bria
New member
As some of you know I happened upon a Newf who has cancer in his leg and I've been watching this Newf for weeks on end laying on his porch and not moving. I've known him since he was a pup (he's 6 now). A few weeks ago I was bending down to say hello and he was trying to give me his paw that was so swollen it looked like an elephant's paw. I'm not totally crazy as I said I saw and felt his pain. The nanny had said to me he's in pain. So I posted this because I was questioning his quality of life but admittedly did not know what was being done although I know the people who own him and I knew they would try anything.
I decided I would talk to them before passing judgement and the oppotunity came yesterday morning. I was walking a client and the Newf was laying on the front porch and the wife (who's a nasty woman) was hand feeding him. I asked her if he can walk and she said yes when he wants to. I then asked what the prognosis was and she said it will eventually spread. She then said and I quote "it's a question of how much pain he can handle". These were her exact words verbatim. I asked her why she would want him to handle any pain at all (I was very civil and not backing her into a corner) and she said well we're trying to control it with pain meds. I simply pointed out that pain meds are okay but that it gives both you and your dog a false sense of security and that it's very hard to judge how they're really doing if on the meds. She then changed her story to say that well he's only on a very low dose of pain meds and that mostly they're using an anti-inflamatory. She's a double talker this woman. I said to her that unfortunately the greatest gift that we give them in the end is to set them free of pain. At this point I walked away.
I know I have no right to decide when someone should say goodbye to their dog but I also know that this dog is in incredible pain and I saw him barely lifting his head to eat while she was trying to feed him. I'm not passing judgement but this dog has no quality of life left. I would also like to say that people are talking about these people not only in their neighbourhood but in other neighbourhoods as well. I ran into a woman I know yesterday who has a Bernese. Her dog has the same name as the Newf and I simply stated that there's a Newf named Big. The woman knew who I was talking about and also knew that the dog was in rough shape.
I'm not crazy after all. The Newf spoke to me and I feel so sad for him and how he's living right now.
Susan
I decided I would talk to them before passing judgement and the oppotunity came yesterday morning. I was walking a client and the Newf was laying on the front porch and the wife (who's a nasty woman) was hand feeding him. I asked her if he can walk and she said yes when he wants to. I then asked what the prognosis was and she said it will eventually spread. She then said and I quote "it's a question of how much pain he can handle". These were her exact words verbatim. I asked her why she would want him to handle any pain at all (I was very civil and not backing her into a corner) and she said well we're trying to control it with pain meds. I simply pointed out that pain meds are okay but that it gives both you and your dog a false sense of security and that it's very hard to judge how they're really doing if on the meds. She then changed her story to say that well he's only on a very low dose of pain meds and that mostly they're using an anti-inflamatory. She's a double talker this woman. I said to her that unfortunately the greatest gift that we give them in the end is to set them free of pain. At this point I walked away.
I know I have no right to decide when someone should say goodbye to their dog but I also know that this dog is in incredible pain and I saw him barely lifting his head to eat while she was trying to feed him. I'm not passing judgement but this dog has no quality of life left. I would also like to say that people are talking about these people not only in their neighbourhood but in other neighbourhoods as well. I ran into a woman I know yesterday who has a Bernese. Her dog has the same name as the Newf and I simply stated that there's a Newf named Big. The woman knew who I was talking about and also knew that the dog was in rough shape.
I'm not crazy after all. The Newf spoke to me and I feel so sad for him and how he's living right now.
Susan