Here's my situation: 2 years ago, she started to "knuckle" during her walks and when I asked the vet about that, he said that she had neural degeneration and it was "presumed" that she had degenerative myelopathy. I was referred to a place where I started her on physical rehab. At this time, Samba was able to get up and walk around with a limp on her left hind leg. The results were mixed. A year later, the vet then referred me to a neurologist vet who concluded that she did not have DM because she was in pain (yikes), and said she had a couple of slipped discs and so she was put on Tramadol. I continued the physical rehab where she got better but she started to decline anyway. I then switched to trying acupunture, but that failed.
At this point, she is not able to get up by herself and sometimes she has to lay flat because she can't get her head up, which results in lots of crying and barking. On weekends, when my husband and I are home, we are able to assist her and help her walk around. On rare occasions where she is able to get up, she will fall and may hurt herself. I've had to get her stitches for a couple of wounds followed by antibiotics, which gave her digestive problems. One time, she had a corneal abrasion. I have tried a wheel chair, Walkin Wheels, but she tends to lean over to one side or backwards so that didn't work for her. In addition, she developed a severe rash where the harness was and it took months to clear it up (more antibiotics). On weekdays when we are at work, she is locked up in the garage (it has rubberized flooring) since she can no longer get outside on her own via her "custom doggie door" and I have had compaints from neighbors about her constant barking. I generally come back to a mess in the garage and on her, and she is barking for help.
The worst problem is mental. A few months ago, she started having "panic attacks" where she would wake up in the middle of the night panting heavily. Her regular and holistic vet didn't know why it was happening. I did some research online and determined that she had dementia and started her on Senilife (a supplement). It worked for a while, but the panic attacks started up again after 2 months. I then tried DogtorRx, which seemed to help her mobility and sleeping, but again the problems came back. My husband and I are now losing a lot sleep which makes it hard for us to function. It is difficult to try to take care of her as well as our young children. The family has made many sacrifices both time wise and financially. It's also been almost impossible to go on vacations.
Here's a blog I wrote about her to track her progress - http://sambadm.blogspot.com/. I know that I cannot 'fix' her, but I was hoping that I could get her to at least get up and walk a little bit, e.g. to get a drink of water, and at best, get outside to relieve herself. One day, my 6-year old son said that she was the best dog in the world. I was surprised he said that since Samba cannot interact with us. I asked him why he said that, and he said it's because she never gives up.
I feel her quality of life and our quality of life is very poor and I think it may be time to end her suffering. Any ideas
