The reason Im reluctant is I think you have already made a decision and personally I think the surgery would help the dog. A LOT of his symptoms are because he is slowly suffercating, he wont want to move around because when he does he cant breathe. He wont like the heat, again it makes it more difficult for them to breathe. The tummy upset and arthritis to me isnt warrant for not having surgery, but as I said I think you have made your mind up. Your vet seems to be ill advising you too, no normal practising Vet can diagnose LP, and its NOT diagnosed by a GA!!! As I said my friends Vet KNEW she had LP, she was given a GA and a camera down her throat, he was willing to operate, she declined, although didnt say he had done it before, yet when she went to Bristol Uni, they said it wasnt LP just by listening to her, and on further exam found these "flaps" in her throat which were removed.

What Im trying to say without sounding horrible, is I dont think you should base the decision not to operate on Biff on your Vets advice because so far, you may trust them, but their advice is in direct contradiction to all the experts and specialists in this field. A dodgy tummy and arthritis IMO is not sufficient grounds to reject surgery if in fact he does have LP, which of course hasnt been diagnosed by a specialist either.

Im not without experience of decisions like this Ailsa, I have a dog here that almost died a few months ago, I knew he was a bad candidate for surgery (damaged spinal discs) but I HAD to make sure by talking to the experts. My dog has a massive heart murmur bought on by Kennel Cough and subsequent pneumonia at just a couple years old, the extensive time under GA would certainly of weakened him substantially if not killed him. All other avenues exhausted, the dog is on steroids, and although his coat has gone thin and he's a funny shape, he is back to his very happy, playful self in all other respects apart from his restricted movement. The right decision for him.

I totally understand where you are coming from, and I guess a lot of what Im saying is based on at least 6 dogs Ive seen with LP, 4 successfully operated on, gone from dogs not wanting to move, us, terrified in case it worsened before surgery, to dogs who were fantastic afterwards, able to breathe normally and freely and literally overnight were back to their old selves again, the dogs we thought we'd never see feeling like they did again. I have also held a dog PTS with LP, not nice, a Labrador, her owner said no to surgery as it wasnt something they personally wished for their dog, its their choice and we fully respected this, but I get the feeling from you, you are using an unqualified Vets (in this field) "opinion" to justify a no surgery policy with Biff, when in fact its perhaps you'd prefer not to go that route personally which Id understand completely. I think by saying the Vet said this and he diagnosed that, has angered me having seen so many with this condition, knowing there is a 100% cure in most cases. With your Vet not being a specialist in this field he is not qualified to tell you point blank what your dog has, and his techniques for diagnosing it are worrying to say the least.

I hope you understand where I am coming from.

Totally. And I like your honesty and thoughts on it.
The vet hasn't 100% said it is LP...he isn't the type to do that without knowing for sure, that's also why he has put him on ABs and the other tablets to open his airways, incase it is an infection making things worse.
His reason for lack of surgery I think (I wasn't there) is because of Biff's other conditions. He has a life that has been hanging in the balance for a long time, but especially so since his bad tummy upset at Christmas, when his 'quality of life' first became an issue. I think the vet knows and we know that he is old and ill and nothing is going to improve that. He is so sore Dawn, so very sore, when he can't have his tablet...he can't have his tablet regularly as he is sick so often. His life and comfort and quality of life have been hanging by a thread for a long time...it is a balancing act with him all the time.

I do appreciate what you are saying and I think you are possibly right. It is not only the vet saying no to surgery. In fact, the vets know how we feel about surgery with him so perhaps that is why the vet was so anti it.

I do not want to put Biff through an op if I'm honest, even if the vet recommended it, I would probably not go down that road.I am scared of losing him in the vets, like I did with Morris. I am more scared of that with Biff as he is petrified when he goes there, he shakes and whines and leaps around (to the point of being in danger of injuring himself). I would never forgive myself if he spent his last days in the vets...I still haven't got over it with Morris. I gave Morris a chance, I didn't want to, my gut reaction was not to send him in that day, to keep him at home and arrange for him to be PTS here, but I sent him into the vet to have his xrays to give him a chance and I lost him. I still can't think about the fact that his final hours were spent with strangers in a place he hated. I just cannot bring myself to chance that with Biff...for what? He will still be old and in pain even if he got through the op. He can't win with it...it will not cure his other conditions and make him young again.

His quality of life is not going to improve that much if he gets rid of this one problem. He has a heart murmer...he is hurting a lot with his arthritis (hips/spine/elbows), his tummy problems are a HUGE issue with the general as it doesn't take much to knock him for six (his tablets are already doing that),part of the reason we can't take him out is that whenever he was going out he picked up a tummy bug. He had a couple of iffy results on his last blood tests, the funny ones were to do with his liver, so again not great for a GA. Basically he is old and his body is failing. Bless him.

Biff is old and sore and dying slowly in front of our eyes as his body slowly shuts down. I can have him go through an op and if he survives that he will still be old and sore and dying slwoly as his body shuts down. It won't change that Dawn, it may make his breathing more comfortable, but it won't help his bones and it won't help his stomach and it won't help his heart. Those problems will all still be there...getting worse.

As I'm sitting typing and really thinking all this through..I have to say I think perhaps we have been keeping Biff going when we shouldn't have done. I think, perhaps his quality of life isn't as it should be. He is in pain a vast amount of the time as he can't have his painkillers when he has been sick.
I don't know Dawn, I'm sort of typing my thoughts aloud. I just don't know.

I do know I love him to bits and I can't imagine my life without him in it. I want to do the very best I can for him Dawn I just don't know what that is and thinking about it makes me cry so I can't get my thoughts to make sense.

Right I'm stopping there as I'm getting emotional and stupid.

I do appreciate what you are saying Dawn totally and I am giving it thought.

Thanks xxx
I've been in work and my mum has been here dog sitting. It would seem that Sunday has left him coughing and choking a bit whenever he barks...but he is not barking as much so perhaps he is aware?
He is very hungry. I mean ravenous...he has been this way for a while...but he is eating loads. I have upped his food to cope with the tablets but honestly he is acting like he hasn't been fed for weeks. It's weird.

Other than that he is the same as always. He's sore (no painkiller today as he was sick yesterday)Sleeping and getting excited about food and pottering outside to go to the loo and coming back in again.

He's a watch this space. he hasn't pooed since the tablets started though.

I understand.

reading this i wish i could give a hug as big as that
i am sorry hun you are having hearbreaking times

Me too, just know that were all here for you no matter what you decide to do.

Elaine xx

That is really kind of you, thank youx
Ta xxx
Thanks xxx

Ailsa your honesty and emotions shine through in your posts and my eyes are filling up. HUGE HUGS.....

I'm sorry. I don't want to upset people.
I am just trying to work out what to do for the best.
I am also probably trying to find some courage for the next couple of weeks.

Ailsa, I havent even met Biff and I am sitting here crying reading your post, your love for him shines through and I truly believe you know what is best for him, and i know you will see that when its time for him to go he will do it with a great deal of love, and thats all anyone can hope for.

If i could do a HUG as huge as dawns i would.
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