When to put down a shephard with a tumor

Shaking and acting lethargic are signs of an animal in pain in most cases.

The veterinarian should know if he is in any pain since he has been treating him.

If he still has the activity level to want to play I would say he is still leading a mostly productive life.

I would ask the veterinarian to be sure but from what it sounds like here from your comments I wouldn't choose to at this time.

It is of course something that needs to be discussed together and agreed upon, but I wouldn't if my dog still wanted to run and play with the other animals.

Continue to work with your veterinarian he will tell you if he feels your dog is in pain.

Much much luck to you!!!

Edited by calliecat on August 25 2005 at 10:32pm

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*Cheryl K* Please click the "ACCEPT" button
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Soliciting further opinions

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My wife and I had a terrier that had lymphatic cancer. We had him on all the treatments. He enjoyed a lot of life after that but eventually the cancer moved to his brain and we had to put him down. That was hard, but we know we gave him a lot more life then he would have had with the treatments.

I agree with cheryl that lethargic or shaking is a good sign that things are not working so well. You mention that there is blood around the tumor. Is the tumor visible -- can you feel it? If so then it is possible that he is chewing it or licking it since it is not a normal part of his leg.

You will want to mention that to the Vet, but I do not think that it is a reason to put him down.

Bottom line - if he seems to be enjoying life, then let him enjoy it as long as possible. When he is suffering to the point that he needs to be PTS, you will know.

Remember too that the cancer treatment does not affect dogs the same way that it affects humans so there is not going to be the typical suffering that you see with a human. I only mention that because we had a lot of people tell us that we should treat our dog with chemo since it had such a problem with humans. That is not true.

I am very sorry for what you are going through and I know how difficult it is to make these decisions.

Have received several good replies, but would be interested in further comments

As far as quality of life and longevity are concerned, this is a pretty tough question to answer and I really think that it's a personal decision that you must make.

I counsel people on this topic all the time, though, and I can tell you what I would tell them.

You should choose three things that your pet loves to do. It might be riding in the car, eating cheeseburgers, going for walks, chasing a ball. As he gets older or, maybe, sicker, he will cease being able to do these things that he loves. When one thing is gone, like chasing the ball, it's ok because he might take up a new activity like sleeping in front of the fireplace. However, when you can no longer find even one thing that he loves to do, it might be time to reevaluate the situation.

As far as guilty feelings go, you should not feel guilty if you decide that your pet is no longer living a happy, content, productive life and you help him to go on to a better place. You have to remember all the good times that you have had with him. We are lucky in that we are allowed to help our pets to move on. Sometimes I wish that we could do the same for people.

Let me know if you have more questions.

I am very sorry about what you are doing through and truly feel bad for you. Losing a friend is never easy. It makes me so happy to see a pet owner who is pulling out all the stops, though.