Hi all
Im not sure if im posting this in the right place, or if its even worth mentioning, but im absolutly devasted

On friday my 8 year old bullmastuff tia (female) was put to sleep at pdsa in blackpool, she has never had any health problems what so ever, but three weeks ago, all of a sudden she started limping on her hind leg, i took her to pdsa, after a tug and a twist they couldent find anything wrong her, said it must be a sprain of some sort, they give her an anti imflamitory injection and a course of tablets, a week later she had totally stopped using the leg and held it up the intire time,

i took her back to the vet on thursday they said she would need an x-ray and to fetch her back friday morning, the following day. i took her in at 8.30 am on friday morning, and left her with them as she needed to be sudated for the x-rays, i phoned them a few times for any updates around dinner time ish, they said they had taken her down, and to ring back at 3pm, 10 mins later after puttin the phone down, a nurse phoned from the pdsa, saying its bad news shes got a bone tumour, theres no obvious injury to the leg, but as shes not weight baring on that leg she must be in alot of pain, bone cancer is very aggressive, she gave me the option to be referred to an other vet for amputation, but advised me agsinst this, saying it's probably spread throughout her body, and the best thing to do would be to put her to sleep whilst she was sudated,

please bare in mind, by the time i had heard this i was an absolute wreck cring my eyes out i thought at the very worst she may have broken her leg, i asked if i could think about it, to which she replied i'll ring you back in 10 miniuts,leaving me with no option, i reluctently agreed to do what she was telling me was best for tia, and asked her to keep her sudated till i got there, which is 20 miles away from my house, when i got there i was led to the back by a nurse, where tia was led on a cold floor freezing, heavily sudated and givin litteratly 1 min with her,, before the nurse arrived with the form and injection.i was crying uncontrollably and so was my partner, we was on our knees, crying our eyes out over her, they gave her the injection, and tia passed away, i was led out of the back door, as we was uncontrolebly upset, and the waiting room was packed

after 24hours of thinking and trying to make sence of it all, i feel absolutly gutted that i dident question it, my dog wasent ill, she was eating, drinking, and toileting as normal , she only had an extremly sore leg , it was a nurse that phoned me and told me the results, no vet spoke to me when i arrived at the at pdsa, i was just taken to tia to get on with it, i feel i was rushed and railroaded into a decision , im not rich, and i couldent afford cancer treatment, or amputation, but could pain killers have bought her some time?

the feeling of grief we have is immense, i feel like ive lost one of my own, its awfull, but she was never treat like a dog, she weighed just under 9 stone, she was allowed to sleep on sofa, never left outside,and a beloved member of our family, and i cant belive i dident question it, i was just way to upset

i just cant find any closer at all, me and my partner, keep going over the same things, and its eating away at us,

im sorry for posting this here if its the wrong place, and im not even sure what kind of reply im lookin for, but i just thought id share my experiance with you

RIP tia i love you soo much, im sorry xconfused:

so sorry to hear of your loss.

The way the vets handled this seems very rushed and understandably has increased your upset. Unfortunately there isnt anything you can do about it now and playing it over is just going to make you feel worse. Believe me I know, Ive been through it too.

Its so hard, but try and remember the happy times, she seems like she was a very special girl.

Not only did she make a big impact on your life but you on hers also. She was very lucky to have somone who obviously thought so much of her.

my thoughts are with you at such a sad time

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This sounds so much like what happened with my beautiful Great Dane Ruby almost 4 years ago. Hers was also bone cancer in her leg. Like you say it's very aggressive. I know you weren't given very long to decide but for what it's worth I think you made the right choice. A large dog like that would simply be under too much strain walking with only 3 legs.
We were fortunate enough to be treated with compassion. Left alone with Ruby for a good 20 minutes with her still sedated before she was PTS and left as long as we wanted to stay afterwards. This was also a PDSA near where we lived.
I'm so sorry you have been treated like this at such a difficult time. A little kindenss wouldn't have gone amiss but you did do the right thing hun.
Here's a little pic of my Ruby. xx

Attached Images

Ruby 005.jpg (82.6 KB, 21 views)

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I'm very sorry to hear about your beloved Tia.
I have no experience with this sort of thing I'm afraid. It's such a shame how the whole process was carried out and it must have come as such a shock. Unfortunatly there is nothing you can do now but grieve for Tia and remember the good memories as thinking about how this all happened will drive you mad.

Welcome to PF; I am so very sorry to hear of your news, it really is so devastating to lose a loved pet unexpectedly. It is a shame that you feel you were dealt with in an insensitive manner - maybe you could write a letter to the PDSA centre explaining how you felt? It would be worth it if it led to them examining their practice when dealing with the breaking of bad news so that others feel that they have been given more consideration.x.

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Sorry to hear about your dog. I lost one a few years ago with bone cancer. She was given 6 months to live but it spread to her lungs very quickly and she was put down in great distress after 2 months. It was definitely the right decision to let go of your dog before she was in great pain.

As for how you were treated. Things have changed immensely but when I worked for a vet it was not an option for an owner to come in to say goodbye to a dog. Either a nurse or a vet would have phoned the owner and advised that the dog was pts and then done it.

When I had my last dog pts after a very short acute illness I was called in and told I could sit in the kennel with her. Then the vet was delayed and I was there for ages - which was quite hard cos she was ready to go and I was ready for her to go. It is never easy but the main thing is your dog was not aware of what was happening and she wont have to suffer any more

I am so sorry to read this. It sounds as though it was all dealt with very insensitively by the nurses there, but you cannot beat yourself up about how it. You were put in a very difficult position and dealt with it the best you could. Pain killers may have given Tia a few more weeks, it's hard to say, but what we can assume is that she would have at times been in a pain. This way, she didn't have to go through even an extra minute of discomfort or distress. You have to look after yourself now. You have lost a very close member of your family. It all happened so fast that you must be in shock. Try and stay grounded, make sure you eat and drink enough and most of you, give yourself a break. This wasn't your fault. Tia was clearly very lucky to have been loved so much.

Im soo sorry to hear about Tia, Your story has brought a tear to my eye. As i also own an 8 year old bullmastiff called Tia.
Its always a horrible feeling to loose a pet, especially so quickly. It's a shame you were treated that way, Possibly you could write a letter to them? saying how you feel/felt.

Remember all the lovely times you had with Tia! Run free beautiful..

*hugs* xx

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Thanks for all of your lovely comments, they have helped me with the griefim feeling, thought id share a picture of my big gorgeous girl tia

What a beautiful girl she was, absolutely gorgeous.

So very sorry to read what you have had to go through, I think a lot more compassion could have been shown in the cirumcstances but please don't dwell on it, you will make yourself ill. Think of all the lovely memories instead and the funny moments that made you smile.

Is the little pup yours too? Very cute!

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Poppy's blog: Poppy's Puppy Tales