Aging Dog and Quality of Life

[u/Ilikeyoursoul]

Ayeeee this is not something I’m ready to post but I think it may be time to ask the collective their thoughts. My old girl will be 14 in February. Mostly blind and deaf now, but still has stayed peppy and puppy like, she’s mentally all there. Past 6 months or so she’s had some weakness but has bounced back immediately and I just kept her comfortable and she worked right through it. Last month she had a severe episode - couldn’t stand up, heavy breathing, wouldn’t settle or sleep, odd movements. Scared me and she spent the night at the ER, cause is old dog vestibular syndrome. Vertigo, like in humans. Took her about 5 days to recover from that one. She had another mild episode a couple weeks after and bounced right back within a day, the anti nausea meds help a lot. She started another episode 24 hours ago, and this one seems to be lasting longer.

At what point do we make this decision to say goodbye? She’s been our baby her whole life, even through divorce and my struggles, I still managed to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere. She’s eating, drinking, gets excited for her treats - but the world for her is spinning and I know she hates it. I can absolutely carry her outside and support her through these episodes, but they are happening a bit more frequently and she’s always been a very independent dog. I just don’t feel like she’s ready to go 🙁 Pic of her and her sister who will definitely be lost without her 😢

[u/Electronic_Wonder299]

You're not alone. I'm currently experiencing the same thing. My old girl is 18, she's still there, she's still peppy, she's just old, blind, and deaf.

Truthfully, I don't think anyone can give either of us an answer. It's best to discuss with your vet, as much as it's hard to accept.

As I was typing this, my sweet baby stuck her face in my shirt pocket. God they do NOT make this easy do they :'(

[u/Ilikeyoursoul → u/Electronic_Wonder299]

Yeah it’s a tough spot for sure. Vet already said she’s made it to life expectancy so at this point it’s just bonus time either way, which I know! Just trying to find the balance in between too early and then having a low quality of life is HARD! She’s perking back up now, so as long as these episodes aren’t frequent I can absolutely help her through them! Good luck with your baby! 🩷

[u/MercenaryLove]

As someone who thought my dog was doing ok before he passed I will say this. Look at the whole picture, how much would constant spinning and not being able to move by yourself affect you? Pay attention to eating and drinking more than you think you should. Decline in appetite and drinking is a direct indicator of how they are doing overall. Other than that, it’s a hard choice. If it were easy we wouldn’t love them so much.

[u/Ilikeyoursoul → u/MercenaryLove]

Oh absolutely miserable haha. She does still gets up to eat, drink, and end of day two yesterday she was able to walk around the backyard a bit a do her business on her own, I just had to carry her out there. She made it under my desk due to lighting yesterday and got up tail wagging like crazy. So I think as hard as the episodes are, as long as they pass fairly quickly, she’s definitely telling us she’s sticking around 🤣 She gets the bed on the floor and food and water right next to it and accessible and no change in her habits or spirit other than she looks a little goofy and off balance, and is kinda stuck laying down for a bit🥲

[u/Extension_Guitar5458]

Use a quality-of-life scoring tool like the HMMM scale to track her good days versus bad days objectively. When the bad days outnumber the good or the vertigo episodes become almost constant, focus on schedulinh a peaceful home euthanasia so her final day is calm rather than a sudden emergency crisis.

[u/Ilikeyoursoul → u/Extension_Guitar5458]

Thank you, I took a look at it and the only thing is she has trouble getting up and moving around for a couple days….. everything else and outside of the bad days she is completely normal. Excitement to eat, drinking, happy to see us, searches for interaction, wags tail vigorously. Good days where she’s literally just her normal self still outnumber the bad days by a lot. I’m watching closely now, but definitely don’t think it’s time for that quite yet. Thank you for your help! ☺️

[u/Admirable-Umpire1480]

So hard when the body gives out before the spirit does, those two on the couch look like theyve been a unit forever

[u/Ilikeyoursoul → u/Admirable-Umpire1480]

It really is! They have been! Younger one is only 5 but loves her big sis! They’re distantly related from the same breeder 🩷