# Stuck Between a Hard Place and a Rock....



## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

One of our dogs is on a steep decline.

Shelbye, our almost 18 year old miniature schnauzer/pit bull mix, no longer has any quality of life, and my mom doesn't see it. It's exactly like how it was in 2011when Schatzi, her mom, was going downhill fast. I'm not sure if you guys remember that.

This dog was born underneath my bed when I was barely three years old. I hardly remember a day of my life without this dog. Honestly, I only have one memory I can remember before she came along.

She is almost entirely blind (she can somewhat make out shapes/shadows), and is completely deaf.
She gets lost in the house. I noticed that she tends to stick close to tje walls to guide herself around the house, but it's obvious that she frequently has no idea where she is. She'll also hit her head on the walls a lot.

She can barely stand. If she keeps moving, she's usually fine, but she's very wobbly, her back legs cross over each other, and recently, her feet have been buckling underneath her.
If she stands still for long, her rear sinks down and will eventually fall. Her front arms will slide out from underneath her.

She is growing increasingly incontinent, which is expected. She can't find her way outside (though she does try). She ends up pottying in the floor and will often fall in her own waste.
It's not frustrating - just hard to watch. 

What terrifies me is that if she does manage to find her way outside, she has a hard time finding her way back in. The temperature is already getting into the 90's outside during the day. Yesterday I noticed I hadn't seen her in a little while. I went to look for her outside and she was sitting outside. She got lost and exhausted herself trying to find her way back in.
She was sitting in the direct sunlight and when she saw me (my shadow), she tried to get up, but fell back down.
I brought her inside and I had to give her water out of my hand, and even then, she was having a hard time.

Tonight when we fed the dogs, we went to go check on her and she was sprawled out on the floor in her own waste next to the food bowls.
She can no longer eat kibble. She looked absolutely defeated.

y mom had me hand feed her canned food, which she did eat.
Unfortunately, a few hours later, she vomited it all up.

I hate seeing her obviously suffering and not being able to do anything about it. I've been dropping hints (I told Mom tonight that I don't think she'll make it two more weeks if she's lucky).

My mom doesn't seem to see that she has zero quality of life. She has short spurts of being happy (as in maybe 20 seconds, 3 times a day at MOST) and thinks she's okay....

I kills me to see a lifelong friend go through such misery and not being able to help.


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## vom Eisenherz (Feb 13, 2012)

I'm so sorry. That's awful.

Could you ask your mom if maybe you could relieve her burden by taking Shelbye in to be euth'd yourself? Is it just something she can't handle and maybe that's why she's in denial? Maybe she just feels she's the mom, she should do it, but can't bring herself to, so she kind of keeps her head in the sand. People react all different ways to things like this. If you could pinpoint the real issue, maybe you could help.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

This may be of help: Quality of Life Scale it is a way of looking at things that takes the emotion out of the situation. While your mom may rate her higher it may be enough to show a more realistic view of her dog to her. And I agree, your mom may need you to be the one to take her in when she decides to let her go.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

You've been worried about her for a while now. I know your mom is hoping to see signs of improvement even though it's impossible. Hopefully Shelbye will pass peacefully in her sleep


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