My Julie is still very young, 1 year, but our little Buddy is 12 and he is showing his age more and more all the time. His eyes are beginning to cloud with cataracts, he has had two spells with his back which his Vet attributes to a ruptured disk. He is occasionally incontinent when he sleeps so I have to keep a sheet folded up under him to protect my bedding. He still has his spunk most of the time. You can tell he is a little old man though.

Its all part of lifes cycle...it doesn't make it any easier to let them go but when they live a nice long life there is satisfaction in that.

Jazzcat- I understand all too well what you are feeling with your Dad and Brother. I lost my dad in 2001 to Parkinson's Disease and Diabetes. He went from a strong life of the party type guy to a frail, quiet almost childlike man before he passed.

All we can do with our animals and our people both as they age and their bodies wear down is love them...and hope that we have someone to love us when its our turn.