The last thing you can do for your pet friend

Our little friend is having issues. He is a 14 year old Jack Russell who has degenerative disk disease now. We have been treating him for it since new years, and tomorrow I take him for a neurological consult.
He was fine at the family Christmas party, where folks learned that he would join in with most anything.
They had karaoke going and when people clapped and cheered a good performance, he would bark for joy. Then all the other dogs barked
By New Year's his tail was down, totally uncharacteristic of him. He'd come up and just look at you, "please fix this" in his eyes. he'd sit down and wait, and it just broke our hearts.
If they are skeptical about a good outcome I will say goodbye to him, and give him that last gift you can give, a peaceful end to the pain.

UPDATE:
It is done. They found a tumor in his spine, not the ruptured disk that they could fix. I asked that he just not wake up from the MRI. Thank you all and sorry for posting such a downer.

We had to do that with our 14 year old German Shepard a few years ago. There comes a point when you have to do what is good for the pet, and not for you.  The important thing is to be there with them and assist them being comfortable and not afraid at the end of their life. 

Then get out there and rescue another "friend" and give them as good a life as you did your first pet.  It's the best that you can do. 

On our big boy Breaux it was his tail position that let us know he was no longer enjoying life. As long as his tail was up we knew he had enough energy and felt good enough to fight it. We had him on 40mg tramadol several times a day for the pain until it was finally too much and the cancer had him. Only 6 1/2 yrs old.....You will know when it is time for your Jack Russel and it looks like you already know. Its too bad that we cant do that for our human loved ones as well. I feel for you and know exactly how it will be not having him around.

I'm so sorry.  It's such a hard thing to do, but kind and necessary.  With our 12 1/2 year old Lab, Dusty, it was the look in her eyes that helped us make our decision.  She had lost total control of her bowels and said (via eye contact) to Tom, "Dad, do I really have to do this?"  Still miss her.

For tonight we are past tramadol and using subq morphine. I think the neurologist will do an MRI and see what they might do with surgery.
If the prognosis is good we will go that route. I doubt it will be good though. Maybe that is the natural defense to prepare for the worst.

I believe that you are doing the right thing. Take him to an expert and follow their advise. I also think that you have gotten some good advise from the forum members. I have always advised my clients to ask themselves the question, "Am I going this for myself or am I doing this for the animal".  Try to always place the animal first.

Frank

Thanks Frank. I meant what I said in the first post.

Kelly and Mary, my heart aches for you and your upcoming decision.

I went through this just about three years ago with my shepherd husky mix, RedDog.  He was 13 and had Mast Cell cancer. Putting him down was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  I could only stand the heart ache two weeks and went to the shelter and rescued his stand-in, Ringo.

Alas, it looks like I may be about to go through that process again with Ringo.  I have an appointment with the veterinarians at the NC State University VET school on Friday for a Rhinoscopy to locate and evaluate the cause of sneezing with a bloody discharge from his left nostril.  I've been warned that the procedure is quite costly, and if the cause is determined to be a cancerous tumor, any attempt at treatment is also very costly. 

I'm not sure I could put him down for purely financial reasons, but I do know that if treatment involved disfigurement in any way, he would go to the "Bridge" in one piece.

We also had to put down our boxer Moe in 2009.  It was a bad time overall. 

He was diagnosed with joint cancer in his front left leg.  After consultation with the Vet we decided there was a very good chance he would be ok if we amputated.  After the operation he managed rather well.  Unfortunately, we found out 3 months later that the cancer had spread throughout his body.

Anyway:  You will know when your pet is ready.  With Moe, he had stopped eating and did not have that brightness in his eye that we loved so much.  It was horribly heartbreaking when we took him to the Vet for the last time but we also knew he was absolutely miserable.  I do not regret our decisions in both the amputation or the day we put him down.

Thanks guys. Dan, we had the cancer thing with our first rottweiler. When they simply quit eating then it is time. He sleeps at my feet in a morphine induced sleep and we wait for that appointment.

Rocky is a living link back to my father-in-law, a small but meaningful part of that life and loss.
His first year of life was Harold's last. He grew up next door to his pasture in a rental duplex, owned by a woman we figure had substance abuse problems. She yelled obscenities at her kids and certainly hit that little puppy to potty train him.
He was too cute to look at when he was 2 months old, and Harold would get a twinkle in his eye when he saw him in the yard.
Harold passed on a year after his wife. We were over cleaning up his treasured stacks of materials that a depression-era guy would want to keep, and Rocky was out in the yard by himself. Our rottweiler Dozer was visiting him through the fence. I just picked him up and put him in the pasture with us so they could play, and put him back later. Nobody noticed.
The niece was outside and I got wind that they had to move. I had a gut feeling that the next place would not allow pets.
I went to the door New Year's eve and told her that we could make him a good home. She wanted money at first, then said "you better just take him" and thrust him in my arms.
This scared little dog got in our car with the rottie to stay at a friend's for New Year's eve, and he ducked whenever we went under an overpass. For a while every shadow overhead was a hand coming to hit him 
If anyone raised their voice for any reason, he would run and hide.
We just loved him like we should, and he slowly got over being head-shy.

It is done. They found a tumor in his spine, not the ruptured disk that they could fix. I asked that he just not wake up from the MRI. Thank you all and sorry for posting such a downer.

My condolences

So sorry. 

So sorry to hear. Tough decision but as you said in the first post, you do it for your pet friend.

We are OK for the moment, we will miss him in the quiet times to come.
Right now we are going through his toys and trashing the really bad ones, and boxing up the others for who ever needs them.
There is a theme: headless, armless, squeakless toys that he systematically shook to pieces

So Sorry for you...They have a way of getting right into your heart. When we put our boy Breaux down we figured the depression may be doing me more harm than first realized so we drove up to NC to Doberman Rescue of the Triad and picked up a beautiful Dobie rescue that had been abandoned at two yrs old and returned at 4 yrs old.

Give yourself time to grieve and think about another furry friend. They add so much to life and ask so little in return....think I'll give mine a hug now....later Will

I'm so sorry for your loss. Our hairy kids leave us all too soon. But I truly believe that they are waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge.

Wendy and Will and friends, right now it is hard to describe. I feel a huge weight has been lifted, bigger than the grief. I was worried about what we would do today, tomorrow, how he would be feeling. I know we did him right, and gave him that last gift at the right time. ON FB so many of our friends are telling stories they have about Rocky. He really got around and went to every event and party with us.
The happy times far far outweigh the heavy times with this dog. We are so lucky and grateful to have had him in our lives.

It is done.

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Awww.  :'( :'(  You were a good friend.

ArdraF

I have found, the best remedy for sorrow in loosing a pet is to get another soon.  It will do you good.  You won't ever forget the previous one, but a new one is very heart lifting.