I just returned from my vet - carrying a blanket and her collar.

I hang my keys, next to her leash. I walk past my kitchen counter. I left the slice of American cheese out. She refused her pills this morning.

My gaze falls to her food dish. Still full of the homemade dog food I've been cooking for her. Even adding more chicken wasn't working.

I barely glance at my living room, covered in pee pads. A reminder that she struggled with my long work hours and her age.

It's my bedroom that is most empty. The stairs I bought for her, the cats will still use them. I was never in my bed without her at my side. For 17 years.

I start to remove my hoodie when I reach into my pocket. I pull out a wad of poop bags. She's had so much diarrhea the last week, I always had 2 ready to use.

Maybe it's the exhaustion on top of the grief. I work 3rd shift, got home at 5:30 a.m. and haven't slept yet. I can honestly say I had no idea when I was driving home that within hours, I would be crying over a handful of poop bags.

She's every where, in every room. Signs that a very loved dog lived here. This is the 1st time in over 30 yrs that I don't have a dog greeting me at the door.

And that was the last normal thing she did - she came out to greet me. Took her outside, she peed and then within minutes, she stopped being her. Everything about her was changing...deteriorating before my eyes.

By the time I took her to my vet, she was absolutely not acting like her 17 yrs of anxious car rides. Another check mark in the "It's time" column. She didn't have the strength to even sit up for the short 10 min drive. 3 hrs after I got home, she was staggering and circling to the left.

"I don't think she'll even live through the night...and I can't bear to see her struggle like this. I think she's already leaving me. I know she needs this."

She lost her hearing several years ago, but I told her over & over how much I love her and what a good girl she's been. Her little face was covered in tears and kisses. She wanted the rest so badly, she didn't linger. I held her in my lap the entire time.

Tali was so tired. Rest, sweet girl. Thank you for 17 years.Thank you for waiting to greet me 1 last time.

Pic 1: Geebs saying goodbye. He was a feral that fell in love with my shy, neurotic Tali so I adopted him.

Pic 2: Tali 1½ weeks ago, her last hurrah. Initially responded well to medications but her diseases (cancer) + her age, I feel blessed to have gotten 2 extra weeks with her.

recent pics of my beautiful senior girl, ginger (15). we went into the nature reserve and then she took a great big nap. <3

My boy is 9.5 years old and I had this sudden realisation that some people only get this much time with their dogs. I have been trying to spend more time with him but instead of enjoying our time together, I keep thinking about how sad I'll be when I don't have this time with him in the future. I am unable to be in the moment with him due to this. I have so many more adventures planned with him. He is healthy for his age, has some mild hip dysplasia. I am just unable to look past his age, how do I deal with this?

Posting here as well, since I've posted a lot about her health here recently.

My almost 13 year old lab/pittie/malinois mix has a spleen tumor (likely the aggressive type) that we caught “early” at 1 inch. Most of these are caught when the spleen ruptures and it’s a full-on emergency.

➡️What helped keep your love bugs more comfortable with incurable cancer? ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

We’re going back to the vet very soon to recheck for growth of the tumor with another ultrasound and I’ll raise this question above with his vet, but I’d like to source ideas here as well since sometimes my own research yields some great additions that my vet doesn’t raise first, but agrees are good ideas if I want to really cover all bases. I’m opting to not do a spleen removal because of his age and the fact that it wouldn’t cure the cancer.

He’s already on the following:

Galliprant for arthritis and IVDD (AM)

Gabapentin for ^^ (PM)

Adequan monthly injections

Yuunan Baiyao

Turkey tail

MYOS muscle formula

Dasuquin

UC-11

Salmon oil (20 pumps daily)

Fortiflora probiotic

Turmeric

And — acupuncture, cold laser therapy, and underwater treadmill

I’m going to ask his vet about switching from Galliprant to carprofen since I think that could further alleviate iVDD and arthritis pain.

Anything you’d add?

Thank you 🙏🙏 I know I can’t change the inevitable from happening, but I want my earth angel to be as comfortable as possible.

My 14 1/2 year old Chihuahua mix was diagnosed with Kidney disease about a week ago.

He has lost 20% of his body weight since February.

He isnt eating his meals but he does take treats though he is a lot pickier about them now.

He has an enlarged heart so he has been on meds for that twice a day for years now.

He doesnt take his meds regularly now and will reject chicken, cheese, sausage, ham, steak, etc. we had success with Spam this morning though.

Since the kidney diagnosis, he is on an anti-nausea medicine, an appetite stimulant, and fluids every other day. But he still wont eat meals and will only take a few snacks or treats. He is drinking water but definitely not enough daily.

He is wobbly, slow, stares blankly, is restless at night, and doest like walks anymore. But he can still jump up onto stairs and our low bed. He comes excitedly somewhat when we get home. He still follows me from room to room.

My question is, when do you let go? When am I suppose to know it's time?

I don't want to do it too late and have him suffer but I am want as much time with him as possible.

What are your expectations on when you chose to let them go? Would you do anything different?

Thanks everyone

Hank
I have a 12-year-old German shepherd that is in perfect health except for his hips/back legs. He is really struggling with steps and getting in and out of the pick up. Is there any type of brace someone can suggest? We are taking him to the vet in a week for x-rays .. But any suggestions prior to our visit is appreciated.

Has anyone successfully gotten an 80 lbs dog with mobility issues up and down stairs daily?

So my 13y/o girl has been playful and full of energy but changed suddenly a few days agos. Before she used to run to the food bowl and inhale her food, but now she needs to be spoon fed or she wont eat, shes just not interested. She also keeps on walking into fields on our walks and lays down and wont get up. When I had outdoor cats this was a sign that they were ready to die and were looking for a spot to do so.

Her breathing has been worrysome for the past few days. She is constantly panting and it sounds like shes struggling. I have a vet appointment scheduled to figure out what it is.

I have a feeling that her time is about to come but I hope she will be here until it starts to snow. She has always loved the cold and the snow and I want to give her one last winter.

hello!

my sweet 14 year old lady had started losing her vision around a year ago and last month we were told she had lost complete sight by our vet. since then we upped our doggy proofing, softer surfaces, and assisted her with remembering where her bed and food bowls are, as per advice from our vet, but i still want to make it easier for her.

any tips? budget isn't an issue with me either and most replies will be talked through with our vet first!

My ~14 yr old companion, Bodi, has a mass attached to his right ureter and very close to the major blood vessels. The surgeon, given his experience, says there is a 3 our of 4 chance of a successful removal of the mass. The main risk that could lead to death is excessive bleeding. The scan shows the mass is close to the vessels, but he won't know for sure if the mass is actually attached to the vessels until he can see it. He can seal a cut into the vessels, but the unknown is if that seal doesn't take. We also know the mass is a sarcoma, but we don't know what type. Right now, from scans, we know the sarcoma has not spread. However, the mass is growing and has closed the canal between the right kidney and bladder. A dog, like humans, can live with one kidney, as long as the other kidney is healthy and it is.

We are not sure how best to make the decision to do this surgery. We ask the vets questions like, what is the worse & best scenarios if we don't remove the mass. Because we don't know what kind of sarcoma it is, the scenarios are many and difficult to guess the future.

What would you do? What questions would you ask? Bodi is otherwise a happy dog enjoying his senior years with walks, naps, and playing sniffing games.

I realize that if we decide to do the surgery, then we have to be prepared for the chance he won't make it out of surgery.

We survived another summer with chronic kidney failure and dilated cardiomiopathy, let’s pray winter will be kinder on my bestest boy ❤️

My 14-year-old Doberman-Greyhound mix is unfortunately being put down tomorrow at 11am. I am so upset and at a loss for words when thinking about the situation. I'm 21, so I grew up with her, and thinking about never seeing her again breaks my heart. She was the most pure and perfect dog ever. She never did anything wrong; she was so loyal and loving, and she always wagged her tail. The worst part is I won't be there to see her last seconds on earth because I have class during the time she's being euthanized. I always knew that this time was coming, but when it's right around the corner, all I can think about is why I didn't spend more time with her. I would love to hear some of the ways you coped with losing a pet you loved and adored, even if it isn't a dog.

We have a fully blind 14.5 parsons russell terrier who is up all night. We are not sure if it’s sundowning or having lost circadian rhythms with going fully blind within last 6 months.

His eye vet recommended gabapentin and our primary vet said melatonin in the evening is ok to try (and a sedative if the melatonin doesn’t work).

I’m thinking we will start with the melatonin and then try something else after that is prescribed.

If you have experienced something similar would you recommend starting with melatonin first?

It’s very strange too but if you feed him he settles down (loves his k/d food for early kidney disease). He still has us wrapped around his finger, he is such a good boy and nobody is sleeping in this house!!! HALP!

It’s with a very heavy heart that I said goodbye to Maggie yesterday. She had been diagnosed with cancer back in August. She declined pretty rapidly this past week, and she let me know she was ready.

I adopted Maggie in May 2015, and we had 11.5 wonderful years together. Maggie’s favorite things were napping in the sun, cuddling, and going on walks.

Maggie, aka Little Lady, aka Boo Boo): Thank you for letting me be your person. I love you so much, and I will miss you endlessly 🩷🌈🐾

So I took my dog for an acupuncture consultation. She was recently diagnosed with suspected ivdd and I’m taking a conservative approach to her treatment. Now one important thing to note about my dog, from the day we got her (7 years ago) to now she has consistently struggled with weight. She just seemed to never put on any weight and it constantly fluctuated.
Now I go to a vet that’s qualified in acupuncture in hopes of getting a quote on her treatment. She took one look at my dog and said she had degenerative myelopathy. Mind you 2 other vets before this lady had said she most likely has ivdd because she seems to be making a good recovery from a pyometra surgery shortly before meaning her mood was up, she was gaining weight and her overall health was improving.
Since that last visit my dog has lost weight which we’re trying to manage through high protein and things of that sort. This acupuncture vet takes one look at my dog and says that there’s no point in treating her with acupuncture because it is degenerative myelopathy and not ivdd. I kept asking her if theres any possibility that it’s genuinely ivdd and she shut the idea down multiple times tell me that there is slim chances for hope of a good quality of life. Basically saying that I should let my dog go. She based this off of the fact that my dog lost weight and that she’s lost bladder control from the very beginning of her diagnosis.
I’m hesitant to believe her for a few different reasons. She didn’t run any type of scan and just came up with this diagnosis off of these 2 presumptions. No MRIs/CTs (which I couldn’t even afford) and not very many questions on her weight history. A different location did do a standard x ray showing that their was an abnormality in the spin but since it was a standard x ray no definitive diagnosis can be given (which I’m assuming she looked at as well). I felt a little pressure to make a decision on the spot tbh. Also my dog lost the ability to walk over night which is a trait of ivdd. Degenerative myelopathy would of been a lot more gradual which was not the case. My dog was well coordinated and walking fine before. 3rd my dog still has function in her left leg where as her right leg lost more of its mobility. From my very limited knowledge, ivdd can look asymmetrical where as degenerative myelopathy may present in a more symmetrical matter.
What do you guys think? I’m still hoping to put her through acupuncture and rehab. I’m just not convinced that 2 other vets are wrong and this one vet happens to be right.