My heart goes out to you. We have a 12-year-old kitty recently diagnosed with oral cancer (squamous cell), and there is no real good treatment for her either. My husband (who brought her home) says he does not want to put her through anything that may end up doing more harm than good and taking away any of the pleasure she has in life. She is okay now but this is a fast growing tumor and it will become harder and harder for her to eat. Like you -- I am dreading the day. I think you should ask your vet if perhaps there is another pain medication for Sydney that might be more effective at this stage. If he is still eating normally I would think he is still doing okay.
I know the thought of being with him when he passes is frightening, but if you have a good vet they will make sure it is very peaceful. In my opinion it is important that the last touch your beloved pet feels is yours, and the last voice they hear is yours. We have had to do it now twice, and I sent my two kitties to my dad who I know is now looking out for them until we go over the Bridge ourselves.
My heart goes out to you and Sydney.

hi sydneycmh,

So sorry for your heartache.

I think it's a great suggestion to ask the vet if there is anything else that you can try for pain management. Have you and your vet discussed the likelihood of the bone breaking?

Our mastiff had bone cancer in the left femur and the pain meds stopped working after 4 weeks. The cancer grew so fast that the likelihood of the bone breaking and putting her in worse agony increased exponentially. We tried stronger pain meds but nothing was effective.

I've always gotten good advice from my vet when I ask pointblank what they would do if my dog were theirs. And if they think he/she is suffering and cannot get any better. Perhaps it's time for you and your vet to have that conversation.

I'd suggest an equally frank conversation about what to expect during euthanasia, the drugs that they use, techniques, etc. Knowing what will happen can help give you strength and calmness.

BTW, nobody knows how to hold a beloved friend as they die. You learn by doing if you decide that is what you must do. It helped me to remember that I had to think of my girl first, not of my own grief, and keep her surrounded with love and peace as she left. She would have done the same for me.

Good luck to you and your beloved Sydney.

I'm so sorry for you and Sydney. I euthanized my 5 year old Lily in December after an October diagnosis of osteosarcoma. Bone cancer pain is very difficult to "manage" even with very powerful narcotics and 2 months out, it has in all likelihood spread to his lungs as well. A terrible, horrible disease.

I regret every day that I had to make the decision to euthanize, but I don't regret ending her pain. Best wishes to you and your beloved companion.

Your situation is a very personal, wrenching one. Been there, done that, with all of the same emotions.

I also made the same promise to my beloved Tara when I adopted her at 9 months. She was a Shepard/Lab, abused before I came along. I was blessed with her for 14 years. I know all to well the feeling of having a "first born" so to speak, she was always there, got me through so much, and I just could not bear the thought of not having her around.

In her later years, she developed 3 serious medical issues, all managed with medication. I almost lost her three times because of wrong diagnoses. Through all of this, I came back to my promise that I simply would not let her suffer, a quality of life was a must.

I have other vets that I consult with, one a true "country" vet who was once a "city vet". She always ask's me the same question if I call her about a problem. That question is: "is the situation life threatening". If it is, we discuss options, from the least to the more drastic. If it isn't, we have the same discussion. She also want's to know if the dog can do "dog things". These simple questions put things into perspective quickly.

When I consulted her about Tara's situation before I lost her, she commented that when she was a city vet (for well over 15 years) she did everything clients wanted to help their pets. Now that she is a country vet, she looks back and thinks that lots of times, she just did to much.

For me, watching one of my dogs (I have three) suffer is not something that I can tolerate, especially when I have the power to end it. Not everyone thinks like this, as I originally stated, this is an individual experience.

You are now faced with a horrible decision that must be made. You were blessed with your dog for all of these years. It is really your decision how you want his final days to be.

Good luck!

SG

There are MANY options for pain management- one pill does not fit all, and many times combining different types of medications works best. For example, my old rottie K'Ehleyr has chronic back pain. She is on rimadyl which is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), tramadol which is a synthetic morphine type drug, and duralactin which is a concentrated milk protein that helps control inflammation. Other options are acupuncture- I know of a Husky who had shoulder cancer and due to hip dysplasia amputation was not an option. He was managed very well on just acupuncture and some herbal remedies (not sure which ones) for 9 months, which is a lot longer than expected. Fentanyl is a medication that can be applied as a patch. It lasts about 3 days, but delivers constant pain relief and can be combined with other morphine type drugs and with NSAIDs.

Dogs rarely cry out in pain. Not using a limb is a sign of excruciating pain. How painful would you have to be to resort to hopping around on one leg? Same with a dog. Do not expect him to whine and cry- it won't happen.

With bone cancer, the decision to euthanize isn't one of ending your pet's life. The cancer is doing that. You are simply shortening the duration of pain that inevitably occur prior to death. Eventually that will be your decision, no matter what you end up doing to try to manage the pain. I feel so bad for you- my dogs crash and burn very dramatically and it has always been so obvious a decision for me. I have never had to watch my pets suffer with a disease and wonder every day if this is the day. I can't imagine it. My thoughts are very much with you and Sydney.

I am currently going through much the same thing, only with two dogs. One has kidney failure, the other was diagnosed with bone cancer. She was acting a little stiff (has some arthritis issues, took baby aspirin daily), and one morning would not get up. Cried out when I picked her up. This is a very stoic dog, never showed pain before. The vet has prescribed rimadyl and tramadol, which she gets twice a day. She is back up and walking, eating, wagging her tail and singing when she's happy.
I still look at her and know her time is short. I love her that extra bit every day and hope that I will be able to tell when she has had enough.
It will never be easy to hold your pet as they die, just as it is not easy to decide when. I second what Anita said about being there and think of your friend, not yourself.

Ouch, this is a tough time for you and I am sorry that you are going through it. My rule is the same as yours, no suffering allowed. My dog had a botched TPLO and has bouts of pain when he does too much or turns the wrong way. This is going to be a unique answer to your question, but it may help - my dog takes Vicodin. The Orthopedic vet I took him to that did the next two surgeries said they do very well on vicodin, - I give my dog half a pill and a pepcid to help with tummy troubles, since vicodin can be hard on their tummies. I have told a couple of people about this when they ask about my dogs pain management, and have actually found a couple of other people who were able to do the same for their pets, so it is not unheard of. Now here is the tricky part, you need to have a vet who is willing, most vets wont prescribe it because the owners take it and abuse it. So you will need to have a heart to heart with your vet, and hope thye will go along with what you are requesting. Now, if your vet is unwilling, you need to ask yourself the hard questions, other than no weight bearing, is your dog doing anything? is it enjoying life, does it have good quality of life, hard question with greyhounds since they like to be on a couch than other breeds, is your dog eating and drinking, or is it becoming lethargic and will not respond to the world around it. Then I would talk with your vet about end of life options. If you are having trouble with all of the above, go get yourself some rescue remedy - both you and your dog can take it. It may help alot with your dogs pain - NOTE - be sure and ask your vet about giving your dog anything with the meds it is already taking. Good luck to you and I commend you on your heart being so big and caring so much about your dog, you sound like a great person to have a pet.

My cat developed cancer in his jaw. I could not put him down right away, I just couldn't do it. The vet applied a fentanyl patch to his leg (after shaving the fur). My understanding is that fentanyl is similar to oxycontin. It worked great. He did very well with it and it gave us about 3 more weeks with him (aggressive cancer, we put him down when he started bleeding in his mouth). He was happily playing fetch less than 8 hours before he was euthanized.

The major drawback is that fentanyl is HIGHLY regulated. The vet could not give us the patch to apply, so kitty had to go to the vet every 2 or 3 (?) days for a new patch. They charged us a minimal amount for the patch application.