquirrel]

I would say ask the vet his opinion about whether the dog is suffering or not. That way you'd have a more "expert" opinion. Usually when we want to keep animals around for as long as possible - it's for OUR benefit, which unfortunately, makes us selfish. I'm sure it's a tough situation for both of you. Losing an animal is very, very hard. I'm sorry :(

Well, the vet said his eating and drinking would be effected first.. That's the difficulty with where the tumor is located. Other than having trouble eating & drinking, we probably wouldn't see his spirits affected until it spreads to other parts of the body. So, he said the decision would be hard since the eating and drinking are affected, but nothing else really is....and then of course there's the blood all over.

We've been softening his hard food w/ water for the past 2 months with & adding soft food. Now, he's saying Flex's mouth bleeds whenever he eats, so now we are going to all soft food.

[bigscott]

red ,

i know sonis will probably fight you tooth and nail over his dog can understand both sides!!

i would myself put him down ! why wait till hes suffering not fair on him !!

also with you being pregnat you do not need anymore stress !! hope you guys can come to some type of a peaceful solution

[gdbear65]

check this out: Alkylglycerols - they may not put the cancer into remission but it may help and it certainly won't hurt

[redsquirrel]

red ,

i know sonis will probably fight you tooth and nail over his dog can understand both sides!!

i would myself put him down ! why wait till hes suffering not fair on him !!

also with you being pregnat you do not need anymore stress !! hope you guys can come to some type of a peaceful solution

Yep- you got it. I was just speechless when he so non-chalantly said we are going to continue to do this every day.

With this whole dog thing and me being pregnant has just brought a whole lot of issues to the surface that need to be addressed anyway...not going to be a fun night at my house tonight.

[Turbo3000]

What kind of dog? (just curious)

It is sad, and the loss is going to be painful. I suggest you do the humane thing and put him down, the dog will most likely continue to act normal. If he is on his deathbed then help him out.

[redsquirrel]

What kind of dog? (just curious)

It is sad, and the loss is going to be painful. I suggest you do the humane thing and put him down, the dog will most likely continue to act normal. If he is on his deathbed then help him out.

A Rott. He will be 9 in April.

That's the thing- since he doesn't really act like he is on his death bed in any other way, that's why my husband doesn't want to put him down yet. But, I mean the dog has to be thinking "Why do I continue to lick like this?" and, "WTF keeps coming out of my mouth?". I mean, it HAS to be getting on his nerves...and who knows if he's really in pain or not.

This decision SUCKS BALLS, BTW

[Bouncer]

i can see both sides and i dont know who is right and who is wrong to be honest.

[redsquirrel]

i can see both sides and i dont know who is right and who is wrong to be honest.

LOL...Yep, it sucks. I mean, I don't want to put the dog down, and of course I will be sad about it. The problem becomes-where do you really draw the line? and when is enough really enough?

[Bouncer]

LOL...Yep, it sucks. I mean, I don't want to put the dog down, and of course I will be sad about it. The problem becomes-where do you really draw the line? and when is enough really enough?

i think you have to look at the dog. does he look like he is pain? does he look like he is not happy? is his quality of life not good? if the answer to any of these is yes, it may be time..

[Shibby]

Isn't an animal instinct to act as strong as possible so the dog doesn't look weak and easy to take on for other animals?

[FitnessBrat]

Isn't an animal instinct to act as strong as possible so the dog doesn't look weak and easy to take on for other animals?

I was about to say something similar - an animal is going to stay as "strong" as possible, especially the big breeds. He could very well be in pain and you'd never know it. :(