How do you know it is time to put your pet down?

Mary S asked:


I have a 16 year old cocker spaniel and I am struggling with this decision. She is mostly deaf, blind in one eye and losing sight in the other and has become incontinent. I found doggy diapers so am dealing with the soiling. BUT she also is on arthritis medicine. Over the last year she has grown weaker and weaker. She has trouble keeping her back legs upright when standing on a smooth floor. I have put her food on carpet and she does much better. She still eats every meal and trots to greet me when I get home. She sleeps 23 hours a day. Why I think it is time is more and more often she will bark/cry – when I find her she is in some predicament. She will get in a tight space and can’t turn aound and is too weak to back up….sometimes she just seems lost and as soon as I touch her she settles down, and twice she was having trouble getting up. The bark is a cross between confusion, frustration and despair. choosing to end her life feels wrong……