I took my dear dog back to the vet for an 'unscheduled' visit. I needed the re-assurance.
I really wanted to determine if the vet could tell me, or even tell herself, how much, or what degree of pain the dog is in.
My beloved German shepherd has advanced cancer; besides the serious arthritis. She has been on pain medication and steroids for the last few weeks.
That was my coming home present when I went to a family function some weeks back, and got her home from the kennel.
The examination was thorough, the Doctor, at my request, had her assistant (a veterinarian technician or vet tech) take the dog for a little walk around the grounds to get an idea of her 'quality-of-life', and determine if the earlier prognosis of about 6 good months was on track.
Understanding that illness in human or animal can take a turn for the worse at any moment, I asked both vet tech and doctor (who have had hundreds of such cases) just one question:
"Right now, from your examination and your hands-on observation, is this dog suffering, has her quality-of-life so deteriorated, that we must consider euthanasia"
The answer was a categorical no. Tomorrow is another day.
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