How to know when to put a suffering dog with cancer to sleep?

Question

My 11 y.o. Beagle, Sam, was diagnosed with a bone tumor on his jaw. He is on gabapentin but wouldn't eat last night. I tried several times but he never got his pill. He ate and took a pill this AM. He is in pain. He didn't sleep all night. With this diagnosis, how will I know when to put him to sleep? Is he ready for that now? Pet's info: Dog | Beagle | Male | neutered | 11 years and 4 months old | 32 lbs

Ricardo Fernandez, DVM · Accepted Answer

Hi there! Thanks for letting us take care of you today! Sorry to hear about Sam. I definitely know where you are coming from as I mostly see cancer patients. What I usually tell my clients is that the time to consider humane euthanasia is when they stop being themselves. For example, when they stop doing 3 out of their 5 favorite things (eating, playing, or whatever these are), it is time to let them go without suffering. Of course this is if not considering treating the cancer. There are always palliative medications you could consider like pain control medications such as Tramadol and NSAIDs to be added to the gabapentin just from a palliative standpoint to try to make Sam feel better in the meantime. Sorry you are going through a rough time.

How to know when to put a suffering dog with cancer to sleep?

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