Should I put my dog down?
 

He's 15 years old.

Up until yesterday though, you would not have known it. You probably would have guessed he was 8 or 9.

Anyways, a year ago his hip popped out of place and he was suffering for a good three days. Then it popped back in and he was fine. He was jumping on furniture, playing with his ball, running round, going for walks, etc...

Well, yesterday his hip popped back out again. He can barely move. Anytime he tried to get up from the laying position he yells out loud. I'm not sure its just going to pop back in place this time.

I want to take him to the vet, but I have no money and my parents don't seem to care.

I'm not about to pop a cap in him, but I feel sad that he is in pain.

What should I do?

After one day? I wouldn't. If it goes on long-term, ask again. That's my best advice. I put one of my dogs down whose legs didn't work, it's very sad.

damn man tough situation. if he's suffering it may be best to put him down. i know its a ****** thing to have to do, but it may be your only option. hopefully his hip pops back into place man. good luck.

Write Mike Vick a letter asking for advice.

id still try to go to a vet first before putting him down

yeah, give it time man.

my old dog got real sick once...she was miserable. vomitting. losing all her hair. had open sores everywhere. my dad made an appointment to have her put down. between the phone call and the appointment, she showed signs of improvement and ended up making a full recovery. she lived 2 more years.

my advice...call the vet. see if you can just talk to somebody about it without investing a lot of money in a dog that is past its life expectancy.

what kind of dog is it?

Yea, definitely not after one day. If anything you can look up maybe how to pop it back in place yourself. It will hurt him to hell and back but it would help him. Also, what kind of dog is it?? 15 years is a long time. Has to be a little dog, so shouldn't be hard to pop back into place.

Let him be for a bit. It might pop itself back in place and he can still go on. No need to act irrationally and take him out back already.....I had to do that to one of my dogs one time, it is NOT fun.

I had to do that to a dog I had all the way through middle and High school. Hated having to make that choice. I feel for ya bro, if you've never had a pet like that it can sound silly to get that wrapped about it, but they do become like family. I hope your dog turns out to be ok.

Neg rep. Not cool dude.

I guess the humane thing is to put him down. The other option would be to let him live in agony before he finally dies of old age...

But it's a crappy call to make, I guess it all depends on exactly how much pain he's in.

Too soon, you should wait a couple of days... just like indycoltscout should do before he puts his dog down.

OK, I will wait a few more days. Thanks for the advice and support guys this dog is like my little brother.

I've had to do it before. It's a hard thing to do. But if the dog is in pain, there really isn't much of a choice to be made.

I had to do it once, vey sad. I probably have to do it with my girl soon again. :(

yeah, you should definitely call a vet and wait.

I had a dog that had to be put down a few years ago due to cancer. Sucked.

The last time I cried was when I had to put my first dog down. It's a sad thing that shouldn't be taken lightly.

I didn't think about it, but wow...same here.

My Dad put down my Uncles dog. The dog was like 16 and had 3 legs. Sad day.

I'm beginning to think that I'd rather put my own dog down next time than have the vet do it for me. More personal and lets the dog go out around people it knows rather than some creepy vet clinic.

The question is if i could do it or not.

I couldn't do it. I had to have my grandfather do it.

Lots of options are available with some leg work on your part.

1. call a few local Veterinary Hospitals to inquire about things like payment plans, financial assistance and donation funds.

2. ask said vet clinics about possible organizations that can help you.

The biggest national one is the SPCA. - spca.com - nice and easy.

Some local orgs I deal with here in RI that may have chapters there in indy: Volunteer Services for Animals.
The Humane Society.
(Insert_Town) Animal Protection League (ie Providence APL, Warwick APL - also the P could be R as in Providence Animal Rescue League)

Here's the link to the results page I got in one google search for the term "Indianapolis animal care financial assistance" -- linked here.

Aspirin is safe for dogs. The dose depends on the size of the dog and it MUST be aspirin only, not advil, tylenol or anything like that. PM or post the dog's weight and any other meds it is on and I can give you a dose that can be used for the day or so it takes to get $$$ together and see a vet. (or just ask the hospital you talk to today if you're leary about taking advice like that from a random on-line name & supercool avatar - I won't take offense. ;))

maybe you should find a new vet clinic. lol

That's not the point. I think a dog would rather go out with its master than some vet.

I understand your point and was playing w/the 'creepy' remark.

But you do know it can be both, right? Most owners stay with them, talk to them and pet them while the euthanasia is performed.

And it's a whole lot cleaner and easier on an owner and the pet vs. the "Old Yeller" method. But we digress . . . and I'm not really looking for a discussion of the merits of euthanasia methods . . .

Damn bro, I feel for you here. Definitely wait a few days and keep the dog resting and stuff, call around and check some vet stuff, I don't really know. I'm ok with putting it down if it's in pain though, sometimes it gets more painful to live than to die.

I've had 2 dogs we had to put down, but to be honest, I think the thing that makes you cry/feel so badly is when you've had it since it was a puppy. I have two dogs now, but one of them we got when he was like 5 or 6, so it wasn't like we raised him from a pup, I'll feel sad when he goes, but I'm not sure about how sad. Then we have a pug who I've been around since she was a puppy and seriously just thinking about this with her makes me kinda sad. I hope both can die of natural causes - they're both extremely healthy and get exercise, so they both have a few years.