We hung on to my first dog longer than we should. Had liver cancer. Drained fluid from his abdomen a few times. I had gotten him while still in college, and we just couldn’t let go. Second dog had cancer as well and we just gave him the best last few months we could. When he had trouble sleeping from the pain, we scheduled a euthanasia the next day. My wife took the day off and she and our son spoiled the hell out of him and I took him at the end of the day. I would put a dog down too early than too late a thousand times over.
We trusted my first dog to a new vet (Dr Longnecker) at Animal Ark in Clemmons.
Spooner was ~10 at the time. She was lethargic for a couple of days, and wasn't interested in food/water.
I wanted a quick check-up & wasn't interested in prolonging the inevitable.
Spooner had lived a great life, and we had plenty of love to give for more doggos.
We already had our 2nd and 3rd rescues with us.
... the vet ran a series of unapproved tests (an xay, followed by a sonogram), which they demanded payment for, and concluded that she had hours to live because of a growth on her spleen.
They wouldn't let me SEE my dog until we paid the bill for the tests (which I'd explicitly declined that afternoon).
I cried like a baby in Dr. Longnecker's new office.
We paid. So I could see Spooner one last time.
... but, when we saw her... she was behaving more normally. We took her home to feed her a steak, etc before saying goodbye.
The next morning... she was fine, and lived with us for 6 more years without a single health issue.
Find a vet you trust.