 Euthanasia advice
Today has to be one of the saddest days of my life. My Phoebe is just over 3 years old. She was the picture of health and the most perfect companion until she got sick about 6 weeks ago.
She started throwing up blood in the middle of the night, we took her to a vet hospital immediately where they ran blood work and did X-rays and such. What the diagnosis was at that time was ITP, immune mediated thrombocytopenia, an autoimmune disease where the body attacks and destroys it's one platelets. She was immediately started on prednisone but did not respond and was referred to a specialist. She has had numbers blood transfusions, a bone marrow biopsy, and they have tried every drug available. After the blood transfusions she would bounce back and be so lively and full of energy but each time her numbers returned to critically low.
Last week they told us our last option to have any chance of saving her was to remover her spleen. She came through the surgery beautifully but again after two more transfusions her platelets and red blood cells are critically low. Before her last transfusion her platelets were 7 thousand and her hematocrit was 8 thousand. She was transfused two days ago but has never returned to her spunky self. She is extremely weak, will drink water but refuses to eat. She is a shell of herself and has the most sad look in her eye. I feel like she is trying to tell me something but I don't know if putting her to sleep is the right thing to do.
I am so so torn over this decision that I feel like my heart is being ripped out. I do not want her to suffer but I feel like I will be killing her and when she looks at me with those dark little eyes I just crumble. My husband is incredibly distraught too, he and Phoebe are like soul mates. I have never seen a man love a dog as much as he loves her.
Please give me some advice on what to do....I have never had to make a decision like this before.
Michelle |