GME....when is it time to say goodbye??

[hopeforwinnie]

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Are there any GME fur parents out there. I need some advice. I'm at a loss and finding it difficult to know what to do.

 

[Josie]

Hello @hopeforwinnie - I'm afraid I don't know anything about it but I've just had a quick read up and it sounds like a terrible thing.
There's lots of knowledge and support on the forum for you so hopefully someone will be able to help.

Thinking of you

 

[JoanneF]

I am so sorry. I don't know how advanced your dog's condition is but hard as it is , it falls to us to make the awful decision to end their suffering. I take it from the title of your post that that is what you are facing. If I have misinterpreted that please forgive me.

There is a scale used to assess our pets' quality of life when they are seriously ill. I understand it was developed for cancer care but the principles apply to any life limiting condition. What is their quality of life in relation to Hurt, Hunger, Hydration, Hygiene, Happiness, Mobility and More good days than bad days. You can find more detail here Pawspice And Animal Oncology Consultation Service - Veterinarian In Hermosa Beach, CA USA :: Quality of Life Scale

There is a saying, better a week too soon than a day too late. It's a terrible decision but one that responsible owners have to face. If it helps, the Blue Cross has a pet bereavement counselling service.

 

[hopeforwinnie]

Hello there Josie and Joannef. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my thread. I' new here and just had to ask for some support as I'm really struggling at home. Not many of my friends have pets so I don' really have ppl to talk to.

My poor Winnie was diagnosed with this terrible disease in August this year. She wasn' even 3. She is the sweetest most loving pug you could ever meet.
Since being diagnosed she has had 3 relapses and hospitalization 2 times now. She is under a neurology specialist who is amazing so couldn't wish for better care for her.
However, 2 days ago she relapsed again and I find it heartbreaking. She becomes incontinent (both ends) can' stand or walk. If she tries she just goes flying. She never goes for her daily walks with our golden retriever which she used to love, as she just can' make it anymore. She drags her feet so bad they bleed terribly.

This relapse is the 3rd one only 8 days since the last one. She looks sooooo sad. She's on oral chemo as well as steroids whock make her urine smell terrible and as she becomes incontinent you can imagine the mess she gets into bless her. I have a 1 year old crawling baby a 5 year old and 8 year old so have my hands full and I find it terribly hard with the children and so attend to Winnie when she is so poorly. It' also heartbreakingm for my eldest 2 children.

I asked the vet if when she relapsed is she in any pain which he said she isn', but she just looks so fed up with life. The vet said that she will continue to relapse and that there is nothing more we can do, she unfortunately is the breed of dog that responds the least to this disease. I am to try and manage her t home and see if she improves (which she has in the past). If she doesn' then it' time to say goodbye.
How can I make that decision?? What if I made that decision a day to early? I just would like any advice on this please as Winnie quality of life is paramount to us. It' just all so very sad x

 

[Josie]

@hopeforwinnie it's such a sad story for a dog that is still so young and I feel so sorry for you and your family. To make that final decision you must be very brave and I think what @JoanneF put was very important about quality of life. Is Winnie getting a good quality of life? I totally understand the predicament you have about wondering if you made the decision too early or not. It's something that we as dog owners must prepare for. But sometimes I think we need to move our feelings aside and focus on what's best.
What does your vet advise?

Sending lots of love to Winnie x

 

[Biker John]

Again I am so sorry for you, but I would echo what JoanneF said, better a bit early than a bit late. It is a horrible decision that we have to take.

 

[hopeforwinnie]

Thanks for your replies. Winnie does have quality of life when she recovers from her relapses. While is is under relapse her quality of life is non existent. I' not even sure if she knows where she is bless her as she seems very confused.

However this morning she seems to have recovered from her most recent relapse and again is almost back to her (not right but better) self.

This is why I am in such a predicament. She my relapse another 10 times before the last time to which she will recover pretty well...... but how long do I allow it to keep happening. How fair is it on her. And us? The vet stresses she isn't in pain but I'm unsure. She shakes can' walk, stand, doesn' eat or drink, becomes incontinent. That' no life..... but while ever she is recovering I feel I need to give her that chance. She is such a fighter bless her.

 

[Josie]

We used to live next door to a lady with an old dog and every time I saw her it was always touch and go as to whether she would make it through another week. One day I saw the lady and she was crying her eyes out because she thought it was the end and was prepared for the worst but the next week I saw her with her dog again!
Was it right that she put her dog through that when it’s likely to happen again? Who knows the correct answer!

Are we selfish because it would break our own hearts if we made that decision?

Only you and your family can truly decide but we will be here to support you the whole way

 

[Stephen McVeigh]

Hi Hope for Winnie.

I hope that things have improved, I have been trawling the internet looking for similar stories. My 9 month old Jack Chi has had 4 relapses in the past 3 months. My pet insurance has now run out. She responds well to the steroids but they make her life miserable. Her behaviour is starting to change. She has become obsessive about sniffing.
Whilst I love her very much, I can't continue paying £600 a month in Vet bills and do not want to prolong such a beautiful little girls unhappiness. I declined to undertake a spinal tap and MRI as the cost was over £2k. A huge amount of guilt there.

 

[Mad Murphy]

I really feel for you this is an awful condition.

I have an end of life statement. It states that when my quality of life has diminished to a point where I will no longer recover and be myself again or be in a fit state to function as an independant person my life is to be ended.
I would never subject my dog to live in any condition I would not accept for myself.

When these things happen we have to put aside our own feelings and heartbreak and put them first and foremost. Longevity of life is not always whats important its about the quality of life and the lack of suffering.

You will know whats best and when to make the decision based on love for her and whats best for her.

 

[Kara 1]

Totally agree with the above post ...
Human or animal for me Quality has to come before Quantity every time ....
Dont feel guilty about makjng a decision that is right for your dogs wellbeing. ...xxx

 

[Mayblossom]

My friend had to say goodbye to her beautiful dog yesterday, if I'm honest he stayed a little too long but it’s such a hard decision to make, poor boy keep collapsing and staring at the wall, became incontinent but was still eating really well , this made my friend think he was ok , in the end she made the kindest decision. The vet tried to convince her that with so and so treatment etc he could go another few weeks, so wrong of him to do this when she’d finally been brave enough to make the hardest decision but money talks with a lot of these vets . I was in tears for her, heaven knows what I'll be like when I have to make the same decisions for my girls I’ve done it too many times with ponies,cats and dogs, never gets any easier .

 

[Mad Murphy]

My friend had to say goodbye to her beautiful dog yesterday, if I'm honest he stayed a little too long but it’s such a hard decision to make, poor boy keep collapsing and staring at the wall, became incontinent but was still eating really well , this made my friend think he was ok , in the end she made the kindest decision. The vet tried to convince her that with so and so treatment etc he could go another few weeks, so wrong of him to do this when she’d finally been brave enough to make the hardest decision but money talks with a lot of these vets . I was in tears for her, heaven knows what I'll be like when I have to make the same decisions for my girls I’ve done it too many times with ponies,cats and dogs, never gets any easier .

@Mayblossom so sorry for your friend and how awful of the vet to try to prolong the suffering.
I so miss my vet who passed away in 2014 in cases where it was time but the owner doubted he would say.. 'I can do this or that or try such but I want to to ask yourself...Who am I doing it for'?

Most owners knew it was time then. But he would never advise to prolong a life without hope.

 

[Buddola]

With our Lab we always said we’d rather do it a week early than a day late.. anything to make sure they’re not suffering unnecessarily. Obviously there’s many factors to take into account since some conditions/problems can be resolved and cured. But when these conditions cannot be cured and they don’t seem to be manageable, this is a time to consider that hard decision

 

[Mayblossom]

I have the same vet Murphy , when Molly , our Springer had cruciate problems he immediately said she needed ops on both legs but couldn’t guarantee it would work! We decided against it and conservatively managed her with weight loss and a soft harness we had made for her from America, had great reviews and at £180 what did we have to lose? Wore it for 3 months, then gently brought her back to walking without it, totally sound! 3 years on and not a hint of lameness , so happy we didn’t put her through 2 operations....and £5000 !

 

[Fabio Faria]

Hi All
I know this is an old post but wanted to put this information out for anyone else. Apologies for the long post in advance.
Our French bulldog, Olive, was born with a cleft palate 2 years ago. At 6 months old, we decided to spay her and partially amputate her tail as she had a “corkscrew” tail blocking her rear end.
The procedure went ok however during the amputation a bone must have splintered causing a hole under the skin that was left. Over the next 2 days she had bled out a lot of blood as the vets could not find out why her blood was clotting around her tail. It wasn’t until the one morning I noticed the blood was coming from underneath the remaining skin flat, which was necrotic at this stage, I noticed the hole.
Anyways the hole was sorted out but Olive went blind. We took her to a specialist, and this is when we found out about GME happening in brachycephalic dogs. So we started a immunosuppressive dose of prednisolone for a few weeks. After three days she regained her sight. It was a miracle as the specialist said there was too much damage to her optic nerves.
After a few weeks we started a secondary drug called Cyclavance (cyclosporine). We reduced the steroids gradually during this phase while maintaining the same dose of Cyclavance. After months on the steroids she eventually can off of them.
Now this is where things got tricky as we had to start dropping the Cyclavance dose gradually to the point where maintenance was maintained and we could control her GME. All was good until we dropped it too low about a year after starting it. She got a head tilt and was back on steroids. Luckily that was corrected but only too about 85%. We increased the Cyclavance back to a dose that worked.
A quick Google search can help you find the same treatment. There are other alternatives for the second immunosuppressive drug but we picked the cyclosporine because of our personal situation.
I hope this helps someone else that is in a similar situation one day.