The first addition to our family is not doing good.

Oh there is nothing wrong with it ,I didn't mean that. I just cant do it myself.

Thanks for the kind words, they are appreciated.

Losing pets is unbelievably hard. I had to say goodbye to my best friend last January and it was one of the hardest days of my life no doubt. I had to make the choice to have him put down but it was necessary because he started having non-stop seizures due to a brain tumor. After the first seizure, our vet put him on meds but it instantly changed him into a different dog. It was like he was drunk and dazed on the medicine. He couldn't even walk properly because of the strength of the meds. He had barely been eating and drinking and had been throwing up here and there.

After a week of being in misery, I witnessed the most pitiful thing when my boy was trying to eat but physically couldn't do it. He wanted it but just couldn't do it. Broke my heart. After he finally had the strength to eat, he ended up throwing it all back up within 10 minutes, including his medicine we had just given him with the food. Within an hour of throwing up, he had his first seizure since we started him on the medicine. This time it was a lot more violent than before and he was physically a lot more discomforted by it and seemed to be knocked into a daze even after the shaking had calmed down. Knowing my boy couldn't eat but wanted to, then threw it up after finally finding the strength and subsequently had a seizure that knocked him into a daze, it all hit me that this really really was the end. The only way he was going to live a relatively normal life was with the medicine that turned him into a different dog, but now he couldn't even keep the medicine down and was actually suffering. I refused to let him suffer any more after a week of hell. I hated having to say goodbye but it really was the end and my boy was suffering in a major way.

Calling our vet to tell them what was going on and and then actually taking him in was incredibly hard as I had to carry him to the car and into the vet's office as he couldn't physically walk and he was a big dog. I sat with him on the blanket we laid out and somehow he found the strength to pull his body upward and lay his head on my lap as I just pet him and kissed his head and told him how much I loved him before it was time. The first medication they gave him knocked him out to a point where he was snoring. This comforted me knowing he was asleep. The whole process was quick. He fell asleep instantly from the first medication and after the second, she told us he was gone within 10-15 seconds or so. As hard as it was, I instantly felt relieved knowing he wasn't in pain any longer.

If you're lucky, your pet will pass peacefully. But if it comes to a point where you know your dog is suffering, you really shouldn't let your father-in-law's story prevent you from helping your dog. I don't know the circumstances of why he feels guilty, but there's nothing to feel guilty about when ending the suffering of a pet who's already dying. It's possible you'd feel more guilty after the fact knowing you could have prevented some unnecessary suffering. But regardless, good luck to your family as I know you're going through an extremely hard time right now. 

Going through something really similar myself right now. Nala is a 18.5 year old Shi-Tzu I rescued from an abusive home. She's been with me for over sixteen years and is pretty much my only real world friend (She's legit almost always by my side or in close proximity to me), but is really starting to decline somewhat rapidly in the last six months or so. She's been blind and mostly deaf for several years already. She'll go days without eating much of anything and is having seizures and spells of obsessive pacing/circling fairly regularly. It's hard to watch our beloved pets decline like that and it breaks my heart to know that she won't be with me much longer. I'm kind of in the same wait and see mode now, paying close attention to the number of good days versus bad days and wondering if and when 'that' time is coming.

I feel for you and the other folks in similar situations. It's not easy at all.

yup, dont make my mans suffer more than he needs to outta your own blind spite/fate/whatever...super tough call but we've all been there

That pain is the price to pay for a lifetime of love. It's awful, but it always comes. We had to put down our little girl that was less than a year old. She was a pom/chi mix and was born with a defective immune system. She was constantly sick. We spent $3k trying to save her but she had a virus that birds and rodents carry. Healthy dogs and cats have no problem fighting off that virus, but she couldn't. Seeing a puppy whither away is heartbreaking. Having to give the okay to put her down was the worst. Find peace in the fact that you gave your baby a long, happy life.

Wow, so much love and support here - great to see. It's great you made the post and reached out. You've got lots of support regardless of what you do. Lots of people who empathize and sympathize, it's pretty great. Good luck with your situation, I have seen how hard it is but together with your family you'll get through it.