The vet developed a tool to help owners make the tough decision on when to say goodbye (stock image) (Image: Getty)
A vet has shared the free and “easy” method she uses to gauge a dog’s quality of life.
Unfortunately, our and don’t live as long as us and one of the most painful and difficult decisions an owner may make is whether or not it’s time to have their pet put to sleep. This is no easy choice but ensuring aren’t in any pain or discomfort near the end of their lives is vitally important.
Dr Faith Banks, a geriatric and palliative vet, has pulled in many views on with several videos sharing her insight and expertise on older pets. After recently “saying goodbye” to her almost 15-year-old Bernese mountain dog, many people had got in touch to ask about the “thought process” that went into deciding on euthanasia for her beloved pet.
In a recent video on the popular platform, Dr Banks explained: “When I think about decision making, I talk a lot about quality of life and looking at her quality of life. So how do I take all of those things and put it together? I use a quality of life scale and it’s on our website. People can look at it for free.”
She added: “I really think it’s a very, very helpful tool, especially in older . It doesn’t work in every single situation but in most of the situations where we are talking and considering euthanasia, it really does help quite a bit.”
How does the ‘quality of life’ scale work?
The vet explained there are 14 different categories which they use to assess a cat or dog’s quality of life. In each category, pets are given a score between zero, which is really quite poor, up to five, which is “very good or normal”.
The scores are then used to “figure out what percentage their quality of life is”. In the vet’s own personal situation, her dog was “dropping below a 60”. She explained: “You might say, well, that’s not so bad but it was dropping and it was dropping quickly. I had done it every week and I was seeing drop by drop by drop.
“I didn’t want it to get to a point where I said, okay, now she’s at 40 and I should do something about it. I wanted to be able to say goodbye to her on a good day, when she was still feeling good.”
Dr Banks then shared she wanted to be able to treat her dog to delicious, decadent foods she’d never had before, and she wanted “her to want them”. Her dog had lived on a relatively strict diet due to skin allergies and it was important for the vet to be able to treat her.
She also shared the categories where her dog was most affected, which included – among other issues – depleting energy levels, declining mobility, a lack of interest in things she used to get excited about, not sleeping through the night, and she also had an oozing tumour which made it difficult for her to get comfortable.
Realising her dog “just wasn’t happy” which helped Dr Banks made the decision.
How to use the quality of life scale
Dr Banks believes, when it comes to euthanasia, it’s better to be “a day too early than a month too late”.
The scale is free to access via the MMVHS website. Dr Banks founded MMVHS back in 2012 and went on to develop the scale “for pets to use with her hospice, palliative and geriatric patients. It is meant to help families take subjective thoughts about a beloved pet and put them into a more objective framework.”
The scale is now available to download and complete .
If you’re worried about your pet’s health, you should always consult your vet.