Our 15-year-old Welsh terrier recently died at home after a long and healthy life. He had been steadily declining over several months. Despite always being a strong and feisty dog, over the last few months he started drinking a lot of water and acting more confused. I did not take him in for an evaluation since I suspected that there wouldn’t be a great deal of anything that could be done given his advanced age. Additionally, his teeth were in very bad shape and his breath was awful. In the last few days before he died, he had taken to falling down some, having trouble with stairs, pacing and panting a lot.
On his last day, he didn’t want to eat any more. I think he was signaling us that it was time to go. Given the things we noticed, what do you think could have been his cause of death? Could we have kept him any longer had we taken him in to be seen? We did not want to take any extraordinary measures to extend his life if it was his time. Thanks for understanding.
Let me begin by saying that I am sorry for your loss. There are so many different things that might have led to your dog’s death. Fifteen years is a long life for any dog and, as you might expect, many different issues can afflict an older patient.
To start with, you write of an increase in water intake and confusion. These two signs could be related if he was in any degree of kidney failure or he could have had both a kidney issue and dementia, which is called cognitive dysfunction syndrome. Bad dental health can be tied in to many issues including generalized systemic infection, cardiac issues and more.
Your description of the last few days suggests weakness and an increased respiratory rate. Together this might suggest an underlying anemia caused by any one of several causes such as internal bleeding, lack of red blood cell production, destruction of red blood cells or perhaps separately an infection and fever.
His eventual lack of appetite might have been caused by all of the other issues or something else. It sounds as if he was very ill and even taking him into a hospital might not have produced a more favorable outcome and longer life. My sense is that it was likely his time and that nature took its course.
Dr. John de Jong owns and operates the Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic. He can be reached at 781-899-9994.
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Many signs of the end for beloved dog - Boston Herald
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