How Do You Know When It's Time? Options

[Bobbie]

My Trevor is slowly dying from a bunch of neurologic problems. Most of the time his pain is controlled by medication given every 3 hours. But then there are the nights that he and I are up for hours. Trevor is pacing, digging into the carpet, shaking his head and whimpering with pain. I give him many extra doses of pain medication, antihistamines and sedatives and then wait for them to "kick in". This can take up to another half-hour. He does not like to be touched at all during these episodes and, since he's almost deaf, he cannot hear soothing words. So I either sit or lie with him on the floor. When he does, finally, fall asleep, I cover him with his blanket and lie down beside him, covering his paw with my hand. That seems to be comforting to Trevor.
Trevor's neurologist says that Trevor will not die of the neuro problems. It will be a quality of life issue. Oh, great.
My problem is this: with each of my other ##er Spaniels, I knew exactly when it was time. This time I have no idea. I do NOT want Trevor to suffer, but there are times when he is doing just that. And yet, afternoons and evenings are decent times for him. And my heart just breaks when I think of him not being here (with me). Then I feel selfish, then I feel scared, etc. etc. etc.

Is there anyone who might be willing to share any advice they have?

I love Trevor with all my heart and soul. He is a 12 year old rescue dog that we've had to almost 2 years. He is such a good boy, even with all his "issues" and I want only the VERY BEST for him.
Thanks so much!
Trevor's very sad mom

[Bobbie]

Trevor got right up this morning, peed on the pads like he's supposed to, then pooped all over the carpet! Do I care? Nope. It all cleans up in the short run and in the long run, we're due for new carpeting one day. Trevor is still completely terrified of coming down the stairs. So I put a Yogurt treat on each step, sit down next to him and, ever so slowly, we make it down each step. Those bastards at my former vet's can burn in you-know-where for how they abused Trevor the last (and I mean last) time he was there.

I wanted to share with you a funny habit Trevor developed. I hope you won't think it's gross. We have a main floor half-bath and, naturally I have to use it during the day. Well, Trevor followed me in there, when we first got him, and I gave him Cheerio's for a treat. Now, every single time I step in that room, Trevor is right there at the door, silently demanding his four Cheerio's. In fact, the bathroom is the only place where he will eat plain Cheerio's any more. All the rest have to be Honey Nut flavored.

It was very hot and humid today. That was a sudden change from last week. The house got quite warm and Trevor, being the overweight champ that he is, started panting and panting. I turned the air conditioning down to 70 and turned on two additional fans to cool the place down to 75. Luckily, Trevor fell asleep right in front of the box fan on the floor and cooled down quite well. I would have to say that Trevor's day was OK. Right now he's asleep in our bedroom, under the ceiling fan, his tummy full of Cheerio's.

Thank you, Moon Beam, LoveMy Mickey, Peggy, Tom'sDad and everyone else who have been so kind to me, lifting me up just when I need it the most and tolerating my daily reports on a dog who is still alive. You mean the world to me!!!!

With love,
Bobbie

[Peggy's Human]

Hey Bobbie,

I'm so glad you've had a great couple of days - and thank you for keeping us updated. Yay, for several good days in a row!! Your story of Trevor and his Cheerio's cracked me up! I had a 'flash-back' to Peggy waiting for us to give her one of her treats every time we picked up the mail - the mail carrier we had for many months loved dogs and would always leave Milk-Bones on or in the mailbox for dogs on her route. She used to talk through the door to Peggy when she dropped off the mail. Christmas time always included a big box of Milk-Bones, along with her real gift (for Cherie, not Peggy, she got other stuff). Peggy became so accustomed to getting these treats that even when our lovely Cherie was moved to another route, Peggy still expected her snack when the mail was retrieved. Boy did she have all of us trained. She'd stand on the landing for the front stairs, nose pointing up toward the mailbox, busily sniffing the air, turn to me (or Mom) with a big smile and tail wagging. I didn't have the heart to tell her she wasn't getting a treat cause the new mail carrier didn't have the same view of that practice. So, we'd truck into the kitchen and get her a couple of her snacks - mostly so we wouldn't feel like we had disappointed her. Now for the funny part (showing she was smart enough to get us to do things). Shortly after Cherie stopped being our mail carrier, I started a new game with Peggy, to see how good her nose was. I'd sit her in the kitchen and go around the house hiding some of her treats (after showing them to her and allowing her to smell them). My house isn't 'huge' but it's about 2,600 sf and if I had to 'sniff something out', I'd never find it. Turns out, her nose was AMAZING. She always found every treat in a very short period of time. It took me a while to figure out that her standing on the landing outside and sniffing the air was a big show put on for our benefit. With the nose I saw her use to find snacky's in the house, there is no way on God's green earth that she 'thought she smelled' something on that mailbox. The little faker!! She learned (much faster than we did ) that if she did her little routine, it would signal us to go to the pantry and get her what she wanted. It's good to know that it's a common practice for dogs to train their owners - my ego was taking a big hit when I realized my blonde dog was probably smarter than I had a hope of being. LOL

Thank your for sharing your story and giving me a good chuckle! I hope you all continue to do well and as always, you're in my thoughts and prayers!

Take care,

Peggy