We must consider the quality of life of our beloved companions when we talk about putting them down. There is a list of questions that can help you answer the question of when to put your dog down, which can be jotted down on a checklist. What are the factors you consider when determining the quality of life for your dog?

There are several different factors to consider when deciding if it is time to put your dog down. Basically, the things on this checklist are solely about determining the quality of life your dog is living. Determining when to euthanize your dog by going through a checklist can ease this process.

Determining When it Is Time

Consult with your veterinarian. You can rely on them for help in navigating this tough process. It may be the veterinarian’s obligation to be able to provide an absolute answer, but in other cases, the decision may eventually be yours based on witnessing your pet’s behavior and attitude.

There are some signs and things that can determine that your pet is suffering or that its quality of life is no longer good.

Suffering From Chronic Pain

Dog owners consider euthanasia most regularly because of pain. You cannot allow your four-legged friend to suffer superfluous pain, irrespective of how much you don’t want to say goodbye. You often have to evaluate the pain level of your dog based on physical signs because dogs cannot express orally that they are in pain.

Medication may comfort your dog’s pain for a time, but until the pain becomes too excessive, medication will not be able to ease the pain.

Changes in Eating Habits

Do you presently feed your dog habitually, or does your dog refuse food? If your dog does not eat or eats sluggishly, is it commonly attracted to food or eating? Is your dog receiving appropriate nutrition if it refuses food or has regular vomiting and diarrhea?

If so, can you hand feed your dog, or are there other approaches (such as using a feeding tube) to guarantee proper nutrition? It is important to assess this before putting your dog down.

You should take into account that your dog may be suffering from nausea as a result of the medication or disease when evaluating its hunger. If you suspect your dog is suffering from nausea, speak with your veterinarian about anti-nausea medicines that can aid in lessening the problem and reassure your dog to eat.

Consider Dog’s Hygiene

What is the state of hygiene of your dog? Is your dog experiencing phases of incontinence or bowel incontinence? Is your dog mobile during times of bladder or bowel control loss, or does it sit or lie in its feces for a lengthy period of time? Is your dog totally incontinent and entirely immobile?

Hygiene is critical to your dog’s complete health. Your dog may require help grooming itself if it is unable to groom properly. Your dog may contract pressure wounds if it is unable to stand or walk.

These sores can lead to serious contagion issues. Your dog is also at risk for urinary burn or fecal contamination if it is incontinent or incapable of standing and walking.

Consider Their Happiness

How happy is your dog? Is your dog still concerned about the same things it used to relish, or has your dog’s interests been reduced? Look to see if your dog’s tail is still wagging when it sees you, comes to greet you at the door, and has other normal behaviors.

If your dog appears unhappy, worried, or isolated, now is the time to consider its happiness and include it in your when to put your dog down checklist.

You should look for signs of cognitive dysfunction in your dog when evaluating how happy your dog is after putting down your dog checklist. Indications of CCD in older dogs are comparable to dementia in humans and can be comforted with certain adjustments to their practices and prescription medicines.

Good Versus Bad Days

As you ponder on all of the other factors, this is one of the most problematic and significant inquiries you have to answer concerning the quality of life of your dog.

When your dog seems to have more decent days than bad days, is this good or is it bad? You may require to powerfully deliberate euthanasia if your dog’s bad days outnumber their good ones.

Habit of Drinking Water

Our bodies need water to replenish fluids, so drinking water is a must. It may be a sign of something wrong, however, if you intake more water than usual or without any apparent reason. Another sign that something is amiss is no water available at all. If your dog drinks more or less water than it usually does, there can be many reasons for it.

Diabetes, for instance, raises water consumption. Occasionally, a dog might be very sick, causing it to get nauseous if it drinks water. This may stop a dog from drinking water at all. Dogs should drink a specific amount of water based on their diet. Dogs that are fed raw food possibly need less water than those that are fed dry food.

Watch Your Dog’s Interactions

Your love for dogs is reflected by their excitement when you come home. They come running to you. Do you think your pup will want to meet other dogs and humans when you’re at the park? Once, this may have been the way your dog networked, but now it does not want to do it.

With age, dogs become less involved in networking with people and other canines, and they typically avoid being worried when they become sick and ill.

Over the course of three days, evaluate your dog’s communication and networking behavior three times a day, scoring each with a number between one and five (five being your dog doesn’t want to interact at all). Total all of the scores to determine how much your dog wants to interact. This can also be included in when to put your dog down checklist.

Saying Goodbye

You and your family will also need to determine how and where you will say your final goodbyes after you have made the hardest and most difficult decision to let your dog go for good.

Make sure that everyone in your family has time to say an isolated goodbye to your pet before the procedure is planned to take place.