My boy is 14. I’ve been trying to assess his qol for a few months and I’m having a hard time doing it. Looking for any advice you may have.

He’s on three pills 2x a day for heart issues and arthritis. Also a liquid medicine for arthritis 2x a day, and the doctor is adding a seizure medication 3x a day that we haven’t started yet. He is so sensitive to medication, I want to give the seizure med a shot when it gets here but I also know he will likely have every side effect from it.

His heart condition has been pretty stable for a couple years. Seizures became more frequent recently, from about 4 every 6 months to 2/month. 

His arthritis has seemingly been the biggest issue for the longest, he limps, is hunched over, and can’t use stairs. Recently he has trouble balancing while trying to poop and falls backwards. I go hold him up when I see this. He often trips when walking or falls over when sitting down but doesn’t seem to phased by it.

Recently noticing that a lot of problems he’s having are likely dementia related. In the past month he started peeing in the house once or twice a day, and even in front of me like it was fine- which is so unlike him. He started whining and pacing throughout the night, pacing throughout the day, has to go outside then just stands there.. all the usual things with dementia. The other day we were on a walk in his stroller and instead of being interested in looking around he was laying down looking at nothing. That’s the most concerning for me, but it was only the one time.

I want to make this decision out of his best interest and that I’m not delaying it out of my own selfishness. He still gets excited over a treat and going outside, he still enjoys going to the park and giving me hugs. When we go to the vet he prances around so happy to see the staff. I don’t know. What do you think?

Trying to decide if it’s time