how did your big dog's last months/years play out?

[Anonymous]

I'm curious what other's experiences have been. My beloved dog is getting old, and while he's still relatively healthy and regularly bounds through the woods despite some arthritis, I'm trying to prepare myself for what lies ahead. He's big -- over 90 lbs and lanky -- so our ability to transport him if and when he starts to get sick is pretty limited.

We were at the vet recently, and he has a few lumps that might be benign fatty tumors, but might be something worse. They aren't currently causing problems for him, but of course they make me worry. I decided not to have them biopsied as I can't imagine doing any sort of aggressive treatment at this point (he's 13) and I'd rather spend our limited "pet funds" on medications that make him feel better (painkillers and dasaquin for his arthritis), but I hope I'm doing the right thing.

So how did the end of your dog's life play out? Do you wish you did anything differently?

[Anonymous]

So sorry, OP, this time can be hard. Is he a Lab? Labs are full of fatty tumors.

We lost our first Lab, a little bigger than your dog, at 13. He was fine and dandy one day and barely responsive the next day. He had a tumor next to his heart. We drained the fluid to better assess if there was anything else we could do and make him comfortable, and put him to sleep the next day.

Our second Lab, much smaller at about 55 pounds, lived until she was 15, and died in almost exactly the same manner.

[Anonymous]

My dog was medium sized--45-50 pounds, but hopefully relevant. She was 16 when she died. The only thing I would have done differently is had her put to sleep sooner. I feel like we waited two or three weeks too long and the pain/senility was too much. My DH disagrees, because she was healthy right up until she wasn't, but I still feel bad.

Now my other dog, she is 17, again 45-50 pounds, and she has mild arthritis. We do the pain meds. She also had a malignant melanoma removed last year, and we are doing the waiting game seeing of the cancer spread or returned.

We, too, chose not to go aggressive with treatment besides removal, and we did do the biopsy just so we knew what we were dealing with.


Our vet gave us good advice: when they show pain, they're in a lot of pain, and when they can no longer do doggy things, then it is time to consider options.

Just keep an eye on your dog and look for declining symptoms. Exercise as long as he will tolerate it, keep the weight in check (bad for arthritis), and