Yep, I understand the point about whether or not it's fair to the dog to try and save her... and the dog's best interest has been our concern right from the start. However, this is a dog that is otherwise healthy and active in spite of her age. And if we hadn't given the go-ahead to try and save her, they would not have done any of the diagnostics (xrays, etc.) that allowed them to determine the extent of her injuries. And until that was done, we couldn't know whether it was foolish to try... a Catch 22, and we had only about 30 seconds to make that initial decision.
We opted to "give her a chance" because we were told that if the brain swelling came down and the seizures stopped, her chances would improve. It was at the moment she came in the door, based on her visible symptoms, that led to the "40% chance to survive" statement. We opted to try the valium to stop the seizures and the meds to reduce her brain swelling. If either had not worked, we would have put her down at that point. Since both did work, at least to the point where she could be comfortable, we chose to continue letting her try to recover.
The ex's question about whether it was fair was irritating because she knows that neither of us would keep a suffering animal alive just for our own purposes. We simply felt that Puppy deserved a chance. We fully realize that it has been a slim chance from the beginning, and we were clear with the vet that if she could not be kept comfortable, then we would put her down.
She has been off pain meds since Sunday mid morning ( they wanted to assses whether she was making any progress toward recovery and couldn't do that if she was "doped up" too much.) She wagged her tail at us when went to see her Sunday pm. Monday, she raised her head when the DH and the ex visited her. Today, she is rolling herself up onto her chest and turning herself around in her cage. Not standing or making any effort to stand, just working herself into the position she likes. She will swallow water from a syringe and tries to lap a little in the course of this. She sleeps a lot, and regardless of whether she is awake or asleep, she is very relaxed, has deep, regular breathing, and seems very comfortable. She does react to being moved by one of us and shows reasonable strength in her legs. All of which is good news. However, she has shown no interest in eating at all, which is not good. We are concerned about permanent brain damage,(she may have "forgotten" how to eat, as many human dementia patients do ) and we have no intention of letting her starve to death.
Her regular vet says that she would have expected to see more improvement and is not very optimistic about Puppy's recovery at this point. She says that if PUppy regains an interest in food tomorrow, then we could give her more time. If not, she recommends putting her down. We are all in agreement with this. The vet is very clear that she does not feel that Puppy is in pain - she is relaxed and comfortable and all her vital signs are good and strong.
I will go to the vet's tomorrow with good smelly treats and things, and see if I can entice her to start eating. If she shows interest and ability to eat on her own, we will give her more time. If not, she will be put down tomorrow night.
I am sure many people would have put her down right at the emergency clinic. Had it been my call alone, I might have done so, too. But I don't regret that my DH opted to give her a chance. If she had shown discomfort, if any of the vets attending her had said that they believed her to be in pain, we would have put her down at that time. The concensus was that once they got the swelling down, her pain would have been limited to the bruising on her face. Her face is not swollen, and she shows no discomfort at being touched or patted. As I understand it, the brain its self does not have nerves in it - there are nerves around it, which is why it hurt when it was swollen. I know from years working in nursing homes that people with brain tumors don't have pain until the tumors grow so large that there is pressure against the skull, so I assume that's why Puppy doesn't seem to be in pain, now that the swelling and pressure is gone.
But that's neither here nor there - the bottom line is that if she won't or can't eat, she can't live. We trust the vet's judgement, and she says she's comfortable with giving Puppy one more day, but if she is not eating after that, she feels that the chance of any significant recovery is so small that it would be better to let Puppy go.
I thank all of you for your thoughts, opinions, and good wishes. Discussion of this sort of dilemma is always good. It's hard to make a snap decision when there's no time to think carefully and no real "right" answer. Perhaps this thread will make someone else think about what they would do in a similar situation so that if it does come up (God forbid), they will have an easier time deciding what to do.
I will let you all know what happens tomorrow. I'm guessing it won't be good, but the emergency vet didn't expect her to make it this far, so who knows....
Well, I spent an hour at the vet's Wednesday morning trying all kinds of food to get Puppy to eat. She simply wouldn't. I offered her baby food, yogurt, cat food, tuna fish juice, concentrated chicken broth. I tried oatmeal, scrambled egg, and peanut butter. None of it interested her. I liquefied the stuff that could be liquefied and syringe-fed her as the vets have been doing. She had lapped some water a few days ago, but since then she hasn't taken anything unless squirted from a syringe. She got tired and wouldn't even swallow after a while, so I gave her a break and tried again twenty minutes later. No interest. I went back after lunch and had no more luck at all. We'd be happy to syringe feed her five or six times a day, if she would just swallow the food, but she just lets most of it run out of her mouth. By Wednesday, she hadn't eaten in almost four days...
So, sadly, Puppy was put down Wednesday evening. She is buried in our orchard, near several of our other Newfs. My DH's ex was with her when she passed (the first time she's ever attended any of her dogs' passing). She brought Puppy to our house and helped bury her. I am still in the dark about why she did not rush the dog to the vet herself when the accident happend, but I'm guessing that she didn't know where the emergency clinic is...but why she called us to come drive instead of just asking for directions is a mystery. I guess just not thinking clearly in an emergency.
anyway - I am going to follow the example of a friend of mine : she has Google-map directions to her vet and to the emergency clinic, annotated with her own notes about landmarks, printed out and placed in a transparent sheet protector and fastened to her refrigerator. The phone numbers of both places are on the directions, and she also has posted a list of other contact people. anyone who comes in to care for dogs when they are away now has immediate access to this info. In case of an emergency, they can grab the directions, jump in the car and go.
Thank you all for your support and input and suggestions. Please, everyone, review your pet management strategies and plug any holes so this never happens to any of your animals. I know we are double checking all our safety procedures. I'm ordering new leashes today as a couple of ours are a tiny bit worn...taking no chances at all, any more! Thank you all again for your posts.
