12 yr old dog suffering with hernia.

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Folks I have a 12 year old mixed terrier, a family pet who has been suffering with her bowls and a perineal hernia of her back passage for the past two years.

I have been able to maintain her problems fairly decently up until a few months ago. We have no pet insurance for her and have the guts of 700 euros spent on vet visits within the last few months which is far beyond what I can reasonably afford.

I have tried everything under the sun to keep her condition under control with no real success. We have had her on a food additive from the vet called peridale granuales which get covered in water, and when eaten, expand in the dogs tummy supposedly making digestion and the passing of stool easier. She was on these for a few months but eventually ended up taking her off these as wasn't seeing any positive results.

For the last couple of months I have had her on a gluten free, wheat free healthy wet food which her bowls are reacting well with but unfortunately her stool is still in a solid enough state to prolapse her anal hernia resulting in her trying to pass stool all day long with leackage of blood from the back passage. I never see her passing much stool at all despite hovering "in the position" for most hours of the day.

I have tried on occasion at times when she is in real difficulties adding small amounts of olive oil to her feed to loosen her stool but this always has the opposite effect making her fully incontitent of stool within a matter of minutes.

The vet says he does not reccomend surgery to fix the hernia as with her underlying health and age, she most likely would not survive the operation. Any time I do bring the dog to see the vet, there is not much more he can do but give her either oral or injected inflammatories to help ease her problem.

I'm feeling very s**t about her situation and looking at her living in pain with this problem every day and not having any answers to help her.

Despite her medical issues and her age, she is still a very happy active dog and so I don't want to have to put her to sleep prematurely but don't like seeing her suffer either.

A very tough situation. If anyone cares to comment or offer any advice, it would be very much appreciated as like any family pet, she is nearly more one of the family rather than a pet.

Thanks

aonb

Its so hard to look at a beloved pet in trouble.
I feel very sorry for you
We had ongoing medical problems with our elderly dog last year; it was torture. Dementia, Bowel and Bladder incotinence towards the end too."Luckily" for us, the decision to have him put to sleep was made for us when his health suddenly deteriorated.

Whatever you have to do in your dogs best interests you will do, because you love your dog. If the dog is straining constantly, it must be exhausting for her. If you cannot afford to anything more for her after doing as much as you and your vet can, dont beat yourself up. The time will come when health-wise and financially the decision to have her put to sleep might have to be made. Again, dont beat yourself up. You love your dog, you will do what is best for both of you.

I know people have had great successes with psyllium husk to provide fibre in their dogs diet. You could try it - checking with your vet beforehand. Coconut oil - a spoon in her food every day might also be worth trying. Its so very very difficult to know what to do when she is active and happy.

Best wishes!

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aonb wrote: »

Its so hard to look at a beloved pet in trouble.
I feel very sorry for you
We had ongoing medical problems with our elderly dog last year; it was torture. Dementia, Bowel and Bladder incotinence towards the end too."Luckily" for us, the decision to have him put to sleep was made for us when his health suddenly deteriorated.

Whatever you have to do in your dogs best interests you will do, because you love your dog. If the dog is straining constantly, it must be exhausting for her. If you cannot afford to anything more for her after doing as much as you and your vet can, dont beat yourself up. The time will come when health-wise and financially the decision to have her put to sleep might have to be made. Again, dont beat yourself up. You love your dog, you will do what is best for both of you.

I know people have had great successes with psyllium husk to provide fibre in their dogs diet. You could try it - checking with your vet beforehand. Coconut oil - a spoon in her food every day might also be worth trying. Its so very very difficult to know what to do when she is active and happy.

Best wishes!

Thanks for your kind advice. I suppose my conscious would be much clearer if her health had deteriorated to the point that she had little quality of life but she still has very good energy, still interested in her walks and her food but is just in pain. I`m struggling with the morals of letting her live in pain for my own selfishness because I don`t want to let her go vs her welfare if the problem can`t be resolved and putting her to sleep.

It`s an extremely difficult decision to make. I talked to the vet on the phone earlier and he will assess her tomorrow morning to see if she is a candidate for surgery but said today based on the information I gave him over the phone that if she is not strong enough for an operation, i may have to put her to sleep.

The financial end of things is also extremely difficult as well as i have no doubt that an operation will cost a few hundred euros, which i most likely will not be able to afford. The cost of the vet visit tommorow alone is going to be difficult.

I will most certainly try her on the coconut oil and psyllium husk as I have nothing to loose by trying but with the severity of her condition, i am skeptical it will be of any benefit. Where will I pick up some of the psyllium husk? In any health food shop I presume?

aonb

If your dog is in pain, then I think the decision is made for you? So difficult, as you say, we want to keep our dog and sometimes we keep them for too long... letting go is so hard.

Talk to your vet - but if your dog is still interested in food and walking and has high energy the psyllium husk might be worth trying (yes in healthfood stores) - a cheaper option. Horrible when finances will force you to make a decision too...

If you do decide its time to let her go, you will be relieved afterwards - not having to worry about her or look at her straining or stressed or in pain - and not having to worry about the cost of keeping her going - is any pet owners worst nightmare.

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aonb wrote: »

If your dog is in pain, then I think the decision is made for you? So difficult, as you say, we want to keep our dog and sometimes we keep them for too long... letting go is so hard.

Talk to your vet - but if your dog is still interested in food and walking and has high energy the psyllium husk might be worth trying (yes in healthfood stores) - a cheaper option. Horrible when finances will force you to make a decision too...

If you do decide its time to let her go, you will be relieved afterwards - not having to worry about her or look at her straining or stressed or in pain - and not having to worry about the cost of keeping her going - is any pet owners worst nightmare.

Thanks again. I was with the vet this morning. He said that it has gotten to the stage that i have to decide to either put her forward for an operation to fix the prolapse or else put her to sleep. He was good enough to offer me a payment scheme over a six week period as I am a long term customer always paying cash which I took him up on so she will be going for surgery tomorrow morning. Its still not clear cut though as he said he will not know until he starts to operate whether the hernia can actually be fixed and reattached to the perineum or not. He said that if it`s a case that he cannot fix the problem, he will have to put her to sleep (permanently) during the op so I need to be prepared for that also. Fingers crossed. Will know the outcome by tomorrow evening.

To make matters more complicated, we also have a 6 year old dog, the pup of this dog, that I will have to make a decision on what to do with her if the other doesn't survive the operation. I never seen it as fair to keep one dog without having a second as company as sometimes we are busy and don`t get around to walking her ect.... It was the cause of my older dog who is getting operated on tomorrow to develop pretty bad depression (in my opinion) a few years back and hence why we ended up getting her another pup as company at the time. I found it worked absolute wonders at improving her mood. So if she does die tomorrow, I literally do not think I have it in me to raise her either on her own or to go through the whole process all over again of getting her another dog as company and raising both together for probably another 10 years. Financially speaking, it has been a very testing year already and will be going forward for another year because of current circumstances in the home and on that basis I may decide to re-home her meaning I would be loosing both my family pets in one go.

Not easy.

aonb

me again

Listen, last year I had 3 dogs. A 17 yr old collie, a 17yr old JRT X and this JRTs 4 yr old nephew!
The collie and the older JRT died within a few weeks of each other.
The young JRT (who we got for company for the older JRT) was totally dependant on his older "wing-men". Hes a bit stressy/anxious, and followed the older two everywhere, and was really under their wing.
When they died, I thought the young dog would be devestated and a total pain with lonliness/pining etc. NOT A BIT OF IT! Its like he never knew the other two were his best buddies. Out of sight out of mind! He is absolutely happy and fine on his own. We have a kitten now, and he's not too bothered whether she's there/not. Your dog will be fine too if your older girl doesnt make it!

Dont even think about rehoming your remaining dog until you are sorted and settled. The young dog will be happy with his humans. He will be your "only" dog! Dogs live in single-dog households all over the world happily and successfully. YOu might just consider leaving the radio on for background noise if you are leaving him for very long. He will adapt and he WILL be fine.

Do let us know how the surgery goes - fingers & everything else crossed for her!
I hope your old girl survives the surgery and the vet can do the repair.

kathleen37

Hoping all the very best for the surgery today. @aonb 's advice is excellent.

Take care