We actually have a thread with some thoughts about that:

https://www.dobermantalk.com/doberma...-decision.html

It's a difficult read, I think, but...

I'm so sorry that you and Ali are going through this. You'll both be in my thoughts.

Just catching up to these sad news. My heart goes out to you and your family. I know are making the most of whatever time she has left.

Catching up here - I'm sorry to hear about Ali. I know you will give her the best life that you can until she tells you "no more". It is much harder on us than it is for them - they have no fear of what will happen in the future, and rely on us to make the best decisions we can for them. Hugs to you and your wife.

I'm so sorry that you didn't receive good news! I can't even imagine the pain you and your family must feel. Praying for peace during this difficult time.

So very, very sorry for this diagnosis. My heart is breaking for Ali and for you and your family. Just know she is in my thoughts and prayers and just live in the moment each day with her.

Hey Doc. Just checking in on Miss Ali and her family. Hope today is going well for you guys.

If you can I would love to see more pics of the beautiful old gal when you're up to it because I've got a real soft spot for our old loveys.

Thanks for asking Coco ! To me , yesterday was one of the worse days I had had , Ali seemed to be more Lethargic , she looked so sad in her eyes .

Then I feed her , that girl wolfed down her food and then a second helping , it was like you flipped a switch , she wanted out , so as out moto is here , where one goes , we all go , lol the grabbed her ball and chewed and chewed on it , we were out till it was dark , the best she had acted for well over a week .

You asked about pictures , what a few videos I took last night , in the first here , notice 3 balls out there , but , some Dober boy , just had to have the one that Miss Ali had ,this happens here all the time

This morning , we went out at 6:30 , I had coffee and the pack played with there ball , Ali has not ate really anything this morning , so I headed back to wal mart and get some more mutt balls , she loved them last night , she don’t like the duck or the chicken pieces lol

This is this mornings video

Love the videos. Old lady boss she is!! I'm glad things are a bit better. Just love and spoil that gal even more than you did before.

I remember you told me when I got Sugar that the boys were so different and I now completely understand!! Hes so silly and goofy. Jumps right on me when I'm lying down to kiss me and love me. Not sophisticated like the girls. Just a big meatball

Great videos, Ken.

I'm just now catching up on this thread. I'm sorry that you didn't have better news.

I am very sorry to read the diagnosis. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Couldn't keep a dry eye reading through the updates. All my love to you, the wife and Ali. I had a Facebook memory pop up from 4 years ago, when Nadia was just a young puppy and my Irish Terrier Geisha was still around. She passed the year after... and it has brought up the loss. Never really goes away the sadness or the feeling of missing them. But I feel at peace. I knew the time was right when we let her go. I tears rained for weeks. And yet the moment she took her last breath (and I knew the exact moment, because I exhaled a huge sigh all of a sudden, and a massive weight lifted off my shoulders. I had expected to bawl, snot nosed, hiccups and all... but instinctively I felt relief because I knew she was free of her pain.), I knew then I had made the right choice, at the right time.

Ali is very lucky to have the family she has. Please keep her spoiled from all of us at DT!

This is day 3 after the diagnosis for Ali girl , and the 3rd day in the row that I have made a trip to wal mart , to get Miss Ali something she may like to eat . Yesterday was not a good day , she would not eat much . I did pick up a half pound of low sodium Turkey yesterday , and boys and girls , Did she like that This morning . So picked up some more of that plus a pound of ground turkey to fry up , hope that works to . Ali just will not eat any of her dry of Kadins , so picked up a small bag of puppy chow , something completely different , cross out fingers !

I tufted it up last night and read the tread that Mel posted up on when it’s right , the sad part , there is like 5 things to rate , Ali only has one !

One thing it did say was they live for the moment , so true ! And there eyes , they say the eyes are the windows to your sole , the past few months , I have notice that Ali has lost the fire in her eyes , she appears sad sometimes , yet , I thought Ken , your imaging it , she has been threw 2 vet check ups for her copper and everything is ok , my bad , I know my girl .

If you watched the videos I posted up , she I said still playing ball , not taking any lip from my poor little boy , oh yeah , missed a great video yesterday , the 206 spray chopper was headed right to us , maybe a 100 feet off the ground and Ali jumped up , ran out into the yard and barked at it , lol

Ali is still playing , can go to potty breaks , observant, the vets said she shows no signs of pain in her affected area , she pushes herself up against me at night , almost normal , Yet ——— am I doing right ? Giving her meds to help her eat ? Having her eat different foods to get her to eat , but to me , I think her eyes are telling me that she don’t feel good , Ken don’t know .

Artie ,damnit , I have been doing better than read your post and the river started again thanks for posting to us .

We thank you all very much for your thoughts and prayers , your advice , ideas on what was wrong at the beginning , we are blessed with many great friends from across this country , thank you from Miss Ali and the Misses and me

Ken,

I know that "what will she eat today" game--unfortunately isn't really a game--they don't feel good--Jersey (the geriatric girl I was caring for (her mister got back to Portland and will be here for probably two weeks so she got to go home yesterday.)

Try raw chicken hearts or gizzards--Jersey will eat those and there isn't much she would still eat so I was trying to get a mix of carbs and protein in her--her diet doesn't needt e balance at this point it just needs to be something she can digest.

So here's the other things Jersey would always eat--liver brownies.

1 pound (more or less) of liver--you can use any kind but chicken livers are the easiest to puree. Puree in a blender or food processer and be careful if you are using a blender that the stringy stuff doesn't get wound around the shaft of the chopper in the blender. Add a couple of cloves of garlic to the liver puree and puree that too.

3 cups of oatmeal (I use quick oats but I've used regular ones--they just make the mix a little drier.

2 eggs

1 package of onion soup mix.

Add the pureed liver, eggs and onion soup mix to the oatmeal--it should be about the consistency of brownies.

Oven at 300 degrees

9" x 13" pan very well greased of buttered--dump the liver/oatmeal mixture into the pan--level by using a spatula to push the mixture into the corners.

Bake at 300 degres for one hour.

Cut into squares, I get about 24 brownies. let them cool for about 5 minutes and remove from the pan--cool complete--bag in zip-lock bags about 6 or 8 to a bag and freeze all but the one you are using. I sometimes used them to get a dog to eat and I definitely used them if I had a dog who was getting most of his food dropped down his through, after the dog had been fed---the liver brownies were the big giant treat for putting up with the indignities of having your dinner pushed down your throat.

And for the dog who just turned their head and said I can't eat--the liver brownies could substitute--you can give them a whole meal of liver brownies.

Oh Ken, I'm so sorry you and Ali have to go through this--I hate endings--in books, good movies, friends visiting and certainly when my pets leave me. With the pets it's so hard--you don't want to keep them too long but you don't want them to go at all--and you are the only one who can make the choice.

Someone said earlier--you'll know. You will know--as hard as it may be you will know wen the time comes. But in the meantime--my prayers and best wishes for you and Ali as you go through this...

dobebug

What's up Doc. How's Miss Ali and her family doing? Thinking of you guys and sending good vibes.

Well Coco , to me , I can see that Miss Ali is slowing down on some things , yesterday was the first day she would not jump up on the couch and lay by my wife to get her rubs ,she looked pitiful , so sad in the eyes , she did eat yesterday morning ! I fixed her a chicken Breast on the grill , boy did she like that but last night , nothing . I fried her up a pound of ground turkey , turned her nose up on it , I don’t blame her , it didn’t look good to me either

Now the unreal part , I bring her outside and we have a new girl , she goes out and plays with her ball , she chased a buzzard that flew over the house yesterday morning , then last night , same thing , she lays on her rug and looks around , she even brought me her ball and barked at me to throw it , so I did , just a few feet , she walked over and got it , then laid down and chewed and chewed it . We are sitting out side now as I type , he laying on her rug . But as I said , I can see the decline in her .

We just can not get over how one day , she is chasing Mr. B down the hall , then around the couch and in 2 weeks , we are about to lose her .

As far as family , first i’ll Start with Kadin , this is a tear jerker here , the other night when we were trying to hand feed her , he stood on the other side of the table and stared at her , then he started that whining at her , in the above video I took of him stealing her ball , that was the sound he made , but he did for several minutes , wife said he is trying to will her to eat , I agree with her , he will not take his eyes off of her , lays by her , walks with her , he knows something is bad wrong with her , he loves her so . Then last night , he went all out , he was at the back of the dog lot and he started his famous sneak walk , head down , one slow step at a time , right at Ali , Ali was watching his every step , then he will take off in a sprint right at her ,this has happened here may Times and blows up into a big play session , didn’t work last night , she watched him blow by and that was it , Kadin just looked at us , what is wrong with sissy ?

As far as wife , it’s pretty tuff on her , when Im out farming , Im gone a lot , She is with Ali all day long , giving her rubs or what ever , Ali follows her everywhere , we all know how them Dobers are

Me ? I’m confused , she is throwing so many different signals , I want to do her right , you know ? Like I said , she is out her messing with her ball . And I will not lie , its tuff , I got really behind on my work , but I look at her and just can not leave her to go do it , I did go over to the shop yesterday for a hour and got a hair cut , the right back home .

I did get a call from her internal med vet Monday evening asking about her and if I had any questions to call her , she said she was in disbelief when she got to work on Monday morning and read Ali’s report , and the cancer Ali has , tends to be very aggressive.

Then about a half hour later , A ER room tech called to follow up on Ali , said it is just routine and that she personally wants to know about Ali ,she had been with Ali a couple of times before , like I said , Ali is well known up there by most of the staff .

Coco , thanks for asking about Ali

Well for now , we are enjoying the time we have with her. She will be sorely missed by all .

Doc

Last night

I really get it. When our Simon had osteosarcoma, we had some similar experiences. Not the same, and I won't try to say I totally understand, because everyone has a different experience, but I'll share a little, in case it helps.

Simon was a rescue - we got him at age 8. He was 10 when he was diagnosed with bone cancer. I'm sure most of you know that bone cancer is one of the most painful things that can be experienced - we know this because of the human patients who experience this disease. Dogs, of course, are so stoic. We elected not to go the amputation route, because of his age and the likelihood that it had already spread. We had very good drugs on board on high doses and chose to spoil Simon and do all the things he loved for as long as possible.

Simon was MY dog. He adored me. He loved to play with our other girl that we had at the time. Loved to take walks, sniff things, pee on things, but above all, just get loved on by me. Despite the cancer in his leg, he'd go out and run around in the yard...we'd see an occasional limp, but he didn't really seem to be in pain much. When we'd signs we'd talk with our vet and we were steadily upping the pain meds. He wasn't really getting sleepy or anything like that. No real changes in his behavior...he'd want to go out and run around the yard, even if he'd occasionally come in limping. You'd think it was hurting him.

We were really having a hard time "knowing" - when is it time? Until one day I reached out to pet him (his favorite thing, remember?)...and, he flinched. And my heart just broke into a million pieces. Because I knew then that he was really hiding the pain. It was a split second and then he moved in for love, but...that's when we made the call. We gave him that weekend for so much spoiling and love. Maybe others would make a different decision, but I knew MY dog, and I knew that was it. I knew how much pain he was probably hiding from me, and I couldn't let him keep living with that.

I have always said I would rather let them go one day too early than one day too late, because I would rather let my heart break over and over than let them suffer because I couldn't make that call. Everyone is different, and that's okay, but that's what we choose to do here.

Hope that wasn't too sad or depressing. I continue to pray for Ali and for your whole family, Ken.

I had a girl, Chanel, several years ago that had a tumor on her spine. She was 12 and the vet said he didn't think she'd be able to walk after surgery. I asked him about prednisone and he said he'd try but wasn't hopeful. She could walk the next day and improved every day for the next 2 weeks until she was back to normal. She lived for another year and up until the last couple of weeks did great. I think we gave her 20mg per day if I rememberr correctly. Good luck.

Thanks you so much MC , that had to be tuff to write , all as to help us understand .

Ali girl has refused to eat this morning , the Doctors said this would be a sign that the end is near , she may even quit drinking water .

She did jump up on the couch for her morning rubs

She is glued to my side this morning

I’m afraid my friends that the end Is very close , and not a damn thing I can do about it , I sorry here , I’m not a quitter , matter of fact , my mom , dad AND my wife say I can be very hard headed sometimes , I just feel so helpless , my hard head will not give up on my girl , this is the battle I’m having with in myself , Ken ! Don’t let this get in the way of making the right call at the right Time . After all the support and advice we have received on here , I think I will be able too .

I know so many people that have gone threw these things , to family members , you really don’t understand what they went threw , till you walk in there shoes , now Ali may not be a person , but she is our little girl and family member and will always be .

You know , I really enjoy reading all about the new dober puppies coming on here , they are peeing here there , everywhere , they pooped under the table , help !! They are biting me l but these are the things we look back at and laugh about in these times , remember when we picked up Ali ? All these puppies in there crates , and one puppy was beating the crap out of her pen door , non stop , when we walked on into the house , wife looked at me and said , I wonder which one is ours ? I laughed and said my best guess is she is the one pounding on the crate door , you know what ? Yep , I was right , lol

But are these things that help us threw these tuff times , the memories are endless , I have cried , then a few minutes later , laughing , remember this time or that time ? I often wonder , do I give them the same back , I know we sure try .

One thing the wife and I have talked about was back 4 years ago when we lost Kasia , even though Ali was here , the house was , well not right , sort on empty , as the two were not chasing each other around .

Wel enough rambling

Thanks everybody .

Btw Badhabit , thank you ! The big problem is not with the pain , it’s from Ali shutting down eating , from the mass .

Doc

Oh Doc. It is a tough one when we watch the sparkle fizzle out in our loveys eyes. It happened to my girl and that's why we had picked our date. Definitely pros and cons to this. We knew it was coming which was difficult for us but not for her. All Coco knew was that she was spoiled absolutely rotten for 4 days and ate a whole bunch of stuff that she had only had in moderation before. Since she was raw fed she had grilled steaks, McDonald's cheeseburgers, immense amounts of dog treats and her cherished powdered donuts that she usually only had 1 on new year's eve (ironically Sugars birthday).

Since we're all sharing stories I will tell you this one. The night before the vet was coming over I wanted to cancel the appointment. I had rationalized it in my head that we would wait a week to get through Christmas. I was crying upstairs when I heard Coco scream. I had never heard this noise and it chilled me to the bone. I ran down the stairs thinking she had broken her leg. She tried to get on the couch and couldn't which had hurt the leg with osteosarcoma in it. Like MC I then realized how much pain she was in that wasnt being alleviated by the pain meds. I sat on the floor and she sat in my lap. We both had a good cry and I knew I couldn't cancel that appointment. At that moment I understood what it meant to just know that I had to let her go.

My heart goes out to you guys. I will continue to send hugs and good energy your way. If you need anything please let me know.

Just came in to take a break , been mowing the yard and let the crew out for a potty break , Ali just won’t eat yet , I even went to town and got her a hamburger, she will smell it a couple of times and then walk away . Poor thing

I think the wife and and I need to have that heart to heart when I get done mowing . Like Meadow said and all the others , I would rather early than late on this . Maybe I can then fulfill my promise to her to make her well again then .

Thanks

Doc

Oh Doc I’m so sorry to hear about Ali, I’ll keep you all in my thoughts during this difficult time