End of life questions

[trujoy67]

My Maltese has been diagnosed with the most severe form of heart murmur.  She is 14 years old.
2 days ago she passed out and has collapsed 2 times since then without losing consciousness.  She drank water today for the 1st time in about 36 hours and even ate a few bites of food.
My question is, do I take these episodes to mean that her heart is now failing?
I have not called her vet because I do not want her to stress out going to the vet. I want her to be able to die peacefully here with me and my other two dogs. She has been with me since she was 9 weeks old. I rescued her and her Mom from the animal shelter here nearly 14 years ago.
Her mom is 16 and has the same heart condition with non of these symptoms so far. However, her mom does have petite-mal seizures, is deaf, with cataracts as well. She has arthritis and some dementia. The vet gave her hydrocodone for pain and I administer it to her everyday. Frankly, I expected her to go first with all her health issues.
They are exceptionally sweet little girls and have never been seperated. How does one determine when their little loves no longer have a quality life?
Thank you for any insights

trujoy67  

[BluCrystal]

I worked for a vet for 8 years.  From my experience, a 'heart dog' will not suffer, but die suddenly.  Watch her, enjoy her, and if you see anything that tells you she is not having fun anymore, please take her to the vet and do the last and most compassionate thing you can do for her.  My condolences - Blu

[tonyb286]

Hello. The question you ask is so very difficult to answer. It is such a personal thing to try and work out - and truly, the only person able to work it out is you, because you have been and are with your loved ones all the time and know them better than anyone else. For me, I have made mistakes with my dogs over the years, and one in particular I kept alive for too long - bless her, she was almost 20yrs old, completely blind, completely deaf, and had bad arthritis too ... her quality of life was very poor, but it still took me a year to decide to put her out of what misery she was in. I feel it was entirely selfish on my part, but it was such a hard thing to do.

In your situation, my guess is the best thing to try to do is make yourself aware of all the facts about your little one's condition - and that probably means her seeing a vet for a thorough diagnosis. If you are worried about making her anxious by going to the vets, ask the vet to visit you at home (most will do this, but it does obviously cost more). Once you have all the facts, then a decision will be easier to work out.

Maybe what I have said doesn't help much, and I'm sorry for that. You really do have my sympathies, as I know only too well what a dreadful position this is to be in. Much love, Tony x