Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:50 am Post subject: Falling Down - Run Free Zac x
Hi my Lab Zak is 11 now, due to severe problems associated with the breed he was predicted not to live past his 5th birthday but has thankfully proved everyone wrong.
But now in his twilight years he is falling down almost everyday, his legs just give way sometimes the front, others the back end and occassionally all four.
My question is what is really fair on him? His wee mind is so active and he is so happy 'lying down' but even now getting up he thinks long and hard about it - to the point where he will only go to the loo before bed and will not get up any other time in the evening - so I am guessing he is in a lot of pain.
At the mo he is on max strength Previcox and gets salmon oil every day too.
I'm just wondering I'm I being cruel to him or should we wait untill getting up is just no longer an option for him I don't want to say goodbye but I don't want his old age to be total agony either.
A very very hard decision Kylia and one only you can make ultimately.
Have you spoken to the vet to see if there is anything else that can be done to help Zak?, if you have and there isn`t then it may be time to think about allowing him to go with dignity.
You will find I think that he will let you know ehn he`s had enough and wants to go but this isn`t always so and you need to make that decision for him if you feel it necassary.
You are obviously thinking hard about it as you`ve posted asking for advice, as I said we can`t say yes you should or no you shouldn`t as Zak is your boy and you know him best.
Sound advice from Mary. I would have a chat with my vet and see what they could do, or get an opinion from them or some ideas. It is very hard when you see them struggling.
A very very hard decision Kylia and one only you can make ultimately.
I agree with Mary, it's a decision that only you can make - though that doesn't mean we can't all be here to support
When you say he is falling down almost every day, do you mean just once a day or lots of times during the day?
You said Zak doesn't move around during the evening - does Zak get up and move around during the day? Is he able to go for a little walk or have a little potter around the garden?
When I've had to make "the call" it's been very much about quality of life, their chance of improving (or worsening) and any level of pain/suffering.
When we have had to make the call for ours, we have just known it was the right time. We then phoned the vet so they would come out to our home, so that we could let our dogs go at home, in peace, without having to move them.
My MIL and FIL went through this with their last lab - her back legs kept collapsing
They went with it for a while but then just knew they weren't being fair and it was time.
It's a tough tough decision. The one we all dread and the hardest one we make for our darling dogs but because we love them we do the right thing by them.
Your love for Zak shines out of your post and because you love Zak you will know when the time is right - hard as it is
Mary, Celine, Angela, Emma and Sue, thanks so much for your replies and lovely words of support.
Zak has an orthopedic bed and in the morning (surprisingly) he gets up ok, we have a Pointer puppy (9 months old) and she gets him going in the mornings , he wobbles about the house till we go to work and then they are usually out in the back garden until around 4pm, when I bring the two of them in, we give Zak a short walk (he really can only make it round our block of houses) and if the weathers good try and get him to the beach for a short swim - on the walks he falls once or twice, sometimes he'll go down on the front paws and hits his face - to which we both cringe at on the swims he is much better, always has been.
Then back in the house we bring the beds in to the living room and to be honest once he is lying down that's it, he will sometimes get into a zone of licking his paws which we try to distract him from (i'm guessing because of the pain) because it has a tendancy to then make him wretch.
On getting up to toilet before bedtime 90% of the time he stumbles down the two back steps (which aren't steep at all) the other 10% he completely falls down before I can get to him to help him - he's like a snowball rolling down the hill once he's up he just keeps going until he lands, I think if he didn't the momentum would stop and he would fall down.
Mentally he is so young at heart but his body is leaving him behind.
I hate to face all this, as he's been a great friend to me over the years and we have learnt so much together but it's something that just can't be avoided either, I think the next few months will be very telling as he has got progressively worse since Christmas, but in the meantime I will get him to the vets and see what their advice is, once again thanks for all your help and advice it's is genuinely appreciated
Hi All, well wee Zak is still going, but only.... we took him last week ready to have him PTS, the vet told us he wasn't the worst he had seen and put him on steroids, that was last Wednesday, he is not better, he has wet himself twice during the night and lay in it, he gets about sometimes on all fours but most of the time dragging him self about on his two front paws with the back paws trailing behind. Mentally he is lovely and bright for his age, ,but physically..... I just don't know when to PTS him, I can't see the steroids making things better, it's been five days since he has been on them so I thought it would have helped him get up and about but its not working.
I worry I'm letting him down if I PTS him and his mind is still active but when you can't go to the toilet with out assistance is it really a life at all... so very confused
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I don't want to say goodbye but I don't want his old age to be total agony either.
, he wobbles about the house till we go to work and then they are usually out in the back garden until around 4pm, when I bring the two of them in, we give Zak a short walk (he really can only make it round our block of houses) and if the weathers good try and get him to the beach for a short swim - on the walks he falls once or twice, sometimes he'll go down on the front paws and hits his face - to which we both cringe at 
