TLDR: I got angry at my mom for not taking the dog to the vet. When she did the bill came back to be 900$ and the vet couldn’t do anything besides giving some antibiotics.
My family’s dog is 15 yo and on vetmedin (medication for heart disease)
A bit of background, I am a 3rd year student who took an 8 months internship offer that would be 4hr flight away from home.
It was a touch decision. It was good pay but I know it means I wouldn’t be able to help taking care of the dog and he has been developing dimentia given my family some sleepless night.
Two days ago my mom send me a photo of my dog with a nosebleed after coughing, which has never happened before.
She mentioned he also has been staying up at night because of his dementia so I know everyone at home is extremely tired.
My mom wants to wait and see for a few days before taking him to the vet.
I insisted that they should take the dog to the vet first thing next morning, and got quite angry when she showed hesitation. The next day I called again to make sure they did indeed took him.
They eventually took him. The vet wasn’t able to diagnose anything and just gave us some antibiotics. The bill came back to be 900$. And my dog never enjoyed the vet so that wasn’t pleasant for him either.
My mom believes that the vet wouldn’t have been that helpful and it has been the case the last few visits where every concern we brought up was deemed as “he is old”
\-we have taken him in before for loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue and heavy breathing, almost always because I insisted there’s something wrong with him.
Am I the asshole for forcing my tired family into a vet visit that was costly and essentially pointless, while I am far away telling them what to do but being physically absent? Should we consider switching to a different vet or just be less paranoid about my dog? Was this visit necessary?
P.s The reason why I am so paranoid is because we had two dogs of the same litter and the sister passed away from cardiomegaly. She was not doing well for months, but my mom brushed it off when I begged her to take her to the vet. When we finally took her in we had to put her down the same night, the vet said we waited too long.
Edit: I changed my dog to family’s dog. My mom got him when I was 7 so we basically grew up together.
YTA – give that dog some relief from life, geesus. If any of this is true, let him go to a better place, 15 years is insanely long for the majority of dogs, and he’s got dementia, and you basically left him to your parents? Put him to sweet sleep, he’s had a long and fulfilled life… your dog is polluting your family’s life and costing a fortune. What in tarnation do you want a vet to do with a 15 year old dog with dementia and heart problems other than to take your money and probably just making the dog’s life even more miserable???
I don’t know if this changes much but I edited the post from my dog to my family’s dog. We got him when I was 7, I see him as my baby brother, and he is most attached to my mom. We’ve been taking him to the vet more regularly since last April when he was still doing well, but had some signs with leg weakness, heavy breathing and no treatment was given. I talked to my other friends who lives in a different city and the vet offered painkiller shots which really helped with their senior dog.
Their dog probably had something like arthritis that was alleviated by the pain medication. Your dog has a heart condition and dementia, why would you think a treatment that worked for another dog with different medical conditions would work for yours?
15 is a really long life for most dogs. At the end of a dog’s life there’s not much a vet can do and frankly there’s not much you should do. If the dog just had hip problems or arthritis and could be helped by the amazing new class of drugs they have for that, this might be a different conversation.
But dementia and heart problems? It’s sounds like he already doesn’t have a very good quality of life. Go home, spend a weekend with him and say goodbye, then let him go.
Give your dog relief.
I put my head in the sand about it. I will always live with regret about not doing it sooner. I turned my best friend’s last day into the worst day of his life because I refused to make the decision earlier. It was horrific.
Please. Do it before something happens that you can’t take back.
YTA 1. it’s not your dog. 2. it’s not your money. 3. You are not there to care for the dog. 4. the dog is 15; it’s going to die any day now regardless of how many times you spend $900 on it.
YTA you’re leaving the dog to suffer for your own selfish reasons.
You seem to have a habit of that.
What you’re doing isn’t from love of care.
You’re also not paying for any of this by the looks of it.
I paid for his previous vet visit and cardiovascular exam which was about 500$ plus 200$ of the medication because my mom didn’t think it was necessary as the dog is old as all the comments are saying. But from my research it seems like vetmedin is quite effective in reducing the progression of his heart condition, so I hope that’s a worthy investment. Any yeah, it’s true I choses to take the offer, I pay my own tuition and this internship could covered so in that aspect I can very much be the asshole
Vetmedim is thought to extend a dog’s life by 6-12 months. Maybe 18 months if started before much CHF has started. Has it already been that long?
Stage 2 mvd and has been on it since last October
Dogs don’t understand why they are in pain and suffering. You are keeping the dog for your comfort, despite the dog’s pain. That’s selfish YTA
As hard as it is, I believe that he probably is ready to be put down, but I also would find a different vet and have them do a necropsy so that you know what was actually wrong with him. It will give you a lot of peace of mind.