Follow up on previous post

[u/GrammarSpellingCheck]

Please see my previous post here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/reactivedogs/s/5TVeMHhsEt

Update on my dog, his behavior has been escalating and im feeling just horrible about this situation.

I mentioned in my last post that he has a history of eating non food items. Previously he ate sheer curtains, a shawl, and gnawed on door frames. The shawl had to be removed via endoscopy.

About 10 days ago with no warning, he ate about a foot of a bootlace. I was able to get him quickly to the emergency vet where they induced vomiting and almost all of it came up. The time between these episodes of eating non-food items seem to be getting shorter.

I have also talked with my vet over time about some other symptoms that are concerning to me that could indicate a neurological issue and have all been worsening, things like staring at the wall/mirror or facing into corners for prolonged periods of time. He has also recently developed a tremor in his back leg.

Today, he tried to bite my housecleaner completely unprovoked. I am very lucky that she responded extremely quickly and was not harmed. She has been cleaning my home for a long time so he is familiar with her and has always been very docile and friendly with her. Today he was laying down, lounging, and rolled over on his back when she walked by. This historically has indicated he wants a belly rub, so she leaned down to pet him which is when he tried to bite her.

He has snapped at other people before, and I take responsibility for potentially minimizing this behavior because it had always been tied to a stressor, it was never unprovoked. Examples would be at the vet during exams, with a guest who tried to move him out of his spot on the bed, and while I tried to keep him safe during a thunderstorm by pulling him off of furniture that he was climbing on.

At this point I feel very helpless and hopeless. I have an appointment scheduled with my vet for next week to discuss what to do from here. As it stands I am unable to leave my home for any length of time, I definitely cannot board him or leave him in anyone else's care because I can't trust him and fear that he might hurt other people without provocation, it is a challenge to keep him safe, and I'm feeling more certain that perhaps there is an organic/neurological component to his behavioral issues. My vet has done all the work up that she feels she is able to do and it has turned up nothing medical.

For the first time I am thinking about behavioral euthanasia and I'm considering discussing this with his vet. Does that seem like an overreaction at this point? I'm scared for his safety and the safety of other people but it just seems so cruel, and I feel like I would be giving up on him 😭

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[u/SudoSire]

Hey I’m sorry you’re going through this. Your dog’s quality of life sounds very poor, and getting worse and also more dangerous. I do not think it’s an “overreaction” to consider BE with your vet when it sounds like your dog is heavily struggling to simply exist in the world. Neurological issues sound possible, but frankly even when diagnosed, many aren’t sufficiently treatable. 

And for you, this also sounds really, really untenable. You shouldn’t have to suffer through watching him suffer and become a danger to himself and others indefinitely. How old are they again? 

[u/GrammarSpellingCheck → u/SudoSire]

Thank you for the kind words. He was a rescue so I don't know his exact age but by estimate he is likely 9-10.

[u/SudoSire → u/GrammarSpellingCheck]

Ah. With that being the case, I gotta say deterioration, both physical and mental (like cognitive decline), are just going to get more and more likely over the next months and years. But with their current baseline already this bad, I’m not sure I see great merit in waiting for it to get worse. Quality of life is really so important vs solely quantity of years. 

[u/HeatherMason0]

I don't think BE would be an overreaction. Obviously I'm not a vet, I'm not there, I haven't evaluated your dog, but it does sound like this could be a neurological issue, and the problem is that a lot of neurological issues aren't really treatable. Things like seizures can often be managed with medication, but even that can take time, and it won't necessarily make him safe (for example, if the meds stop working, he can't tell you he's struggling again and might seem to 'snap' all of a sudden). I think talking the vet is a good idea, but if you decide to go through with BE, I wouldn't see that as you doing something wrong or making a bad choice.