I’ll put in a plug here for volunteering at animal shelters if you want “more” pets but can’t make it work for one reason or another. My daughter and I do this sometimes 3x a week. Overhead costs for the shelter are high and there is a fairly bare bones staff so they rely a lot on volunteers. We primarily walk, socialize, and play with the dogs, although there are clean up/laundry/admin tasks and cat stuff always available too. At our shelter there are days when there are lots of volunters and the dogs get out of their kennels several times. Occasionally there are days that I worry that if we hadn’t shown up they might not/barely even get out to pee which sort of breaks my heart. Weirdly Saturday is one of those days. They have very broad hours to volunteer that are longer than the “open” hours so there is lots of flexiability. Ours is open like 6:30 a-7:30p. It’s been a great experience.
You get to have “favorites,” of course, but we just keep it in mind that the goal is for the dog to get a good home—it need not be MY home.
VeryHappy, I’m so sorry. Seeing our furry family members fade is really hard.
Violadad, glad to see you again, but so sorry for your losses. Our vet had to administer a second injection, too. It gutted me. I think we we will spread some of our girl’s ashes at her favorite hiking spots eventually, but the rest are going with me. I don’t care what the rabbi says.
A friend of our fosters in Ohio and I have mad respect at how she can love those dogs to pieces, help them recover from the trauma that they experienced, train them to be forever pets, and then let them go. That’s a whole lot of personal vulnerability – but what a gift she gives to the dogs and their new families.
This is really close for me right now. We put our dog (beagle, age 16) down on Tuesday.
She was doing well until last fall when she had breathing issues and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. She was responding well to the meds although it was obvious that she was slowing and could no longer run up the stairs, take long walks, etc. We knew it was a matter of time and H and I had actually discussed putting her down in the next few weeks. But Monday night was terrible, she did not sleep and seemed to be gasping for breath. She was struggling to stand/walk at times. I called the vet on Tuesday AM and made the appointment. She would not eat (even her favorite- bread), or drink and was in distress. She fell over on one side and her face was drooping (possible stroke?). S was home, or I would not have left her.
It was time. It was the right decision. We could/would not let her struggle any longer and the end was peaceful.
So we took our senior citizen to the vet yesterday. She has disc problems, which is why she has difficulty getting up from lying down. He wants her to lose 20% of her weight. She’s at around 51 lbs and he wants her in the low 40s. So we’re just cutting her meals in half. He’s also increased the dosage of the medications she already takes. If we can help eliminate the pain she’s apparently been having in her lower back, that will help considerably.
On the dieting, I have heard that you can use some veggie “filler” like green beans to bulk up the bowl with little calorie increase. I know my dog loves green beans.
My 12 yo German Shepherd has been having problems with incontinence. She is on Proin but it doesn’t seem to be working any more. She was just at the vet and he says she is healthy, other than some hip issues which he prescribed meds for. My house constantly smells like dog pee, even though I mop every day. Her bed also needs to be washed, almost daily. Its become overwhelming…I think she needs to be in diapers, although I don’t know if she will tolerate them. Has anyone used dog diapers? Any recommendations?
Our vet gave us DES(!) for the our dog’s incontinence. It’s a problem for spayed females as they age. It was a small dose and lasted as long as a month for her, less time as she got older. We didn’t try diapers; she would have gotten them right off. Even a winter jacket for the snow was an indignity. She preferred to shiver until her winter coat came in during March every year.
@HMom16 - I used incontinence products for about the last month of my 15 year old English Setter’s life. We live in an apartment building, and he started having accidents on the way out - either in the elevator or in the lobby. So initially I was putting them on him until we got outside, but after a while he wasn’t ever making it outside.
He could still tell me when he needed to go, so at first, I just put the diaper on him at that point. He usually peed while waiting for the elevator.
I purchased several Belly Bands (Velcro wrap), and then inserted a human adult incontinence pad inside. He basically went right away, then I immediately removed it. We were giving him periodic baths to keep him clean. Had several belly bands and I was doing laundry daily.
Toward the very end, when he couldn’t stand up un-assisted, we kept him “under wraps” all the time. At that point, he was having daily baths, and we had to wash his dog bedding (which was covered with old towels) daily.
It was very exhausting - lots of laundry, lots of baths.
It’s much easier to keep the boys under control with belly bands. My female had a short term incontinence problem following surgery a few years ago. Bitch pants with a pad did the job. My vet recommended Sogeval Douxo 30 Count Chlorhexidine 3-Percent PS Pads to help keep the area clean between baths and help prevent UTIs.
So my 13.5 year old Golden Doodle decided to stop eating her meals about two weeks ago. She would take a bit or two and then walk away; this is the dogs that has always inhaled her food and would lick the bowl dry! She has had bouts of colitis and pancreatitis, so I thought maybe she was having issues there, so started her on her bland diet and Pepcid. While she took a few extra bites a couple of times, she still wasn’t eating much. We then switched to her Tramadol, thinking she may be in pain; she has had two TPLO surgeries with a 2 year old meniscus tear. We saw no improvement, so made a vet visit for yesterday as I was wondering if something else was going on.
Mrs. P had normal senior bloodwork last month, and her exam was good. The vet suggested we go ahead and start her on Dermaxx in addition to the Tramadol. She had her first dose with dinner last night which I was able over an hour to get her to eat 1/2 of a scrambled egg and a tiny bit of her dry food which had been soaked in water. She went for a 15-20 minute walk without stopping, which was one of her better walks. Took her out to dinner with us where she enjoyed a few bites of chicken. Once we came home, she didn’t get up until we went out for the last potty of the night. She ended up laying down in the elevator of the building, which she has never done, and came back in.
This morning, we could not get her to stand up, and when we picked her up, she could not stand. Other than the two times we have carried her out to potty (she weighs 60 lbs.) she has not moved. She did take a few step when we were outside with the support of her sling. I was able to get her to drink a little water this morning and one treat this afternoon. She is refusing her pills in america cheese, which she has never done before.
I can not believe she has taken a turn for the worst in one day. I am going to try to see if we can see the surgical vet tomorrow, but I have to have a referral first even though she has had two surgeries with them, as had my other dog. My hope is they will x-ray her to see if this is just arthritis or if she has another injury. My fear is she will not recover from this, but my hope is that she just over extended herself on the walk last night. The last thought is she had a problem with the Deramaxx, but I can not imagine one dose would cause her such an issue.
Please keep us in your thoughts. While I knew she wouldn’t be around forever, and she has been slowing down, I still am not ready.
@snowball, you and your dear dog are in my thoughts. It’s so hard that they can’t tell us how they feel, except with the vague symptoms as your dog is exhibiting.
I am going to try to see if we can see the surgical vet tomorrow, but I have to have a referral first even though she has had two surgeries with them, as had my other dog. My hope is they will x-ray her to see if this is just arthritis or if she has another injury. My fear is she will not recover from this, but my hope is that she just over extended herself on the walk last night. The last thought is she had a problem with the Deramaxx, but I can not imagine one dose would cause her such an issue.