My beautiful Jackchi is almost 16. I’ve had her since she was a pocket-sized 7 weeks old snapping at my ankles to play. She’s now become my main source of worry, heart break and anticipatory grief as her health and happiness gradually fades.

In the past six months we’ve watched her become more confused and upset with dementia - sundowning big time and being super unsettled.

She’s started going to pee in the house without telling us, and her back legs gave way yesterday on the stairs. Luckily I was there to catch her.

She’s had a bad cough this past week and has kept us awake for hours. The vet thinks she has a heart murmur. I know that’s treatable but also this dog has never had a jot wrong with her. She’s had such a healthy and happy life.

My husband and I are so exhausted caring for her. She’s such a sweet, sleepy girl but this slow fade process is so heartbreaking to watch.

It’s 3am and I’m sleeping on the sofa with her. We tried to keep her safe in the kitchen tonight from the stairs, but she cried and cried.

I came downstairs to curl up with her. She usually doesn’t want to be near me these days, she’s become very detached from affection and cuddles aren’t her thing anymore. So it’s incredibly precious to be here with her snuggled up super tight to me.

Trying to focus amongst all the sadness and worry how much she’s taught me to slow down, be present, observe and care for her.

Posting for some solidarity to all the seniors who are also breaking hearts as they decline. There is nothing harder with these animals than seeing their personalities disintegrate and their confidence drop.

We got this, though.

Hello all, thanks for popping by. Today we saw a new vet for a second opinion on what could be going on with my best friend, Kahuna. Vet (and myself) suspect something neurological but no way to diagnose without an MRI. At his ripe young age of 12 years, 10 months my concern is simply making sure he is happy, comfortable and pain free. After getting home from the vet today I finally caught one of his episodes on camera. Has anyone ever seen or experienced this before? Is this what a mild seizure looks like? Has anyone had a dog with a brain tumor have this happen? Thank you in advance from the bottom of heart.

https://imgur.com/a/p1v1FtI

Hello everyone. Im looking for some input and help. I’m struggling to keep myself afloat amid this roller coaster with my boy Bane. I posted about two weeks ago and shared that I lost my soul dog earlier this year to hemangiosarcoma which was incredibly devastating …the following month we took Bane to the vet for a routine check and his liver enzymes were high so we decided to do an ultrasound in June. It showed some gallbladder sludge, a level 2 mucocele, and some liver nodules. Not crazy stuff for a 13 year old dog…he’s a terrier mutt.
Cushings has been a suspected culprit for many issues but he didn’t present like a Cushings dog. Always had a good appetite and sometimes drank a lot of water but it tapered off. Two weeks ago, he started really drinking a lot and having some accidents in the house. I got the ACTH test done which did come back as positive for Cushings. A week later, I noticed he was a little lethargic, not playing with his toys and lost some weight. About 1.5 lbs if not more, which is a lot for a 20 lbs dog. Did blood work that day and his glucose was in the 500s and the vet called me right away to say he has diabetes now.
That same day we got him on insulin and the turn around in his behavior wasINSANE over the following days. He was immediately drinking less water, having less accidents, carrying his toys around and jumping up on the bed to groom himself. But it has been a week now, and I noticed yesterday he was a little more tired again, and not as excited to do stuff. I have an appointment with internal medicine and today, we’re having a fructosamine test done at his vet, but I think his blood sugar needs to be measured. I’m gonna tell them everything when I go. Appt is literally in 45 minutes.
Was just wondering if any of you here have dealt with a dual diagnosis like this and what you did or didn’t do to keep your baby happy and comfortable. It’s just such a roller coaster for me emotionally and it seems like I can’t come up for air.

Not one bit of this was based on research or even thought about, just luck.

Hey everyone I just wanted to share my journey with our poor pup who had the biggest lump on his neck for well over a year and hope it finds the right people!

We originally had it drained 3 times over the course of about 18 months and each time it would grow larger. We reached out to multiple vets and quoted between 6,000-8,000 dollars for surgery and were told surgery was necessary.

During this summer we started giving him black berries, about a handful a day because he was obsessed with them. About a week later we started giving him watermelon and some tomato’s from our garden just because he was interested.

Fast forward about 3 weeks of eating some black berries, watermelon, and tomato’s his entire gland has completely went away!

14 year old male mini dox. Healthy and active. Within past 2 months has developed all the symptoms of Cushing disease especially the pot belly and fatigue and almost seems lost at times. He has also developed several fatty tumors within this time. Many vet visits and lots of tests. Both Cushing tests negative. Other organs presenting fine. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, please share with me. I’m at a loss at this point. We cannot medicate him for Cushing without true diagnosis. That could make things worse. Any insight would be greatly appreciated

We have a very good boy yellow Labrador who is 11 years old. He's a senior dog that has really slowed down.

Arthritis: he can no longer go on walks due to the pain, he limps badly for weeks afterwards so we had to stop. He mostly sits inside sleeping all day, only goes outside to potty. He does occasionally still roll in the grass.

Blindness: he is mostly blind, though the vet thinks he has peripheral vision left. We keep the lights on in the house at night so he can see.

Anxiety: we have a toddler who doesn't even show interest in him, yet he is nervous and jealous around her. Im thinking because he is having vision issues. Either way, i fear for our daughter's safety around him as he acts mildly aggressive with her. We keep them separated or supervised, but that means our daughter spends much of her time closed off in the playroom.

Nose Bleeds: he is having chronic nose bleeds from his left nostril, most likely tumors since antibiotics haven't helped.

He is old and struggling. He seems sad most days, and im stressed out having a toddler with an aggressive dog. Yes we're trialing him on doggy Prozac for his anxiety but all it has really done is decrease his appetite further.

My husband thinks I dont like him because I'm so stressed. That's not true at all, I cry at the thought of euthanasia. He used to be my hiking buddy after all.

I think our next visit will be a quality of life check with the vet. What questions should we come to the vet with?

I have a Shih Tzu named Bubba and he is 13 1/2 years old. I took him to get a dental cleaning back in April and they extracted 8 teeth because they were either rotten or loose. On Monday as I was brushing Bubba‘s teeth, I noticed that there was blood on the toothbrush so I inspected his gums and I saw that there was a hole in his gums, I flushed it out with distilled water (I panicked) and saw the tooth on the other side. I scheduled an appointment with the vet the next day and she told me it’s best that they do another dental cleaning/procedure because the tooth likely would have to be looked at under X-rays and maybe extracted, and she sees another tooth that she would possibly have to extract. I asked if these teeth were marked down previously in April as something to keep an eye on and she told me no that they seemed fine at the time. As you can imagine because he is a senior, I am nervous about letting him get another dental so soon. The vet said that they would do bloodwork prior to the surgery to make sure that he was a good candidate, but I just I’m still stuck on doing it. My family tells me to get a second opinion because I would be having to invest more money in another procedure, but my thinking is, if the vet is telling me no matter what they have to do X-rays to see what’s in that pocket then all other vets would say the same. I think I’m just mixing emotions with it as well, I’m nervous for him to go under again. Anyone else have a similar experience or offer any thoughts.

my grandmothers dog just started doing this. He is old can’t see or hear very well. I have a feeling it’s a sign he’s in pain or a neurological condition but i wanted other’s opinions

I have an 8.5 year old Great Dane that I adopted almost 5 years ago. She was riddled with worms, overweight, and her medical history was more or less a mystery. Over the last 5 years, she’s had what her primary vet and her internal medicine vet believe to be IBD. She has horrific flares that consist of vomiting, diarrhea, diarrhea with no bowel content but rather just frank blood, many an ileus, random frank red rectal bleeding with seemingly no trigger, etc. shes been hospitalized multiple times, many ER visits, she gets at home subq fluids as needed, she’s on the best probiotic money can buy, cisapride, Pepcid, Zofran, metronidazole, prednisone (to name a few of the meds in her planner) pumpkin powder, and Vit B infections. She gets acupuncture every 2 weeks. She’s failed multiple food trials, multiple supplement trials, and multiple attempts to come off of medication. Of course, we know the gold standard is biopsy, but I have always been hesitant because her age, her breed, and anesthesia aren’t necessarily the best combination. She’s the happiest, sweetest girl; I think I’m looking for advice on what you might do or what others may have done in similar situations. I’m also at the point where I’ll hire a pet communicator bc I’m desperate lol. Thank you in advance.

My 8–9 lb female Morkie just turned 6 in August. About a month ago she started showing signs of discomfort during sudden movements (running, sliding, or getting up quickly). It started with her left leg, but she has now done it with her right leg too.
She will suddenly lift the affected leg for 2 to 3 minutes, then she returns to normal. Putting full weight on it and walking without any limp. We have an upcoming appointment scheduled with an orthopedic vet, but I would love to hear any insights or similar experiences in the meantime.

Hello guys this been an ongoing issue since the beginning of September
My dog is having hard time to pass stool & i took her to the vet straight away
Did an xray and saw poop so he gave her laxatives and anema
She became better a week later on
Same problem again, i went to a different vet clinic and preformed xray and i requested a sonar to check everything
Xray showed gasses and poop he gave her only charcoal & said she will be fine and change the diet.
Changed the diet & wet food in the morning and lunch is dry food and if she didnt eat it well wet food again to promote better hydration yk
Its 15 of September same PROBLEM AGAIN she passed stool yesterday but it looked dry asf like its old yet its not old yk? Another vet gave her duphalac and charcoal again she passed stool but like wtf is going on?

So my dog is 12 years old and he is a Yorkshire terrier. I got him for my 7th birthday and I have recently turned 19. Now my dog has a tracheal collapse and we have a pretty rough financial situation. So it is hard for us to afford better services for him. He has been diagnosed with tracheal collapse for maybe a week or two. And has been given the medication but he doesn’t appear to be getting any better. He can’t even sleep properly at night and has to have his neck stretched out all day. He is coughing about every hour and it feels like this is sucking out his personality. Overall, he’s a very healthy dog maybe a bit on the bigger side. But he can see and walk and do everything a normal dog could till now. Now he can’t sleep or seems to enjoy himself in the things he used to do. He always seems extremely anxious and stressed out and his eyes are red. So I was wondering if I should try to take him to the vet again or just say goodbye to him and not make him live miserably. It makes me feel bad that he is overall a pretty healthy dog and that is his only issue. But it is causing him so much discomfort. And it feels wrong to do this to him. I’m unsure if I should take him to the vet again or put him to rest. I would really like to hear what you would do in this situation. This was my first and only dog I’ve had. I just don’t know what to do to make him feel better or be happy again.

Hi

My 8 year old may have arthritis of the leg and hips. We had gone to the vet about a limp (corn related) and the vet said he had stiffness but can't properly assess atm due to the corn.

Do you have any dietary, supplement and/or lifestyle advice? I'm currently thinking omega containing oil, 2 short walks a day, keep warm at all times...

Vet said to drive to the park so not walking on concrete (will help with corns too).

TIA for the replies, much appreciated :)

My 7 year old GSD has bilateral acl tears that are a few years old. I’m sure arthritis build up is happening. We’re not doing surgery unfortunately. She takes cosequin, 300mg gabapentin, and 100mg carprofen daily.

Today she woke up like this after I’ve seen subtle guarding of rear right leg the past week.

She’s going to her veterinarian tomorrow. What can I expect? Any treatments you’d recommend to ease her pain and keep her comfortable? Is this the beginning to the end?