Tell me about your senior dogs

posted by stacwase [/i]
Is Sheba on Rimadyl? Right ow Jake just takes it before a hike and the next day if he's sore, and on rainy days when he wakes up stiff. >>>>>>>>>>

Sheba tried Rimadyl twice for a short period.
Each time I found blood in her stool. Per Sheba's Vet and one of the drug Co. vet, we took Sheba off.
To bad because the Rimadyl worked like a miracle drug.
Most dogs do wonderful on Rimadyl.

2 weeks ago we switched her on Etodilac.
So far no side effects, but it does not work as good
as the Rimadyl, but it does help her. :)

Oreo is sorta my senior dog, even though she still lives with my mom. She will be 15 in October.

She has never been a very cuddly dog. in fact before they got Dazzi you could loose a finger if you touched her when or where she did want to be touched.

She is maybe one dog that has "mellowed" with age. Now that there are 4 other dogs to compete with she is much, much better about being brished, petted, etc. She is more active then she was a few years ago, has lost weight, and seems a much happier dog.

Well I sure hope Max mellows with age! After the way he behaved at the vet yesterday, I'm praying that in a few years he will make up for it with mellowness!

Speaking of 14-yo dogs. It was soooo sad at the vet yesterday. A family was there having their 14-yo PTS. They were crying so hard. The dad had to leave the room - I think because he was going to cry. The mom and daughter were just sobbing. They couldn't catch their breath they were crying so hard. They brought her home to bury her.

Did you all know that we have a pet casket company in the town where I live?

When my dogs eventually pass, I think I'll have them cremated and keep the urns on my mantle.

wow...i'm surprised at how sad this thread has made me...My dog, Buddy, is 9 now and still pretty spry. In fact, he still looks like a puppy to most people. However, the other night, really late, someone saw us, and commented that my dog looked like an "old man." That made me sad. I've had him since he was a puppy, and I DREAD him getting older. I am scared of the days when he won't want to go for long walks, and won't jump up and put his paws on my shoulders when I get home from work.

Boiled down, I'm just scared of the days to come...

Rich

Nanook is my almost 14 year old shep mix.
He has some major health probblems. I rescued him from the shelter 13 years ago, he was 8 months.
Something happened to him before I got him that I did not find out until a few years ago, he was shot by bird shot & the whole left side of him is covered with them. He has bad arthritis due to that.
He is starting to become hard of hearing & has very very slight cataracts. He also has a very large tumor growing under & over his rib cage making nearly impossible to operate on especially at his age.
He has always been scared of loud noises but it is getting worse.
He seems to be more clingy, especially on days where his arthritis is not too bad.
He is more spoiled so between that & the hard of hearing he does not listen as good as he used to but he is still pretty darn obedient. But he has always been very obedient so it really isn't that different as before I would ask him things instead fo telling him, just I have been giving him more slack lately.
He can not manuver as good as he used to therefore he trips a bit more & also can not groom himself as well as he used to.

On his good days though he acts like a puppy, he still looks very young. His teeth are in better shape than my other dogs.

He did snap & actually broke my skin a few weeks ago. I posted here about it. We have no idea what caused it, none what so ever. Maybe he was snapping at a bug & got me, maybe he was scared, maybe it was medical, like he was in a trance or something not sure but even then he did not act viscious nor did he growl or bark or anything. Other than that one occasion he has never ever been snappy or anything. I doubt he would even hurt a flea.

Other than that, mainly medical issues he has not changed too awful much. And it has been very gradual too.

He is my buddy!

Max is my senior. He's 9 and he's gotten better about a lot of things and worse on a few things.

Sounds wierd, but he's so much better with Muffin than he ever was with Molly. He's tolerant with Molly now, but he just really didn't like her when we brought her home. But since the day we brought her home he'll lay down with Muffin, let her drape all over him, walks side-by-side with her, and he'll eat at the same time as her.

He is less tolerant about things he doesn't like - being moved when he's asleep. And being taken to have a bath - he's not bad once you get him in the tub, but on the way he growls.

He's our sweet, crabby old boy but we both love him dearly.

I dread the time when he's not with us. When his time comes, we're going to have him cremated, like we did with Peach, and he'll go in the same urn with her. They were best buddies while she was alive and it's only right they be together when his time comes.

Mooch is 18 now and besides her going blind, she picked up a few changes.

For some reason now, she wont eat in her bowl. She has to take the food out of the bowl and put it on the floor and then eat it. :confused: This is really fun to clean up when it's wet food on the rug. :eek:

She nows growls when she eats, even when there is no one around, to gaurd her food from.

She doesn't want to be handle as much any more, loving comes on her trems, not ours any more.

She started barking at nothing, alot now. She'll just be sitting there and then out of no were she starts her barking, after a min or so, she lays back down as if nothing is wrong.

And she also become more of a begger. It use to be if we where eating she just sit and watch, now she starts jumping around and pawing at us for table scraps She seem to want to eat a lot more now and dog food is not good enough any more.

bizdevguy writes:

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I've had him since he was a puppy, and I DREAD him getting older.

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hi biz! Hope we're not worrying you too much. Murph at 14 is still a happy go-lucky character, with quite a bit of energy for the right occasion. When he realizes we're going walking, he gets as nutty as he ever did. Running to the front door and spinning, then running back to me to try to get me to hurry up. He doesn't last as long on the walk, but that's mainly because he's still recovering from knee surgery he had back in Feb. All things considered, he toodles around pretty dang good for a old chap.

Par...

Angus is going to be 13 in September.

Ok, now maybe you make think this morbid but last month I ordered a urn for him. Not that I expect him to go soon but I just want to be prepared for when it does happen.
It seems like ever since I've gotten it he's been a much happier dog. He's even been trying to play with the girls more! Guess he's just telling me he's not ready to go yet;)

Needless to say he doesn't get around nearly as well as he used to due to arthritis and his hind end is much smaller than it used to be (loss of muscle). We do give him liquid health & it's helped so very much (expecially this past winter). He sleeps quite alot but if your going somewhere he'll gladly go too!
Every once in a while he'll stand at the door to go out and be on the wrong side. I don't know if he just forgets or what.

Over all for his age, I'd say he's doing pretty darn good. I had always heard their life span was 8-10....I think they just made that up;)