Recognizing the signs of a dog dying of heart failure and knowing how to comfort a dog with congestive heart failure are important, especially if your dog has been diagnosed with heart disease. To help guide you on this journey, integrative veterinarian Dr. Julie Buzby invites her friend, end-of-life care veterinarian Dr. Dawnetta Woodruff to share some words of wisdom. Dr. Woodruff explains what to expect if your dog has congestive heart failure, how to care for your dog, and when it may be time to say goodbye.
When your beloved canine companion has been diagnosed with heart problems, the possibilities and uncertainties are often overwhelming. Your veterinarian may have given you a brief overview of heart failure. Or he or she may have gone over things in great detail. Either way, a new diagnosis of canine heart disease means that you have a lot of information to consider. And you likely have many questions.
Two of the biggest concerns are often, “How can I keep my dog comfortable through the final stages of congestive heart failure?” and “Will I be able to recognize the signs my dog is dying of heart failure and know when it is time to say goodbye?”
Understandably, you want your dog to be with you for as long as possible. But you also want to prioritize his or her comfort and quality of life. So what does this look like when your dog has congestive heart failure (CHF)?
Heart failure basics
To really grasp the complexities of these questions, we need to start with a basic understanding of heart failure. The canine heart is like the human heart—it has four chambers, a smaller right and left atrium and a larger right and left ventricle.
These chambers are made up of strong muscle that contracts in a specific rhythm to move blood throughout the body. As blood moves through the heart and into its associated blood vessels, there are heart valves in place to prevent blood “backflow” and to ensure blood is pushed forward to its next destination.
If the ability of the heart to pump blood to the lungs and body changes, the heart’s function decreases. And eventually the end result may be congestive heart failure (CHF). In other words, fluid accumulates in the body or lungs due to the heart’s inability to adequately do its job.
Sometimes heart failure is due to leaking of the valves, such as occurs in mitral valve disease in dogs. Other times, a condition such as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs weakens the heart muscle itself, leading to heart failure. Or potentially the dog could have heartworm disease in dogs, a congenital heart defect, or other heart problems.
Regardless of the cause, when the heart muscle can’t pump effectively, or when the valves do not prevent backflow, this disrupts proper blood flow through the heart and vessels. As a result, blood backs up in the vessels, pushing fluid out into the lungs or abdomen. At that point, the dog is in congestive heart failure in dogs. Depending on which side of the heart fails, heart failure can be left-sided, right-sided, or both.
Diagnosis of heart failure in dogs
If the vet catches heart disease in dogs early, there may be no outward signs of heart failure. The only clue may be that your vet hears a heart murmur in dogs during a physical exam. But in other situations, you may see more obvious symptoms such as coughing, trouble breathing, or being a lethargic dog.
In either case, your vet may recommend chest X-rays as a diagnostic starting point. X-rays are a good way to evaluate the size and shape of the heart and to look for fluid accumulation in the lungs (i.e. pulmonary edema).
Additionally, your vet may refer you to a veterinary specialist near you, such as a veterinary cardiologist for further diagnostics. This may include an echocardiogram (i.e. heart ultrasound). The echo lets the vet see inside the heart while it is beating to give a full picture of what is causing your dog’s heart disease. And it helps your dog’s medical team know what medications will be most beneficial.
Treatment and monitoring of heart failure
Once your vet has diagnosed your dog with one of the types of heart disease, it is important to give your dog his or her medications on time and not miss doses. The various heart medications help your dog’s heart beat stronger, decrease abnormal heart rhythms, or help keep fluid from accumulating in the lungs or body. Thus, it is critical to carefully follow your vet’s instructions regarding these medications.
Additionally, you should bring your dog back to the vet for regular checkups. That way he or she can track the progression of your dog’s heart disease and modify the treatment plan as needed.
How do you recognize worsening heart failure?
It is also important for you to be on the lookout for signs the heart failure is progressing, including:
- Exercise intolerance—Your dog may tire quickly on walks or have no interest in play. Or your dog may only be able to catch the ball a few times or often need to “catch his or her breath” during play sessions.
- Increased fatigue—Dogs with heart failure may sleep many more hours a day than they used to.
- Muscle wasting—You might notice your dog looking thin and losing lean muscle mass.
- Coughing—Initially, you might hear your dog coughing and gagging in times of activity or excitement. But he or she may progress to coughing even at rest.
- Elevated heart rate—Your dog may have a “pounding” heart that can be felt or even seen.
- Restlessness—Dogs with congestive heart failure can’t get comfortable in any one position. Or they may only sleep for a few minutes before moving.
- Panting—Even when at rest or when the ambient temperature isn’t overly warm, your dog may still be panting.
- Decreased appetite—Dogs with heart failure may not eat well or may need to pause while eating to catch their breath.
If your dog is is experiencing any of these signs of worsening heart failure, it is important to see your veterinarian or schedule a recheck with your cardiologist right away. He or she may add additional medications or adjust the medication dosages to try to get the heart failure under control again.
Consequences of fluid accumulation
As part of advanced heart failure, your sweet pup will have fluid that accumulates within their abdomen (in right-sided congestive heart failure), or within their lungs (in left-sided congestive heart failure). And you might notice your dog’s paws or legs look swollen from fluid building up there as well.
Regardless of where the fluid builds up, it is evidence that your dog’s heart failure is progressing from stable or “compensated” heart failure to unstable or “decompensated” heart failure. And it means your dog is becoming at risk for a respiratory crisis.
As a dog’s heart failure progresses to its end stages, he or she will have more and more difficulty breathing. Your dog’s gums might look either muddy brown or bluish-grey due to lack of oxygen. And you might notice your dog breathing fast, extending the neck and holding the head at an odd angle, using the belly muscles to breathe, or moving the whole body with each breath. These are signs of respiratory distress.
Air hunger
A dog who is in respiratory distress experiences “air hunger.” This is similar to the way a person feels when they have a severe asthma attack. The body can’t get enough oxygen, and trying to get enough oxygen causes a lot of physical and mental stress. Air hunger has been compared to “drowning from the inside.” As you can imagine, it is a very difficult thing to experience. And it can be very stressful to watch your cherished friend going through such a traumatic time.
Seek help ASAP if you suspect your dog is in advanced heart failure
Should your dog be showing these symptoms of respiratory distress, look “bug-eyed” or stressed while sitting still, or you are otherwise worried about your dog, you need to make an emergency vet visit right away. Additionally, if you notice your pup has a “pot-belled dog” appearance from fluid in the abdomen, it is important to seek care quickly.
How can you help comfort your dog with congestive heart failure?
A respiratory crisis can strike at any time. So it is important to understand how best to help your dog before and during a crisis.
Have an emergency plan
If your dog has CHF, it is important to have an emergency plan before a crisis hits. Know if your vet provides after-hours emergency services and where the nearest emergency room or urgent care is located. And review the signs of advanced congestive heart failure so you can recognize them.
If your vet gives you certain medications (such as furosemide) to administer during a crisis, know where they are so you can find them in an emergency situation. But also be prepared to get to the vet as fast as possible.
Know how to keep your dog comfortable on the way to the vet
When dogs are experiencing respiratory difficulty, you can do a few things in the car on the way to the vet or at home to help them be more comfortable.
- Prop their chin up on a pillow to help extend their neck. This may make it easier for them to get enough air
- Have a fan nearby to move air past their nose to increase comfort.
- Consider purchasing an emergency supply of pet oxygen that you can administer during a crisis (e.g. Pawprint Oxygen). This supply will not last long (typically 15-30min). But it may help you and your dog feel better on the way to the veterinary ER.
Understand what an emergency visit for CHF may entail
Once you arrive at the ER or veterinary clinic, the veterinary team will jump into action to stabilize your dog. When your dog is in an advanced heart failure crisis, he or she may need oxygen, IV medications, or even a chest tap (i.e. thoracocentesis) or an abdominal tap (i.e. abdominocentesis). And the vet may recommend hospitalizing your dog to further stabilize the heart failure before sending him or her home.
Promptly making an urgent care or an ER visit can potentially save your dog’s life when he or she is experiencing a respiratory emergency secondary to heart failure. Best case scenario, your dog responds well to the medications, and their heart can once again compensate. This gives him or her some “bonus time” to spend with you.
However, a stable patient who has recently been through an emergency situation may not stay stable for long. At some point, your dog’s disease will become so advanced that even the best medicine and the best medical team won’t be able to stop the respiratory crisis. The most challenging thing with heart failure is that we never know if the next crisis may be the one that doesn’t respond to therapy.
Take steps to reduce the chances of a respiratory crisis
Since a respiratory crisis is traumatic for all involved, dog parents may understandably also want to avoid it if possible. Sometimes, the signs of worsening heart disease are very subtle. And we may not notice them until the crisis is about to happen.
However, keeping a journal of your dog’s activity levels can help you to notice trends that could point to worsening heart failure. And monitoring your dogs resting respiratory rate (RRR) can also help you detect problems quickly. Typically, RRR for a normal dog should be 15-30 breaths per minute. For dogs with heart disease, an elevation in this number can be one of the first signs of respiratory compromise.
To monitor your dog’s RRR:
- Choose a time of day that you will consistently take the reading.
- Make sure your pup is truly resting, and hasn’t just had a lot of activity.
- Use a clock or a stopwatch to count how many times your dog breathes in 15 seconds (one rise and fall of the chest equals 1 breath).
- Multiply this number by four to get the RRR in breaths per minute (bpm).
You may want to use a blank calendar sheet, an excel spreadsheet, or even a shared Google Doc to track the RRR. That way everyone in the family can watch for trends and your vet can look at the data too.
If your dog’s RRR is gradually climbing, if it rises above 35-40 bpm, or if it makes a big jump (more than a 25% increase from the typical baseline value), report this to your veterinary care team. They may want to make medication adjustments or schedule a recheck based on your observations.
How long can a dog live with congestive heart failure?
Sometimes, with medical therapy and careful monitoring, a dog may live for several years with controlled (or compensated) heart disease. It may take a long time for the disease to progress. And the dog can have a good quality of life for much of that time.
However, in other situations, the heart disease changes rapidly within just a few days or months. The dog may go downhill quickly and have a much shorter window of time with a good quality of life.
For example, in a study of 54 dogs with advanced CHF due to mitral valve disease, the average time between onset of congestive heart failure symptoms and onset of advanced heart failure was 163 days. But it ranged from 10 to 743 days. And the average survival time was 281 days after the diagnosis of advanced heart failure. However, some dogs in the study were euthanized within a few days of being diagnosed with advanced heart failure. And others lived for about two more years.
Thinking through when to put down your dog with heart failure
This whole discussion about heart failure and the potential for a respiratory crisis may sound a bit daunting. And it is. After all, taking care of dogs with CHF is not an easy task. You must give them their medications on time and they may require a special diet. Plus, making sure they are stable requires a lot of diligence and a bit of luck. It can be exhausting for the patient, and sometimes caring for a sick pet becomes too much for you too.
You may be wondering how to know when it is time to put down a dog with congestive heart failure. Should you make that decision before they ever have a crisis? After the first crisis? Or should you allow them to pass with a medically unassisted death? There is no one right answer for every dog. In fact, if you have two dogs with heart failure, you may make a different decision for each of them.
Questions to help make the decision clearer
Asking yourself these questions can be helpful:
- Does your dog take medications well? Or does every medication dose cause stress for you and your pup?
- How severe was your dog’s heart failure when it was first diagnosed? How quickly has it progressed?
- Is your dog healthy other than his or her heart disease? Or does he or she have several other chronic health concerns?
- Does your schedule allow you to keep the medications on a good schedule? How long must your dog stay home alone with no human around?
The answer to all of these questions can help you to see the bigger picture. If your dog takes pills well, heart disease is their only ailment, and you work from home, you will likely be able to help your dog stay stable longer. But if pill time every day is stressful and causes breathing issues, your dog also has osteoarthritis in dogs and kidney failure in dogs, and you spend nine hours a day away from home, it may be kinder to make an earlier decision for euthanasia.
There is no “one right day” to make the decision. Rather there is a window of time where euthanasia is a very appropriate decision to make. In some cases, we need to make the decision earlier in the window, and in other cases, we can wait longer while still being kind to your dog.
Take air hunger into account
One thing to consider specifically with CHF in dogs is the topic of air hunger that was mentioned earlier. Some families prefer for their dog to pass naturally, if possible. When that is the family’s wishes, they are often hoping for their dog to peacefully pass away in his or her sleep.
This can sometimes happen. However, with congestive heart failure, an unmedicated passing is more likely to be painful and difficult for your dog. Air hunger is a very traumatic thing to experience. And at the natural end of CHF, a dog has air hunger to the point of dying while drowning in their own fluids. Dying in this way is distressing for your dog. And is also a difficult final memory for all who love him or her.
For this reason, many veterinarians will encourage families to make a decision sooner with CHF than with other diseases such as mobility problems or kidney failure. If your dog’s congestive heart failure is worsening, his or her breathing is becoming more labored, your dog is in a respiratory crisis that can’t be resolved with therapy, or you are seeing other signs of a dog dying from heart failure, the kindest thing may be to help him or her skip over the hardest parts that are still to come.
Words of comfort for saying goodbye
The decision to euthanize a dog with congestive heart failure never feels like something we are ready for. Our mind can logically come to terms with the decision as a kind and merciful option. However our hearts are not logical, and they will never feel ready.
Even still, when we watch our precious canine friend struggling, and we know that we cannot fix the disease, we come to a point where watching them continue on is harder than allowing them to be at peace. This is when we know we are as ready as we can ever be.
Dogs are very good at sensing a person’s intentions, and they are very intuitive. I believe if they could talk to us, that they would tell us they understand that we are making the decision to say goodbye on a good day, before every moment of joy is gone.
Have you lost a dog to congestive heart failure?
Please share his or her story below.
My Cavalier King Charles is 9 yrs old, and was diagnosed with CHF about a month ago, although there was a heart murmur a couple of years ago. she is on Vetmedin and Furosemide. She sleep all the time, won’t go on walks and won’t eat. I’m at my wits end on what to do now
Dear Joyce,
I am sorry your Cavalier is experiencing this decline in her health. I can understand your worry and agree the worsening of her symptoms is concerning. It may be a good idea to have your vet to a quality-of-life evaluation and give their honest opinion of her condition. Praying for clarity and strength as you navigate this emotional path. Bless you and your sweet girl.
I lost my dear Tyrion on 7/4/26, after a long courageous fight with CHF. On his 6th hospital and final admission for IV lasix and oxygen I heartbreakingly listened to the doctor and agreed that he was suffering and it was only getting much worse. Tyrion was a fighter and seeing how he struggled to breathe and be comfortable broke my heart. This disease is a nightmare. He was otherwise healthy, never lost his appetite but his spunk even though still there the disease made it hard for him. Any excitement brought on the dreaded cough and extreme heart racing and very high respiratory rate. I miss him dearly, my heart is shattered. I wish there was a cure. 11 years was not enough 🥺🐶 I will forever love and miss my boy. Dogs are truly angels and a gift to us.
Dear Sarah,
My heart aches for you with your loss of Tyrion. You did everything you could to give him more time, and it is clear he was dearly loved. May the memories of all the good times you shared bring you comfort. Wishing you peace and brighter days ahead. ♥
My 17 year old papillon Emmie lived with CHF for 15 months. As time went on she seemed to do very well with medication, therapy etc. Her cardiologist said Emmie “hid” her symptoms very well. We were very diligent with her vet appointments, medication and even brought her to acupuncture faithfully. I noticed one night after a year + of Emmie being diagnosed her RRR was very high. We did exactly what the ER directed us to do and her RRR still stayed over 40. We brought her to the ER and they kept her overnight telling us she was not in crisis but wanted to keep an eye on her. The next morning we were told we could pick her up later that day. I received a call they had to put Emmie in an oxygen tank with iv medication as Emmie started to struggle to breath. Emmie never left the oxygen tanks and even with the extreme measures of the icu team her breathing only continued to get worse. I feel I was in denial and couldn’t understand as she seemed ok 3 days earlier and just a week earlier her cardiologist said her exam was very good. I was told that is the way this horrible disease works. It is very unpredictable. Under light sedation I brought my girl home. ( we lived 40 minutes from the ER) I layed with Emmie on my chest where her vet came to the house . Emmie took her last breath while laying on my chest. I got to tell her everything I wanted to say and how much I love her. I struggle with the decision I made that day every day. I promised to always protect her and I feel I didn’t that day. How could one day she seemed ok and 4 days later I was telling her goodbye.? She never showed the typical signs of CHF , the coughing, heavy breathing, gasping for air, etc. which is why I think I was in such denial of it all. I miss her every second of every day. My heart went with her.
Dear Sue,
My heart aches for you with your loss of Emmie. I know you think you didn’t protect her that last day, but you definitely did. You allowed your own heart to break in order to spare Emmie from unnecessary suffering. I cannot think of a more selfless act of love than that. Thank you for being willing to share her story with us. It helps others to know they are not alone with dealing with a similar situation. I hope with time your heart can begin to heal and you can find peace. May Emmie’s memory be with you always. ♥
I had to euthanize my 15 year old Chihuahua mix on January 6 two days ago. She was OK the night before and was even eating.The next morning she was anxious moving around constantly had very rapid breathing and slobbering alot. Took her to the vet and was told she had an enlarged heart and fluid in her lungs,I made the decision to euthanize, but the guilt is so powerful in my heart,hoping I did the right thing,I just didn’t want her to suffer going forward. I have not been able to come to terms with how fast the turnaround was.
Dear Steven,
I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved Chihuahua. From what you describe, you definitely made the most loving choice possible by offering your girl peace and freedom from suffering. Congestive heart failure can be very difficult to detect in the earlier stages without testing and diagnostic imaging. It can start and progress quickly with little to no symptoms until it reaches a severe stage. It is very possible for something like this to begin and then progress to a critical level between yearly vet appointments, which leaves your vet no way to make a diagnosis and intervene while medications might still be an option. I say all this to let you know that I understand your grief, but please don’t let guilt have any part of this. You didn’t do anything wrong and acted quickly once you realized there was a problem. I am certain your girl knew how much she was loved. Praying for peace and healing for your heart. Bless you. ♥
Hello your comments are ver. My great little Maltese dog named Puff passed away on Friday. He was only 9 yrs old.
I found out on our first vet visit, when he was about 6 months old. that he was from a puppy mill. At that visit the vet said he had double rows of teeth comming in. So after about six more months he did the dental work.
The vet said
other than the teeth, that he was a great dog with no other problems.
When he was 5 yrs old, he got a “brother”. A baby schnauzer. They really loved each other. We moved away from that area of AZ in 2021. A bad idea vet wise.
Six months ago my wife passed. The two dogs helped me get through that misery.
Five months ago Puff went in to his new vet here in our new town. He had been going there since 2021. What i don’t like with this new vet setup is that they have 3 or 4 different vets. You never know which one your going to get. At this appointment she noticed he had a mild heart murmur. He had an ultrasound enchocardiogtaphy. He needed no meds, but she prescribed new cardio food. She never warned of any future heart problems. I thought ok everything is fine. At the time she said he needed new dental work done. I got a quote for the dental work. It was three times more than what my old vet charged five years before. So Puff and I headed back to the old vet.
Now the problem. She never said to watch for any problems or gave me any information about dogs with heart murmurs. I didn’t know of fluid going to their abdomen, fainting, heavy breathing, coughing etc. Until I looked it up online after his death. I did see that in Jan-Mar Puff was gaining weight. I thought he liked his new dental work, and was eating to much. which he never did. I put him on a diet about two weeks ago, not knowing that would not help him. Then within a week of his passing, Last Friday. He coughed at nite and did not want to go walking anymore. Now I know that it was the fluid not the food causing his problems.
Thanks for listening to my rant. His “brother” and I are so sad.
ps Try to find a good vet and keep them.
Dear John,
I am sorry for your loss of Puff. I understand your grief and how the mind tends to ponder all the “what ifs”. Since I was not personally involved with Puff’s medical care, it is hard to speak to why certain information was given or withheld. I can say that a heart murmur can be benign and many dogs live with them their whole lives and never have a problem. There are also dogs that develop congestive heart failure that never have a murmur. I am certain that Puff knew how much he was loved and that you gave him a wonderful life. May his memory be with you always and wishing you brighter days ahead.
This sounds similar to my precious Maltese Chloe. I had to put her down a few days ago. She was almost 16 (15 years 11 months) and full of life and love. August of 2024, she was diagnosed with a collapsed trachea. So I gave her hydrocodone and more recently I gave her a steroid inhaler as she started coughing more. Everything seemed ok and manageable. I took her to her annual check up in November, and she had a perfect blood test, with slightly elevated BUN in her kidney. Not a big deal. They also said they heard a heart murmur for the 1st time in her life. I asked should I be worried? They said no it’s not a big deal. Lots of dogs have heart murmurs. Jump to today, 5 months later), she’s gone. 10 days ago she had fainted on me while I was bathing her. It happened because she coughed so hard that she couldn’t get air. I had no idea the cough was heart failure. I thought it was her trachea this whole time. After the episode she rest on my lap for an hour and then was ok. I still had no idea what happened. But because she seemed fine, I didn’t take her in. 4 days later she fainted again. And these fainting spells happened 9 times in 4 days. In between these she saw 2 vets with vastly different opinions. One said she’s fine and has an enlarged heart. I asked how that happened so fast? They said it just does sometimes. I didn’t trust their response to Chloe. So I took her to UC Davis and they told me to put her down. They didn’t want to run any tests. I think because by that point in that short while, she already had so many episodes. She had one more that night and stabilized from there. I wanted to speak to her primary vet, before making a final decision. She also said she can extend her life by a week for sure and we can go from there. I didn’t like how that sounded so at the checkup I told her to make Chloe as comfortable as possible, I’ll monitor how she does, but I don’t want her to suffer trying to gasp for air. It’s heart breaking to watch. So although she got better, her cough was persistent. So I euthanized her at home a few days later. I’m upset that no one told me to look for these signs. And now when I look back, she would cough more at night these past few months and took breaks while eating her food. I’m so sad and heart broken and worry for my other dog too.
Dear Cat,
My heart aches for you as you grieve the loss of Chloe. I am sorry for how things happened, and I understand your frustration and disappointment with the lack of information and communication you received. What a blessing you were able to give Chloe a peaceful goodbye and have her at home where she was most comfortable. Thank you for being willing to share your story with us and hopefully save someone else from a similar situation. May Chloe’s memory be with you always. Wishing you peace and comfort. ♥
My 16.5year old Tyler was sadly put to peace 2 days ago. he was diagnosed with heart failure 2 year ago after fainting on different occasions, he was put on vetmedin and fluid tablets, my god since then he had the most energy in the house he become a new dog and me and his mam could not of been more grateful! we had Tyler since he was 5 weeks old we took him home and cared and loved him from that day on! We went on our walks with his little brother Timmy on Monday night, he was still energetic as normal and playing morning till night in the house with his toys and wanting attention. Tyler has a few other problems with joint pain and a sore bum what developed lumps, at this age I did not want to put him through bloods etc as he was still fine and his happy self. Tuesday tea time he ate his food as normal played with his brother and we went up to bed by the way he loved bedtime always loved been upstairs. What we noticed for the last week he was sleeping down stairs through the night what we found strange as I said he loved his bed and upstairs, each morning I wud find him sprawled out in his bed in the living room and got up to greet me and follow our morning routine. Tuesday through the night he started panting heavily and pacing the floors he couldn’t settle at all by 4am I got up to help assist with him and take over from my wife, he cudnt even cok his leg to wee like 8 hours before he becomes very lethargic head down tilted to one side eyes all dark and said drooling alot and he could not lay down what so ever his hips looked like they had locked and he was shaking so much and breathing erratically he tried to drink some water and cudnt even manage 2 slurps which was not like him. He then was sick and had the runs. I made a quick decsion just from looking at him and how sad he looked and looked like he was given up after 2 years on meds I thought I need to put this old man out his misery it isn’t fair, spoke with the wife and we went down to the emergency vet, would you believe on entering he was like a different dog, but the vet said he’s going blind deaf and heart failure has affected him now. So I went through with the decision and not even half of the syringe was put into him and he passed so peacefully and relaxed with me and him been nose to nose and me singing to him I can’t believe how fast the process was and how pain free he was, I had never seen him so at rest laid down flat on his front for over 2 years. Can I tell you this is the first time I’ve done this and the aftermath is absolutely horrendous the guilt me and his mam feel is terrible, we keep going over and over if we did the right thing I know deep down we have as he was suffering not us. suppose its us who suffers now until it gets a little easier. His little brother keeps looking for him and it’s heartbreaking but luckily he’s been ok for now. reading these comments have definitely put my mind at ease so glad I came across this page. Much love to everyone affected xx
Dear Steph,
I am so sorry for your loss of Tyler. What a blessing his passing was peaceful and you were able to spare him from unnecessary suffering. I can only imagine how much you miss him but am certain he knew how much he was loved. May his memory stay with you always. Praying for comfort and peace for you, your family, and Timmy. ♥
Grieving the Loss of a Dog After Euthanasia (& Finding Peace)
I am thankful I read your reply. My 6 year old shih tsu passed four days ago from chf and fluid in the lungs. I had no idea she had this. Some of the signs might have been there but I dismissed them because she was a shih tsu and was always by my side resting. (Not thinking lethargic). She was due for her yearly comprehensive exam next month. That being said, she was just at the vets three months ago and her physical exam stated vitals ok. Needless to say nothing was detected. I am just devastated that I couldn’t try and slow it down.
Dear Tina,
I am so sorry for the loss of your girl. I am glad you found some comfort in my previous reply and understand your grief. Praying for healing for your heart. May the memories of all the good times you shared by with you always. Wishing you brighter days ahead. ♥
These words have been of great comfort to me, because my cavalier developed CHF immediately after I went away for three days, and two nights, I had never left him before, he was with his brother and two other of my cavaliers, he was completely healthy before, and symptoms as sin as I arrived back, then was ok the next day, then two weeks later, he had a respiratory crisis in London, I thought it was the pollution, then back in Kent the next day he was fine,, then three weeks later he collapsed, and then died 10 days later.
During those 10 days I gave him minutes to minute loving home hospice and palliative care, carried him into the garden to do wees etc every two hours, and kept him hydrated.
I blame myself for leaving him, I never did before, and he was healthy before he left, he used to get separation anxiety, but I thought at almost 10 years of age, he would have grown out of it, and he had been left with the other three cavaliers, and access to the garden through a dog flap, and I thought he was too old to handle long train journeys from Kent to North Wales over two days, I had only planned on one night.
I was wrong, I believe he would have been fine if he had been with me.
In general when he lived in North Wales his health improved vastly and he turned into a puppy, and in Kent he always seemed like an old dog,.
I was in the process of moving to North Wales for him, but I didn’t get there in time.
Dear Sarah,
I am so sorry for the tragic loss of your beloved boy. It is normal to ponder all the “what ifs” while grieving but please don’t let guilt weigh you down. With your boy having heart disease, he was living on borrowed time no matter which city you called home. Unfortunately, the Cavalier breed is known for developing CHF. You did everything you could for him, and I am certain he knew how much he was loved. Praying for comfort and healing for your heart. May his memory stay with you always and continue to be a blessing in your life. ♥
i took my 15 yr old chihuahua to the vet today and was told she has CHF and Osteoarthritis,the vet has only give me enough medication for 1 week,i was told to make a decision asap regarding Euthanasia or to continue with medication that will prolong her life for a little longer and then to go back to the vet again after 1 week,i have no idea what to do,once shes gone then ive had everything ripped away from my life and will be completely alone
Dear Susan,
I am sorry you are facing this difficult decision for your senior pup. I wish I could offer some advice but without understanding all the details it is hard to know what to recommend. It is clear your girl is dearly loved and that you would do whatever you could to help her. Sometimes all we can do to prevent suffering is to offer peace and say goodbye. I hope you can find the advice you need to make the best choice for you and your sweet girl. Bless you. ♥
How Will You Know When It’s Time to Euthanize Your Dog? 5 Caring, Heartfelt Messages
You did the right thing … once they stop eating … it’s time