End Of Life Care

As many of my regular readers know, we run a rescue and sanctuary for American Eskimo Dogs.  We do also take in other breeds if there is a need.  Right now, our main population is in the Sanctuary part of our rescue.  These dogs are unadoptable for one reason or another.  Usually it is age and health.  In some cases it is temperament.  I just read this article on Pet MD about a vet that provides hospice and end of life care for pets.   In this article she is talked about a dog whose family decided against euthanasia and to provide hospice care to let their pet pass on her own.

Many times in our rescue we have been faced with this decision.  Is the dog suffering?  Is it better to let them go as opposed to let them live out their life.  If a dog is clearly suffering, we will end the dogs suffering.  However, if a dog is comfortable and not suffering, we will take care of it until it lets us know it is time to go or it goes on its own.
 

Happy Jack Schmoozer - 2001

Take for example our Happy Jack Schmoozer.  Jack came to us in 2001 and has been in our sanctuary program since arriving.  He was born on October 1, 1997, which makes him almost 15½ years old.  Over the last several months we have noticed Jack showing signs of his age.  He has always been a stocky boy and he has lost a lot of weight.  He has cancer and is getting weak.  Jack is not showing any signs of pain or discomfort.
 

 

Happy Jack Schmoozer - 2013

 

So what would your decision be?  Jack has been with us for more than 12 years.  It’s a no brainer for us.  However for a lot of individuals it is not such an easy decision.  Many of the dogs we get in our sanctuary are senior dogs that are surrendered by their owners because they do not want to deal with taking care of a senior dog.  Nicholas Dodman, head of the Animal Behavior Department at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts, states that “Old age isn’t a disease, but a stage of life for our pets and owners to navigate”.  I couldn’t agree more.

One dog we had was named Duke.  He came to us from California.  His owner was building a new house and decided that they did not want their 18 year old dog to have accidents on their new carpet so they surrendered him to the shelter.  They asked the shelter to have the people that adopted him keep in touch with them.  Not sure about you, but I don’t know very many people that will go to an animal shelter and adopt an 18 year old dog.  A fellow rescuer asked us to take him, so of course we did.  Duke lived to be 22 years old here in our Sanctuary and he never ever had one accident in our house.  He was a wonderful dog.
 

 

The Duke

 

Many folks feel they cannot afford the care that a senior dog will need and will reach out to us to take them.  We’ve had dogs with diabetes, joint disease, cancer, blindness, etc… given over to us because the owners felt that they could not care for them properly.  Not all of those dogs have been seniors either. Carley was a young female Eskie who had gone blind quite suddenly.  Her family just didn’t know how to take care of a blind dog.  After she came to live with us we had some tests done and found out that Carley had a brain tumor.  Everyone who met Carley immediately fell in love with her.  She was such a sweet, gentle, loving soul.  She wasn’t with us for very long because of the brain tumor.  She had started to have seizures and we were treating her for them.  She died quite suddenly one night in my arms. 

 

We have taken in many senior and special needs dogs here at the rescue and each of them has lived a happy comfortable life with us until the end.  Some we have assisted and others have gone on their own.  It’s never an easy decision and not one that should be taken lightly.  The ASPCA gives some good information to frequently asked questions regarding end of life care for your pet. 

Sometimes I think end of life care decisions for animals are easier to make than they are for humans.  With animals, when they let you know it’s time, you can let them go peacefully.  It’s comforting to know that you were able to end their suffering and that they knew how much you loved them.  With the rescue, whenever we have had to let one of our babies go, we have always been right there with them, holding them, telling them how much we love them and how much we will miss them.  Everytime I have to let one of my babies go it breaks my heart.  Unfortunately, we have had to do this many more times that a normal pet owner would have to.  We know it is not easy.  Hopefully this article will give you some useful information as you make your decision on end of life care for your pet.

UPDATE: Since this blog was written, Happy Jack Schmoozer crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 3/9/13.  He is now with all our other beloved Eskie Angels.

Be Well & Be Happy,

Pet~Pourri