Hard decision - kinda sad

kayla's mama wrote: I have posted before about my dog having seizures. Well she had another episode today. Right know she is at the vets office on a valume drip. We are contemplating putting her down. It is really hard, but we have to look out for whats best for Kayla. Our biggest fear is Kayla will be sitting minding her own business and Molly (the dog) will have a seizure and fall on Kayla. I asked my mom what her opinion was and she said to go ahead and put her down cuz a drug induced dog is an unpreditable and unhappy dog. I would like other input as to what ya'll would do in this situation. She is 5, on 5-6 pills of phenobarbital and 1/2-1 pill of valume as needed per day. What makes it more diffuclt is she was our baby when we couldn't have babies. I would really like some input. Thanks

luvbug00 replied: I'm SOO SORRY!!! As a vet tech I say put the poor baby down. I think it would be a blessing to the dog who doesn't sound like the quality of life is good. If it were me or my clients I'd reccomend it.

amynicole21 replied: Oh no I'm so sorry. What a difficult decision. I agree that her quality of life doesn't sound like it's going to improve. I think that I would put her down, but it would break my heart

gr33n3y3z replied: Well its a tuff call bc my friends dog has the samething also and they think her dogs cause was bc he was hit by a car.

If they get the right dose for your dog he will have less seizures but its a time process.

I was at her house when he went in to one and she my friend froze and I had to help him its very scary to watch that happen.

I'm sure you will make the choice.

MissyKay2005 replied: I am so sorry to hear you have to make this choice! I am a animal lover and know how hard it is to have to let go of a pet. I would have to say that if she is suffereing being alive then put her down. If she can lead a normal life then try to find someone who can take care of her for you maybe. I really wish you the best and my heart goes out to you. A million hugs your way...

mckayleesmom replied: I would reccomend putting her down for a number of reasons.....1. She is suffering and probably unhappy 2. You don't want Kayla to get older and get attached to a sick dog...what if you had no choice but to put her down and Kayla is old enough to understand or miss the dog? 3. She might be unpredictable during those seziers or become tempermental because of the pain she is in.....you don't know if she might snap and maybe bite.....Im not saying she is a bad dog...but meds do funny things and you don't want to have Kayla around and accidentally get bit.

Im sorry about your doggy.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: This is one of the hardest decisions you may ever have to make. I do not envy you at all. As a former vet tech, I can tell you that putting a dog to sleep is painless. As an owner, I can say it hurts like heck (emotionally). Here is a small poem that helped me when I had to decide to euthanize one of my darling pets. This is a tough call, but your fears are totally understandable. Please don't feel guilty about your decision, whatever it is. You have obviously put a lot of time and emotional energy into this.

RAINBOW BRIDGE (Anon)

"Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hill for all our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill or old are restored to health and vigour; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when your and your special friend finally meet, you cling to each other in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together........"

mom21kid2dogs replied: I'm currently walking this walk with my Bailey~ to you! It is so hard to know what to do. As Lisa mentioned, it can take time to get them regulated. My vet doesn't even start monitoring for therapuetic blood levels until the dog has been on meds at least a month. How long has Molly been having seizures? How often does she have them? Do you notice any patterns (she always has them while sleeping, certain times of day, etc)? How is her behavior before and after a seizure? Any behavioral changes ( more aggressive, hyper, tired, etc)? How long do her seizures last? Are his seizures different on meds (shorter in duration, frequency, etc)? I'm assuming your vet has run blood tests to rules out any common & sometimes treatable medical causes such as liver problems or cancer. We also took in a list of every plant in our back yard to rule out incidental poisioning. This might be a consideration if they are sudden onset or seem worse after he was outside, etc. Like you have likely done, we've racked our brains and tried to rule out ever cause we can think of. At this point Bailey is diagnosed with idopathic epilepsy. The only cause that hasn't been examined is a brain tumor because my vet said in 26 years of practice she has never seen one in a dog younger than 2 (Bailey is 20 months). After $300 in vet bills in August, we decided to forgo the expensive MRI at this point.

My vet told me that appropriate maintence for seizures is two seizues a year~meds rarely "cures" them, just manages them. Currently, Bailey has been seizure free for 8 days after the vet doubled his phenobarbitol dose. We are guardedly hopeful. He is neither unpredictible or unhappy at this point. She also was very honest with me about seizures in dogs. Apparently some dogs experience significant behavior changes that manifest themselves as behavoir aggressive seizures or aggressive behavior after a seizue (aggression during a seizure can be common if a dog is touched or disturbed in mid seizure). She also said that she is treating (in conjunction with OSU hospital) a GSD that is on $300 worth of meds a month and still seizuring monthly. She had no qualms in telling me that if this were her dog she'd put it down.

Obviously, your heart is in the right place~your daughter's safety. If you continue with treatment a little while longer to see how it goes, you may need to seperate Molly from Kyla at all times. Olivia is almost 5 and able to remove herself from the situation (and has) if Bailey starts seizing but Kyla is much younger so much more vunerable. Still, it's pretty hard on Olivia to watch her beloved pet in m,id seizure~they are darn terrifying for me, let alone her and I hate that.

In the end, only you can decide what you can reasonably do and afford. Molly's quality of life is certainly a huge part of your decision here, too. Does she appear unhappy to you? Is she next to unconcious due to the drugs? Are the seizures getting worse (or not better) despite treatment? If any of these are true or she has become aggressive post seizure, putting her down is likely the most loving choice. I'm so, so sorry that you (or anyone) ever has to face this decsion when it comes to a beloved pet. It's the price we pay, I guess for allowing them into our hearts and families, darn it. Feel free to PM me if you wat to talk further~I totally feel your pain here!!

kayla's mama replied: She had her first seizure in Jan. of this year. Then she was fine then in March she had another one. They went ahead and but her on phenobarbital. She did good for a while then in June July Aug and now Sept she has had 4-5 seizures per episode. About one episode every 2-4 weeks. Since shes been on the phenobarb she has become very lagarthic and put on some weight. After a seizure her behavior changes. She becomes playful like a puppy and into everything or she becomes distant and not wanting to be bothered.


Thank you guys for being honest with your replies. DH is having a hard time with making this decision.

coasterqueen replied: I had to decide whether or not to put Dh's FAVORITE cat to sleep a few years ago while he was out of town on business. It was an awful decision and I had to make it by myself because Dh was not reachable via phone at the time. Our cat was very sick and apparently had diabetes really bad. I ended up putting the cat to sleep. One of the hardest decisions ever but I know it was the right thing to do.

A&A'smommy replied: OH hun that is a HORRIBLE decision to have to make (i'm sorry about your dhs cat too ) In January my dog of 13 years had cancer and was having seizures (it had spread to her brain) well we had to have her put down it was HORRIBLE!! ((((((((BIG HUGS))))))))

Aprilnewbee replied: Idahoboo
that.was.a.beautiful.poem.
I.sent.it.to.my.sister.who.just
had.to.put.her.dog.down
she.had.tumors.and.was.abused
by.a.previous.owner.so.she.was
paralized.down.the.left.side.of.her
body.and.she.was.just.a.sad.old.
dog.
it.broke.my.sister's.heart.to.have.to
put.her.to.sleep

For.everyone.else.read.the.poem
Rainbow.Bridge
you'll.cry,..I.did

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: When I worked in a vet office, we sent a framed copy of that to every pet owner who just lost a critter. Just our way of saying we were sorry. I have always loved it. And it still makes me cry.

kayla's mama replied: idaho boo....

Sorry I didn't say anything about the poem. As you know my mind was not all here. The poem was very nice. It made me shed a couple of tears, alright alot of tears. Thank you

aspenblue1 replied: That is a hard decision to make. I had to put one of my dogs down in April 2004. It was horrible. He had issues his entire life mega esophogus. He was not supposed to live to be one but he lived to be 4. Lots of meds but he was a happy dog. Well in April he started breathing heavy and after having the air drained out of his chest 2 times, he had air leaking from his lungs. I talked to the vet and decided it was what was best for him. I am getting upset just typing this.

I just wanted to send some hugs. What ever decision you make will be the right one for your family.