We once had a dog that had about one seizure per year. It also had arthritis later in life. Put her down? No. She still loved life and wagged her tail.. Put her down? No way. I don’t know about this particular dog, but sometimes the decision to put a dog down is made too hastily. This dog walked the parade walk along a row of his fellow officers.. Was he really too sick to live?
I am confident this was a decision not made lightly by all involved. . .and it was the right decision.
RIP.
German Shepherds can suffer from hip dysplasia and crippling arthritis in late life.
The question is the quality of the dog’s life. Sometimes it cannot be improved with medication or exercise and the dog is in such pain prolonging its life would increase its suffering.
We are all sorry to see Sultan go but the vets made the best possible decision under the circumstances.
Its sad to lose him though and you never want this kind of day to come as a dog lover.
He had outlived his usefulness to the police. Sorry, Rover.
For a large dog such as a German Shepard, 13 years is a long life.
If the seizures are infrequent, that is one thing. If they happen on a regular basis, that is something completely different.
I had a boxer that started to have bad seizures, and when he came out of them was prone to snapping, even at me. Not good with toddlers in the hours. And the anti-seizure medicine case him to act lethargic. So we had to put him down. Hated the choice, but it was the right one.
I still miss that dog...
I’m with you.
We had a female mix, greatest dog ever. We had to give her painkillers, and wheel her around in a wagon near the end. We’d wheel her outside to answer nature’s call. Sometimes she didn’t make it, and we’d have to clean up.
But she died peacefully at home and is buried under a cluster of birches in her favorite watch spot.
I had a tiny 3-lb. Chihuahua I “inherited” when my dad passed away. She was with me for six years until she was 14 years old and passed away from congestive heart failure. She has clusters of seizures for unknown reasons. She might not have them for months, then had them regularly for three weeks. She was so sick at the end that I knew I had to make “the decision”, but she left on her own. Now I still have two aging cockers and hope I’m never faced with that. I commend you for seeing your girl to the end.
Cold laser therapy works wonders on arthritis and nerve pain, and there are really good things to use for nerve problems like vitamin b12, among others.
He was 13. A dog the size of a Shepherd is lucky to live that long. It is his last days anyway.
My Shepherd barely missed, by 1 day, being 12 last year. Instead of her birthday, we had to put her down on my mom’s birthday, ending mom’s day of “watching” the very decrepit unmoving dog for us with sadness instead of the cake and gifts we had planned for her.
I’m with you.
I’ve put down some friends in my life, and regretted everyone of them.
Finally made the call that if God (who sent them to me) wants them, then He knows where they are to get them back.
I would only have one put to sleep if, and ONLY IF they were screaming in pain.
My thoughts exactly. This wonderful dog deserved retirement with care not a march to death. Damn it all he had was his life but apparently he was no longer valuable as a K-9 so the death panel took him out.