Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
Hello and first of all, I hope that you will accept a huge hug, both for yourself and for beautiful Bud there. I also suspect that you appreciate that I am in no position to tell you what to do from a veterinary point of view; I simply don't know enough about Bud. I hear that he is urinating inappropriately. Your vet would be able to examine him, perhaps look at a water sample and then suggest why that is. Is it that he can't squat to urinate, because he has hip arthritis? If so, it may be that pain relief will help to improve his quality of life again. Is he urinating too much? - perhaps he has diabetes or kidney disease or a water infection or prostate disease. I don't know whether it is the camera angle and the light, but his face looks slightly uneven in this picture; a physical examination, possibly including a short neurological examination, may be needed to assess this. In summary, your vet will need to examine Bud and do tests and understand exactly what is wrong. Vets make what we call a 'problem list.' They identify which, if any, problems are the most concerning and what the implications are. They should discuss both advantages and costs - both financially and to Bud - of any treatment. However, is there a treatment that will make a 13-year-old lab retriever-type young again? I'm afraid that there isn't and I wonder, from the open-ended-ness of your question, whether you are asking for 'permission' to consider euthanasia - and if that is the case, I can point you in the direction of a few good articles too, which will follow. All the best to both you and Bud, whatever your vet finds and whatever you decide to do next.
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