dire need of advice!! pet health!!

So today my sister took our family dog to the vet. They did a stool examination and guessed that given the state of his teeth it’s likely he has an infection that’s spread to other parts of his body. They want to put him down tomorrow. A bit of context, I also have a diabetic cat whose medical bills I pay despite not having a job. I have a decent amount of saving from when I used to be a barista, but that’s it. I’m always hesitant to spend my money because I don’t know how long it’s gonna be before I’ve recovered enough to handle a job. I also don’t have much financial support from either of my parents so if I ever want to go back to school, I’d be paying for it. (My dad pays for sisters already so I guess he can’t afford to pay for another person to go to school idk). Recently there’s been talk about moving, but my mom can’t do so without paying off her debt so I’ve offered to give her all my money so that we can get out of here since we don’t have the best home life. Now I’m torn about what I should do about our dog. They want to put him down but they only did one test and aren’t 100% certain his condition is fatal, they’re just guessing. So I want to get a second opinion, but everyone disagrees with me saying it’s a waste of money. So if I really want to get more tests done, I’ll be the one having to pay for it. He’s been bleeding out of his bottom today and the vet said the best option is to let him go, but I just can’t help but feel doubtful. I just don’t know what to do. On one hand, I don’t prolong his suffering and let him go on the other Im the one to pay for extra medical testing and it’s not even guaranteed it’ll amount to anything. What should I do? I’m so lost and scared

tarantula ke...

Date posted: 8h

You cannot take care of an animal, if you cannot take care of yourself. Even if you run tests and it's not fatal, you could be looking at a multi thousand dollar surgery. I have financial caps on all my pets. I love them, but pets are ultimately a luxury.

anonymouswal...

Date posted: 8h

I see, you have a point. Im just so distraught. My ocd is latching onto this now and keeps telling me Im responsible for our dogs impending death. My dad was the one who got him, but he hardly ever took care of him and then he left us a year ago and left his dog in our care despite him being the one who's well off. I always begged him to take our dog to the vet but he always came up with some excuse. I just can't help but feel like I failed our dog. If he hadn't come to live with us maybe he could've lived a longer life...

Norlai

Date posted: 7h

I would trust your instinct. My cat is an indoor outdoor cat. He had a bladder emergency, wasn’t peeing and screaming in pain. We go to the vet, they do labs and a scan. They said it was probably stones and could operate. However, they could come back and would require another surgery. They offered to put him down, without any information other than he needed surgery for a possible bladder stone. My mom was with me, I didn’t want to have him go through surgery just to have another one and be miserable. So I thought we had to put him down, she suggested we try once. We agreed to try once, and I’m glad we did because he simply had a grass seed stuck in his urethra. Vet had never seen anything like it. It was a first. We trusted our gut and it paid off. He wasn’t diabetic or in need of constant chronic care, but he also isn’t in great shape. He’s an old boy. I support whatever you decide, if you think it’s fixable, I say try it. You know your cat best, and know when to draw the line. I’m so grateful we tried, even tho I had almost given up.

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