our sad friends

well the day started out like any other and finished as one of the worst to remember.
We new that we had to take the dogs to the vet, every owner knows the first thing on our mind was the cost as it tends to get very costly. We had the dogs looked at coco was first too get his shoots what a champ, then shasah very good girl, brook been hear before so she stepped right up got her shoots , now that where it all started getting weird, you see the hole time we waited getting shoots, Merlin was last he laid on the floor , lets go back a few weeks , we started to notice things with him it was a hot summer day he laid under the tree as he did, but when I called him when I was walking up the drive. he pick his head up and looked at me, I thought played all day and was exhausted. I had asked Cathy what was up with Merlin she said he was there all day, well I asked did he eat and she said he did so i finished what i was doing . I noticed when he got up it was very difficult for him. and as the days past we seen this more and more.we looked it up and talked too a friend that was the owner of the (stud and was Merlin dad).her name is Diana.she said she only seen it a few times but it looked like he was suffering with wobble disease ok i thinking we can get this under control and with some pills (thing like this what wobble this ) we can fix every thing with a few pills WOW talk about floored the vet said you have to leave him for the night and they will do x rays in the morning and than call us well ok , the worst thing now is he,s getting some pain meds he needed for so time, next day started with knowing my friend didn't greet me in the morning to go out with the rest of the dogs, off to work with a quick call to the vet , hes resting well now she said , and they would call later in the day as it passed waiting like a nerves dad,now its dinner time I said wow they didn't call i started getting that sick feeling each time the phone rings now it going to be them , then the call came telling us that there was no cure for the wobbles disease Merlin has, now what do i do I tell Cathy we know hes in pain and all the times we thought he was cold shivering on the floor he wasn't cold he was in pain,they told me to think about it and call them back with what we wanted them to do. Whenever one considers the painful choice of euthanasia ,one is always advised to take the pet's "quality of life" into account. "they said " But what is "quality of life"? will meds work How can you determine whether a pet is still experiencing a good quality of life -- or whether its level of suffering is no longer acceptable? I am by far not God!
That decision is as individual to every pet, and every owner even me. Following,all that however, are some factors to consider with Merlin when attempting to assess a his quality of life, like can I care for him , that means helping him outside and back inside because his Mobility is gone. now keep in mind hes not An older dog that often loses mobility. hes 16 months old. A dog may no longer be able to climb stairs or hop into a car; a cat may lose the ability to jump onto a bed or chair. At this stage what becomes fair, however, if it was your pet you may still think that they can be healthy and happy, and you can easily make accommodations for its reduced ability. But here where it gets bad for him there been a very fast onset of this maybe three or four months at best,and hes not walking very much and hes shivering all the time in pain now, the choice is becoming clear to us now , why should we make him suffer like that. here think about it like I did. If however, your pet can barely move, that's the first matter. Can your pet get to its feet without assistance? Can it sit or lie down without collapsing? Can it walk? Can it handle basic functions, such as squatting to do his duty? Does it whimper or growl if you attempt to move it? I've seen dogs so crippled with hip dysplasia that they literally had to drag their immobilized hindquarters across the floor; this hardly represents the "quality of life" I want for my pet.this almost his state merlin made it to. His appetite/Eating Ability was good but he wouldn't gain weight. I thinking he's wasn't consuming enough food to remain properly nourished? Next I not sure if he enjoy eating, or will I have to coax every bite past its lips? this is important to me that he eats and gain sufficient nourishment from his food . if this is "quality of life" I think you would agree.