I originally thought I should post this in the "Health forum" but I realized it's more of a people problem, than a dog problem. I've been having trouble with my parents lately..
Buster, Mom's 13-year-old Labrador, is going downhill fast. He has small seizures, and while it started out with just one every month or so, now it's up to a few per week. Last night, he had a seizure (I don't know what triggered it, he had been sleeping.) and got up, ran onto the tile floor and his hind legs went out from under him. Instead of just lying down like he usually does, his legs splayed out so he was pretty much doing the splits on the slippery floor, and he couldn't get up.. When he did get up, he was yelping and although he is fine now, it scared us all to death.
We would try to stop the seizures with medication, but the medications are all harsh on his liver and kidneys, which are already failing.
His brain is being affected, too. He is terribly senile, he will pay attention to my mom, and pay attention to food, and that's it. He's deaf, so if you want him to lie down (And with Buster, it's always "GO LIE DOWN!" because we don't want him running around on the tile floors and hurting himself.) you have to get up and lead him over to a dog bed, and put him in a down position. (Because he pays no attention to hand signals anymore.)
His quality of life is not that great anymore, and I think the time is close, to say goodbye to Buster. I think it would be kindest just to let him go, so he wouldn't be held back by his dying body.
The trouble is, my mom.. she thinks he's okay, that he's not ready to die. I have mentioned it to her before, and she got angry, and said that I just wanted to get rid of him because I don't like him. In all honesty, Buster and I have never "clicked". He has always been exclusively mom's dog, and since I was 6-7 years old, I have always had my dogs. But, how she could say that I'm trying to GET RID of the first dog I ever knew, or even that I don't like him, really hurts me. I don't want him to die, but I know he has to sometime, and I don't want to see him suffer. Right now, he is still a relatively happy, if extremely senile, dog. He loves attention from mom still, and that tail of his is always going a mile a minute at dinnertime.
I really don't know what to do here.. I don't know if mom is right, maybe his quality of life -isn't- bad, because she knows him better than I do. Or, she's just in denial, and doesn't want to say goodbye yet..
I have no idea how to approach her about it, but it needs to be talked about.. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could bring this up, without starting a fight with my mother? Or, should I just leave it alone, and trust her judgement?
Buster, Mom's 13-year-old Labrador, is going downhill fast. He has small seizures, and while it started out with just one every month or so, now it's up to a few per week. Last night, he had a seizure (I don't know what triggered it, he had been sleeping.) and got up, ran onto the tile floor and his hind legs went out from under him. Instead of just lying down like he usually does, his legs splayed out so he was pretty much doing the splits on the slippery floor, and he couldn't get up.. When he did get up, he was yelping and although he is fine now, it scared us all to death.
We would try to stop the seizures with medication, but the medications are all harsh on his liver and kidneys, which are already failing.
His brain is being affected, too. He is terribly senile, he will pay attention to my mom, and pay attention to food, and that's it. He's deaf, so if you want him to lie down (And with Buster, it's always "GO LIE DOWN!" because we don't want him running around on the tile floors and hurting himself.) you have to get up and lead him over to a dog bed, and put him in a down position. (Because he pays no attention to hand signals anymore.)
His quality of life is not that great anymore, and I think the time is close, to say goodbye to Buster. I think it would be kindest just to let him go, so he wouldn't be held back by his dying body.
The trouble is, my mom.. she thinks he's okay, that he's not ready to die. I have mentioned it to her before, and she got angry, and said that I just wanted to get rid of him because I don't like him. In all honesty, Buster and I have never "clicked". He has always been exclusively mom's dog, and since I was 6-7 years old, I have always had my dogs. But, how she could say that I'm trying to GET RID of the first dog I ever knew, or even that I don't like him, really hurts me. I don't want him to die, but I know he has to sometime, and I don't want to see him suffer. Right now, he is still a relatively happy, if extremely senile, dog. He loves attention from mom still, and that tail of his is always going a mile a minute at dinnertime.
I really don't know what to do here.. I don't know if mom is right, maybe his quality of life -isn't- bad, because she knows him better than I do. Or, she's just in denial, and doesn't want to say goodbye yet..
I have no idea how to approach her about it, but it needs to be talked about.. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could bring this up, without starting a fight with my mother? Or, should I just leave it alone, and trust her judgement?