How far should we go?

Yes I wonder too. Do people do this for the dog or for themselves? A simple injection puts the dog to sleep while in its owners arms - no pain, just gone. I would be happy for someone to do the same for me if I have a major stroke or whatever.

I agree it's amazing what can be done these days to fix the animal, especially if it is young and has years of living ahead of it. When they visit the animals months later I'm astounded to see how well the pets have adapted to the new life, be it with a bionic leg or on wheels, and how happy they are. Maybe the pet and the owner just find a way to work through the problems, I know I'd be prepared to give anything a go provided there was quality of life.

I do remember Noel Fitzpatrick also saying that just because he can do something doesn't always mean he should which I thought a useful yardstick.
Hard though.

I'm an animal lover, I worked as a vets assistant for 10 yrs. I was often amazed how much time and money people were willing to spend even on a hamster.
Noel Fitzpatrick is a genus.

Yes, Nina, NF woyld be my favourite dinner party guest. He's so clever but so down to earth and funny too. He has just opened a fantastic cancer centre for animals too, his talents are anazing.

If you're GOING to rate an animal as worth any expensive medical care, it seems pointless to draw the line at prosthetics. These dog's and their owners obviously DO cope with the practical issues.

I'm also an animal lover and a dog owner. I too have watched the programmes and am amazed at what NF can achieve. But I have one question - how do we really know if the animal has a reasonable quality of life? They may appear reasonably happy but dogs do that. They are pack animals and will try their hardest to keep up with the pack even if in pain. So I have real reservations about putting a dog through some of the hoops we have seen in the programmes and would prefer to follow the action starbird suggests - a painless, loving end.

I'm not sure... My parents used to laugh that it was the NATIONAL SPCC, but the ROYAL SPCA. They would say that it showed how Britain viewed its children!

When I used to walk our own gorgeous dog before we lost her at the age of 18, 2 years ago, I used to see a man with 3 dachsunds. One was elderly & subsequently her back legs failed & he had a wheeled cart so she could still walk with the others. A while after they lost her,her daughter had to start using the little cart. They always looked very happy & he took it off when they got back to the car & put it on again when they got home apparently. He said it gave them an extra few years of happy active life & she would have been upset if the others went out & she couldn't. I could see his point & the dogs were very contented but I always wondered if they got it stuck on furniture at home- he said they didn't & were very nippy around the house but I did wonder.
My friend was a vetinary nurse & we promised each other that if ever one of us was considering having a procedure done to our respective dog that the other thought was for our sake rather than the animal's we would tell them. Luckily it never happened & both our beloved girls were peacefully put to sleep while we held them & both at a ripe old age. Within 4 months of each other too although her dog was 3 years younger. It's the last loving thing you can do for your pet- & it hurts like hell!

A dog who is NOT in a pack will not behave in the same way as he/she would if it was part of a pack. A dog who is a family pet will behave differently and the owner is usually aware of the dog being in pain or any discomfort as they get to know the animal very well.
3 days short of one year ago I had to have my lovely dog put to sleep (almost 14) and it is still very much with me although he didn't feel a thing having not recovered from major surgery,and wouldn't eat. He was put to sleep 4 days after surgery.
NF does amazing things and is clearly very clever. Other vets I fear recommend surgery when they know full well there is little hope of the animal making a good recovery if indeed they do recover at all as in the case of my dog.
There is hugh money to be made. The vet's fee for my dogs surgery was over £4,000.
My dog was just too old for major surgery but when you are told that 14 is not too old you go along with it. You expect the vet to know what they are talking about.

Our little dog started with Cushing's disease at only seven years old. It was awful at first to see her so ill. It is now being managed by tablets. She still has days where she is not well and uncomfortable. She now has arthritis and often limps with pain. She does not want to go for walkies anymore but once she is out she seems quite happy.
We love her so much that we know that if her quality of life is such that she can't run normally and enjoy her doggy life we will have to let her go.
Our last little dog was eighteen years old before we said Goodbye to her.The last twelve months of her life we now know that we kept her going,even though she was going blind and couldn't walk very well, for us.We were selfish. We will not do that again.

The over breeding of dogs, which then end up with deformaties and health problems is one of my pet hates. Dachshunds are a prime example. I think it's really cruel. The horrible thing is that alot of people find these poor creatures cute!

It's so difficult to know where to draw the line. Our JR had major bladder problems from which he eventually recovered. He then had some psychological problems which meant he wouldn't wee. We had to catheterise him 3 times a day on and off for a year. This meant he couldn't go into kennels or be cared for by anyone else, our life was quite limited. Suddenly he recovered and has been peeing normally for 9 months, touch wood etc. I am so glad we persevered with him although we did wonder at the time if we were doing the right thing.

A word of advice for other dog owners, we could possibly have avoided all our dog's problems if we had him castrated when young. A cautionary tale.

I do agree that over breeding causes a lot of problems that could be avoided -I saw a pug dog only the other day with a completely flat face - how the poor thing could breathe properly I can't imagine. As for wheeled contraptions, it's worth reflecting that animals don't worry about appearances, loss of limbs etc. - as long as they can carry on happily with life they seems to adapt to all sorts of horrors that would leave a human in a state of deep depression. A vet I respected said that there must be three things in place for a happy animal; is the animal keeping itself clean? Is it eating normally? and is it 'itself' - no strange behaviour. If those three things are present then they are content; if even just one is missing then look for a reason as the animal is unwell in some way.

I do not have a dog but the in-breeding probably "encourages" some show breeders to produce designer dogs to KC standards which I assume are created by the dog fanciers themselves.

Some of these breeders are using these animals for their own self glorification about being a top breeder.

I find it hard to believe nature would create dog with noses pushed so far back they can't breath properly or get spinal problems like dachshounds do.

Who overall is in control of these "breed standards" and how much do they consider potential damage to the dogs physical health.
A few years ago King Charles Spaniels were being bred with skull deformities by breeders aiming for what they think are the best shaped skull.

I am possibly going to have an operation on my spine, watching what Noel Fitzpatrick has done for some animals gives me confidence in having the op but somehow I can't help wishing he could do it for me. The man is an absolute genius.

If my dog was happy in himself, but had mobility problems I would get him wheels in a second. However, I did a lot of research about them when we had our last dog, but they are expensive to buy and not covered by insurance (unsurprisingly).

Our 14 year old dog had a tumour on his upper leg which was benign and inoperable, but continued to grow until it started to interfere with walking on uneven surfaces. He was happy, active and healthy, apart from the lump growing on his leg. My DH built a set of wheels using plans on the internet, but unfortunately the tumour was in the wrong place for the wheels to work well. Sadly just after we tried this, our beloved dog had a heart attack and died.

All our dogs have been rescue dogs and insured, because vets can do so much these days that I would hate to lose an animal because I couldn't afford the treatment. We're fortunate to have a vet who is good at helping you reach the right decision when things get tough.

Whilst I think the KC and breeders breeding to the KC standards must take some blame for dogs bred with congenital deformities I believe the person who takes a poor quality dog and breeds it with another poor quality dog for 'pocket money' is more harmful.

These are the people who inbreed, who don't have their dogs checked for things like hip dysplasia or congenital skull deformities. Who breed regardless of type or temperament .

These are the people who say things like ' I'll have her spayed but she needs a litter first' or ' it would be bad for her not to have a litter' .

Their dogs are often not registered or vaccinated.

im afraid unlike some of you if my dog couldn't get around I would have him put to sleep. We have a lovely cavalier who had back problems earlier this year and we spoke to the specialist about treatment, the first part of which was 6 weeks caged bed rest. I'm not sure if we had had to go down that route whether we would have. He's an energetic 3 yr old with the possibility of reoccurring periods being caged his whole life.

Luckily he's recovered but the thought of the decision that faced us still makes me shudder.

I have a friend whose greyhound managed very well on three legs. Amazing really.

Re keeping pets alive. When my daughters were young I took our sick hamster Jadie Lady to three different vets trying to keep her alive. How daft is that !

Albertina, What a co-incidence, I put a tenner on your friends dog at Romford stadium earlier this year.

Dachshunds are prone to back problems (my very tall son in law is too) but most of them are healthy and happy. When prolapsed discs do occur they usually heal with treatment, needing wheels to get around may be only temporary.
Pets are members of our families and people will spend whatever it takes to treat them. When they are finally put to sleep their owners agonise over whether they've left it too long or done it too soon because they have to make that decision. Most of us never have to do the same for a beloved human.

We got wheels for our GSD when she couldn't use her back legs but agree that we won't do it again. She enjoyed being able to run around with the other dogs but the wheels were not practical in the house. Also the youngest dog realised to could knock her over and we had to watch him carefully - he was a little bu**er. You have to make your own decisions and only you know your dog.

We've had 4 dogs since we got married 30 years ago and three were put to sleep, with the 4th dying suddenly at home. I can honestly say those days are the worst of my life, worse than the day my Dad died. The reason I say this is exactly watermeadow's point. My Dad had cancer and his death broke my heart. He was diagnosed and dead in less than a month. At the end he was like a skeleton and a shadow of the big strong man he'd been. But I could do nothing to help his suffering and or his humiliation as his body failed him, so his death was a relief. We could choose not to allow our dogs to suffer, but it's the hardest thing we've ever had to do.

Animals are amazingly resilient and the most important thing to consider is their quality of life.