ASK THE VET

Q: My 15-year-old border collie, Jake, suffers badly from arthritis in all legs. He can only walk about 100 yards. He whines and wanders through the night so we don’t get much sleep. I suspect he must be in pain and we don’t like him to suffer. He takes Tramadol twice daily on the advice of the vet. He is eating and drinking small amounts and he is alert as usual even though his hearing is not as it was. It pains me to ask when to call it a day and end his suffering? JOHN HINDHAUGH, Blyth

The right time for euthanasia is individual to each patient and ultimately you as the owner are best placed to assess Jake’s quality of life. From your description it sounds like Jake has underlying pain management issues that are not currently being adequately managed and this is having a negative impact upon his quality of life.

Jake’s overall quality of life cannot be determined in a 10-minute consultation by your vet as the vet may be seeing him at his best or potentially his worst.

Arthritis is a waxing and waning disease whereby you are likely to experience good days and bad days. My general advice would be that if the bad days are outnumbering the good days, euthanasia should be considered.

It is worth discussing options with your vet as there may be other medications, supplements and diets that may help with mobility and improve his quality of life. Some investigations may help assess if there are other concurrent problems that are complicating the clinical picture.

Discuss with your family and vet some realistic end points for your dog, whereby if medical intervention cannot improve his quality of life to a level you deem acceptable, euthanasia should be performed.