I have a 15-year-old Yorkie who’s about to turn 16. He’s been through a lot over the years, and I only took him in about 2 years ago. When he was younger, he had a leg injury that wasn’t addressed, and a few months ago, he refused to walk on it. When I took him to the vet about a year ago, I found out that his knee is basically fused together. He was given some pain meds, and it got better, but he still sometimes won’t stand on it when he’s standing still.
The vet also mentioned that his teeth are in bad condition, and he can’t go under anesthesia due to a heart murmur to have it treated. He’s mostly deaf and blind now, plus he has dementia, which has been getting worse. He used to just stare at walls, but now he walks in circles most of the time he’s moving.
He’s absolutely obsessed with drinking water; it’s like it’s never enough, and I have to stop him from dry drowning. I know this is probably kidney failure or diabetes, but there was nothing the vet wanted to do because of his age. Right now, there’s snow outside, and when I take him out, he just eats the snow. He used to be rabid when it came to food, but in the last 2 weeks, he seems to care less. He does eat but not with the same enthusiasm. He’s also had diarrhea a few times these past few days. He doesn’t indicate any pain, but I really question his quality of life. It’s hard for me to take this decision. My brother says it’s time, but I’m not sure, and he’s coming today to maybe put him down. I just want to know if this is the right thing to do.