I feel awful writing this but we are considering having our dog put down because he appears to be losing control of his bowels.
He is an 11 yr old lurcher (will be 12 in October). His back legs are becoming increasingly weak and he needs help to get up from a lying position on the floor - though he can usually get on and off the sofa ok still! He has had drugs for this but they have been of no benefit. He wobbles along and can now only manage short walks.
Worse than this is the poo. He is walked in the evening but it is becoming increasingly common for us to come down at about 7am and find he has pooed. Sometimes it is on the sofa and he seems totally unaware (washable cover, fortunately) but other times he has fallen in it and is lying in it unable to get up .
He still has a good appetite and is as laidback as ever. He also still gets up with a pleased, alert-looking face when a walk is mentioned, and gets up to lie in wait under ds2's chair for pickings while we eat. He is still himself in many ways, but it is awful having all this poo to deal with - especially with two young children in the house. Sometimes he has even gone out then come in and messed.
Brutal as it seems, I am thinking ahead to our summer holiday and wondering whether we should take action before then. I could not put him in kennels as I would worry he would be lying in poo for periods of time, but I feel this is too much for family and friends who have had him before to deal with.
Are we awful to even be thinking this? How do you know when enough is enough? Only other dog we have had, the decision was made for us by the vet when he went for his annual boosters and, tbh, he was in a simialr state with the wobbly legs. He was, however, almost totally incontinent, whereas this dog still does not wee indoors (has always had a tardis-like bladder though!)
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The doghouse
I don't know how much more we can take - older dog pooing
20 replies
lecce · 26/05/2013 22:05
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