What a hard situation to be in. When a dog is young, it's an easy decision. You take them to the vet, they run tests and you decide what you can do/afford. In an older dog it's a different ball game. We have a 12 year old beagle. He has an old back injury that just reared its ugly head again. We took him to the vet, but a different vet than the one in town we've taken him to before because we knew at his age we would potentially be looking at hospice care and the vet in town is great for emergencies but tends to be on the invasive side. We had X-rays done to verify our suspicions, but on it she saw something on his kidney and something going on in his prostate. She was very honest and told us that at this point surgery would be recommended to find out whether the kidney issue was stones or a tumor and that treatment would also be surgical. This was on top of his inflamed, fusing disk. So, due to his age we decided that we would assume it was kidney stones and treat him with a special diet and to prop him up on pain killers and anti-inflammatories for his back. I felt like putting him through surgery at his advanced age would be cruel. Again, this is a different mindset than for young animals. This was 3 months ago, and it seems to be working fine. We figure that as long as he is happy and not in pain that he's fine. What is the point of us knowing exactly everything that is wrong with him if all of the cures are either heavy medications or invasive surgeries? We don't know how much longer we'll have him, but I won't force him to go through the trauma of heavy treatments at his advanced age, it would be more for me then for him. I adore the little runt, and will be heartbroken when we do have to let him go. I would be amazed if we have him another year. But what I am getting at is that vets are not always the answer if the only things in their tool box are treatments strictly designed to increase quantity of life over quality. I doubt your doggy is at that point, but if it were me and they wanted to test for things that are only cured by long, intense treatments I would just try to make them as comfortable and happy for as long as we have them. I am not saying don't go to the vet, I am just recommending that you think through before hand what is in the best interest of your dog, so that when they make recommendations you can pick and choose with a clear head what route of treatment is right for your situation. It could be something very simple.
Sorry this is so long-winded, it's something we have been going through and have recently had to puzzle through the ethical dilemma of having an elderly pet.
