Terminally Ill senior dog
My 12 year old cocker spaniel was the runt of the litter and was born with defective hip sockets. I was quoted $15,000 repair surgeries years ago but I am disabled and on a fixed income. I have always done my best for him with high quality food and hip and joint supplements. Now he is blind in one eye and deaf. He can no longer negotiate the steps down into my yard and is too heavy for me to lift, except in extreme circumstances when I will have to deal with resulting severe back pain. He eats and drinks but has steadily gotten thinner over the last few months. He howls incessantly if he doesn’t know where I am in the house. He howls from pain. Most of his time is spent asleep.
I believe he has no quality of life. However, I am at a loss at what to do. I have no money for vet assisted euthanasia and even my local animal shelter charges for this. The shelter told me I could abandon him there and he would be put down in three days. I am beyond revolted by the idea of his fear and terror of being abandoned this way.
His howling is ear piercing and has kept me from being able to sleep more than a few hours at a stretch. I am exhausted and at age 71, at my wits end.
Please, if you have suggestions let me know.