Pet Health Community

The choice to painlessly let a pet go is a very personal one and each person will draw the line at different points. The important thing to know is that you are making the decision and are not being influenced by anyone outside of who knows him best. Having a large breed makes it hard for everyone when walking becomes hard for him. Some questions to consider are if he seems to be in uncontrolled pain, if his appetite is the same or decreased, if his quality of life is good or not, and if the good days outweigh the bad. I had a Lab who was nearly 14 when I made the decision. While she ate like a champ, her mental facilities had deteriorated to the point she was scared in her own bed and could not remember anything that had happened a few seconds earlier.
Swelling in the limbs with no response to antibiotics may honestly be cancer. Is he on any pain medication? If not, definitely talk to your vet about what would be a good option for him. Sometimes aspirin can relieve any pain associated and he may bounce back for some time. Other more powerful options like prescription NSAIDs (Deramaxx, Rimadyl, Metacam, Etodolac), tramadol (a morphine derivative, sometimes used for cancer), or steroids (another usual choice for cancer) may also work if the aspirin does not. Since he is over 16 years old, long term damage to the liver should not be a problem although some do cause stomach upset.

Another option, if you are willing to do so, is to get him a cart that basically holds his back legs up and allows him to move with his front ones. These can run from $300-1000 though and are usually considered for much younger animals but the option is there.

A similar situation happened with my oldest, she was 16 1/2 yrs old and had made it 2 yrs with lymphoma but was having an extremely hard time getting up and was pottying on herself. I was ok cleaning her but she refused to be allowed to be picked up (probably due to her arthritis being painful) and yet was very distressed when she had to go potty. We chose euthanasia. HOWEVER, if your dog tolerates being helped up then there are a lot of options, a cart being one ( my littlest dog is paralyzed and uses a cart) or they make a sling that you place on either their backend or in the middle and help them up and to walk if required for that. try handicappedpets.com. Also like violet said it does sound like he needs to be on some sort of anti inflammatory and/or pain medication, it would probably help quite a bit.