Hi everyone,
I adopted my sweet girl Indy nearly 13 years ago, on the 26th of July. Indy has followed me everywhere, from house move to house move, during seasonal work, on holidays... basically, she's been my life companion for all these years. She's had quite a few health issues; currently, she has a heart murmur that was stable until recently, but it seems to have worsened (the heatwave didn't help). She also has a slipped disc that was diagnosed a year ago: she was paralysed for two days before getting back to almost normal.
Given her age and especially her heart condition, surgery isn't an option.
She's been on Gabapentin since then, but I can see things are getting worse lately: she falls over often, her back legs are always shaking, she growls at nothing, and when she's lying down, she kicks her paws out at the air. She’s started being very clingy, following me around even more than usual. This morning she came and scratched at the side of the bed to get under the duvet with me (which she doesn't usually do anymore) and her back end was shaking a lot. But as soon as it's time for a walk, she's full of beans! Obviously, I carry her: she doesn't do stairs or jump, and she's even had an osteopathy session.
The vet told me last week that she's lost a lot of muscle mass in her back legs and that it's only going to get worse until she's eventually paralysed.
Has anyone else dealt with this kind of illness? Do you have any advice? How do you judge when a dog is in too much pain and start thinking about putting them to sleep...? Is it the vet who brings it up?
I'm scared to leave her alone, especially in the evening; I can tell she's not coping well. At the same time, I can't take her everywhere like I used to because it’s too risky... Other than that, she's still got plenty of spirit: when we're out, people think she's a puppy!
Thanks in advance for your replies.
