Congestive heart failure in dogs; when is it time to euthenize?

[jakeandred]

My dog has congestive heart failure.  I believe he is the final stage.  How do I know if he is in pain and if it is time to end his life humanely?

[Stephaniebelding]

We just put our beloved dog Linus down this morning. This thread helped me so I thought I would post our story to share our experience. Linus was 16 and had CHF for 5 years and 2 months. He did so well on his two meds furosemide and pimobenden. He suddenly took a turn for the worse 2 day prior and was markedly ill. Prior to this he was coughing for years but that didn't affect his quality of life. They can live a happy life with a cough as long as it isn't so severe it keeps them from doing their normal activities. He was happy, had a good appetite, but we did notice him slowing down. A couple of days ago he started vomiting, and had labored breathing. Then he wasn't able to walk well and stopped eating, drinking and taking meds. Soon he was stumbling around aimlessly with a dazed look and couldn't rest. He was relieving himself just laying down since he couldn't get up. It was at this point we knew it was time. The vet said that CHF can be a very painful death so we were glad that we were making this decision to spare him the agony. I held him in my arms and he was looking directly at me during the procedure. He just wasn't himself though, so I am not sure how lucid he was. To summarize, while they are still happy, wagging, eating and interested in affection, it is too early. When they are in pain and suffering with struggling to breathe it is definitely time. Hope this helps someone figure out their heartbreaking decision. There will never be another like our sweet Chihweenie Linus.

[Cheech007]

My dog 11 yorki has.chf no energy cough especially when excited. He also has a trachea that is collapsing.  This makes the surgery riskier.  Plus the trachea problem is pretty severe. The vet said it could be a.mpnth or a yr before it collapses.  Then surgery is an option. Keep in mind now he would.be.with pacemaker.amd.older.if.surgery. idk what to do. I don't want him to suffer. 2 surgeries in short span with little dog seems extreme. I'm afraid if I don't I'll feel guilt bc he is suffering or guilty b. I put him down too soon. I do work part time and have kids that I run around with  Recovery might be hard without me there for 5 hrs of.the day. So confused

[MontyLandon]

Our 9 1/2 year old chihuahua was treated for CHF for the last 9 months with medication to reduce the fluid in his body with the drugs as listed above.  He was diagnosed in July 2016 and the vet told us without meds he would probably have 8 months and with possibly up to 2 years.  He has had on and off periods where he would cough more, labored  breathing, no energy.  The last couple of days he has really gotten worse.  He stopped eating, and his labored breathing was so scary last night that we  did make the decision today to bring him to the vet and give him peace.  My husband and I both drove him there with his little bed and a blanket and cuddled and continually told him how much we loved him and were so proud he was our little boy.  We did stay with him while they administered the drug to end his life.  Today has been spent with on and off periods of tears.  It was time and he let us know.  He was a rescue from an abusive home when we got him, and we will never regret making him a member of our family.  We have another rescue chihuahua at home that is eleven.  He will be lonely I would imagine and confused as he is used to having his little brother.  I guess what I am trying to say is...as hard as it is, when your pets quality of life has been reduced to just laying in his bed all day and coughing and not eating or enjoying life anymore it is time.  Good luck - if you never love anything or anyone, you will not experience this loss, however, you will never experience the unconditional love of a pet either and that is priceless.  Rest in peace Monty, we love you.

[newmannuman]

I have a Jack Russell he is called Defer he has been on heart and fluid tablets for 3 weeks now is getting worse.His fluid is building up tired no energy and does not know where he is going.Before this about a week ago he use to bark and wag his tale for a bit and then get tired and rest as if he does not know me he is blind as well.I am now going to the vet to put him to rest as I would not like his organs to shut down and be in pain.Yes we both had happy lives together,in our hearts we know when it is time.My feelings go out to you all god bless.

[Carp2322]

Take yourself out of the equation is the biggest peice of advice I can offer. Is the dog able to do the things they love are they eating and drinking?

[ppw78]

4 months ago my 15 yrs old chihuahua just diagnosed with stage 5 heart murmur. n he 's on meds since then. at 3am this morning suddenly he's breathing so hard, coughing. now he won't eat, drink can't stand. i don't want him in pain. should i put him down??

[Carabella1]

Our 10 year old Border Collie was just dx'd with CHF. We're heartbroken. We had just gotten back from vacation last weekend and our housesitter didn't note any issues. Dazy had been coughing very minimally for a month or so, but we never thought a thing of it. She seemed perfectly fine.
Last Tuesday she started coughing in earnest. It was unproductive, nothing coming up, just very dry. Her sides were heaving and she was pacing in distress.
My husband took her to an ER vet and within an hour they were telling my husband we would lose her at any time, but, hey... we'll keep her overnight and do more tests for $3000. They gave her Lasix and oxygen and my husband declined the overnight (of course against their advice).
The next day he took her to our regular vet. He couldn't hear a thing. No murmur, no congestion.
Thursday, she started coughing again. I wondered if it might be allergies. The doctor wanted to see her again, immediately. It turns out the Lasix masked the symptoms the day before. He said, "no one needs to spend $3000 for this diagnosis." He put her on a high blood pressure med, Vasotec, and Lasix. He said we may have a year, possibly two, or as little as six months.
So, she takes these twice a day and I've added 5000iu of Vitamin D because it's good for the heart and dogs can't absorb it through their skin like humans.
She's really perked up, eating well and wanting to play with her Frisbee all the time. We can't know how much time we have with her. My husband read somewhere that activity should be limited. She's a border collie! There is no limit! I told him that while she can romp and play, we need to let her do as much as she can, as long as she can.

[Carp2322]

I've had a couple dogs with CHF older large breed dogs I can tell you that while it sounds like your dog is further along then either of ours were when we first caught it (The first dog got a cold and while the rest of our animals got better he didn't so it was caught very early and with the 2nd we knew that coughing was a big sign (burping too)) our dogs kept on their meds have always done awesome. The one that is no longer with us didn't even die because of his heart, he went into liver failure. Our other dog has been on her meds for about 2 years now and is still going strong. It took 2 vet techs to hold her down at her last appointment  (she really hates the vet now that she can't see so good...she is a 17)

[Carp2322]

I've had a couple dogs with CHF older large breed dogs I can tell you that while it sounds like your dog is further along then either of ours were when we first caught it (The first dog got a cold and while the rest of our animals got better he didn't so it was caught very early and with the 2nd we knew that coughing was a big sign (burping too)) our dogs kept on their meds have always done awesome. The one that is no longer with us didn't even die because of his heart, he went into liver failure. Our other dog has been on her meds for about 2 years now and is still going strong. It took 2 vet techs to hold her down at her last appointment  (she really hates the vet now that she can't see so good...she's 17)

[Abbode]

How do you get the vitamin D in amd what brand..and did you start feeding her moist dog food since their throat and cough is so bad?Going through the same thing as of last week.

[SuzyQue100]

Our beloved 2 year old Asian Mastiff Ace began slowing down over the last couple of weeks. He'd been off his food for a while but has always been a bad eater, we didn't think anything of it just kept offering him other foods and encouraging him. He had the odd cough. Sadly in his short life he's already been through a lot so we have regular visits to the vets. On New Year's Eve he'd been so lethargic and his breathing was deep and fast, we just knew something was wrong. The vet immediately picked up on an irregular heart beating (atrial fibrillation). An ecg was performed and he was scanned. We were told he is in the late stages of heart failure with fluid in and around his lungs and that he's suffering from a condition called Dilated Cardio Myopathy. The vet called it the silent killer. He's been given 2 weeks to 2 months to live on a cocktail of drugs. We are absolutely reeling and devastated. He's still with us at this moment his breathing had returned to normal but he's a poorly boy and we know it's just a matter of time. He's still going on short walks, eating sporadically, wagging his tail and the vet says he's in no pain but he is getting very skinny, he's out of sorts and is just a shadow of the dog he was. We are struggling to know when the time is right to let him go and be at peace. We do not want him to suffer.

[TedHam]

Our Tisha is 17 years old.  Yesterday, we took to the Pet ER as she had the blue tongue/gums, shivering, could barely walk without fainting and had the worst cough with vomit/bile.  The vet advised she has a murmur and that is leading to her not getting enough oxygen in her blood (leaky heart valves).  Until this time, we had her on a cough medicine and antibiotics.  She came home with improved condition last night but today, she has no appetite and no energy; although, she is drinking water (the diruetic).  We were given 5-day supply of diuretics but she has weak kidneys.  Vet says treat the heart first but we worry the meds will cause kidney failure and with her leaky valves, I don't want her to lapse back into the state she was in Sunday.  She is very tired and is not enjoying life.  I am talking with my wife today and we are taking her to our vet for a follow-up.  We do not want to put her thru the meds as Tisha really hates them and, although not yet suffering, she is very uncomfortable and her days are spent sleeping. She has no zest.  We are praying we make the right decision for her before she has trouble again.