Eleven?
Huh!
Shir, my 14-year old dog Sage got a brain tumor a couple of years ago. She was generally energetic and happy right up until the last 24 hours. She had a couple of massive seizures and within hours she was brain damaged (confused and very disoriented). I took her to my wonderful vet the next morning, with Steve at my side, and said goodbye. It was so very, very hard, and I am crying now just writing this. But the vet assured us that right up until her last 20 or so hours, she was still enjoying life.
I don't want to get to the seizures or the "I'm gonna stop eating now, K?" parts, because the vet told us that's when he'll be in pains. But, the bizarre news? Lou only willing to eat when I'm around/giving him the food (food-food, not the yogurt-with-drugs food). I believe that says something.
The family thinks I read to hard into everything he does. I do. I'm waking up on my own every 2-3 hours at night to check up on him (so, hello physical and emotional exhaustion). I know he can't tell me if he's in pain, so I'm just trying to guess for myself. I'm trying to not, but the uncertainty is driving me crazy. I asked the family to sit down and think of every possible scenario together, from "he's not eating" to "should I give him more painkillers?", to reduce the uncertainty. I just want to know what to do, because I've never put down and animal to sleep before, and again, the most important thing for me is making sure that he's not suffering and helpless.
And we don't have other pets, so that's cover it.