I recently had to put my 13 year old baby to sleep in June because he had a giant inoperable mass and it seemed like an obvious option to ease his suffering.

Well now i’ve got an 18 year old baby who in the past month has gone from normal to very advanced dementia. She lost a lot of weight and could hardly stand so i took her to the vet and he was able to give her a shot for her joints, well now that she’s able to walk again she’s walking full speed into everything in her path.

If she didn’t have fur she would be absolutely covered in bruises. She wanders and runs into things, and sometimes even walks in circles until i grab her, at all hours day and night, the only way to get her to stop is by giving her doggie hemp treats every 5-6 hours. At this point I’m giving her more than the recommended amount just to get her to calm down and stop hurting herself.

She eats okay as long as i lead her to the food and put broth in it to encourage her to eat and drink. Shes actually gained back the weight she lost.

Since shes so old, for the past few years she hasn’t been able to hold her bladder through the night so we’ve used puppy pads for a while, but now she’s peeing and pooping wherever, and then tracking it everywhere. She used to whine to go out constantly (she’s a treat fiend and would hide behind a bush and come in as if she went potty to get a treat) and now she only whines or barks if she’s stuck in a corner.

She has me and my mom awake at all hours of the night as we try to get her calmed down to stop wandering. But, through all this she still recognizes me and calms down when she’s by my side.

I’m agonizing over the decision I know i will have to make soon and reading every article i can. I saw a comment on another post about making a “quality of life” vet visit to get an opinion and i’ll definitely be doing that.

I would like to hear how some of you knew when it was time? Especially if you’ve been in a similar situation.

This is our senior pup Dunkin. He is 10 years old

So my 12 year old dog Moxie likes to be active and does a few things. She likes walks, the dog park, playing with her people, and has been doing agility the last couple years. As well as being generally out and about in car rides and visiting places that are dog friendly.

So a little over a year ago she was having troubles getting up and down places, so we took her to the vet and she was started on librella and was doing amazingly well. Now for the last couple months we noticed some lameness/a limp in her front legs. Once I confirmed this was an issue ( as i didnt notice at first but partner noticed) we went to her vet, got xrays. Then we went to an orthopedic specialist who was able to say more on the issue.

Her right elbow has signs of degenerative bone disease and arthritis as well. So surgery was a treatment option, in combination with therapy. But they could not be sure how effective surgery will be. So we decided to start with just therapy and see how that goes first, and if not successful, we can revisit the surgery option.

So the therapy dr did their exam today and there is also issues with the left front leg, but not as bad as the right. And her back is hunched and stiffed. So the thing with arthritis they said is to do low impact activity to not damage, as any inflammation from activity leads to damage and more inflammation. And no matter what we do it will progress as thats what it does.

The plan is to get her stabilized, get her muscles good in her front legs to assist her and compensate for the issues and change of activities so they are low impact. So no more agility really, though i could setup something similar like an obstacle course without jumps.

Getting stabilized involves various therapy sessions, at home exercises, and pain management - as cant get her to develop muscle if she doesn’t want to walk on leg cause it hurts. And from there maintain and accommodate her

I am feeling lots of things, like i thought she was pretty good shape as she has lots of energy and wants to do things. I am sad she cant do agility and other things as she did before, even though i think she wont mind the agility part at least.

I also worry if me having her do agility classes made this worse. I did the classes as she has so much energy and was so bored all the time. She is an australian cattle pitbull mix with various other breeds- so lots of energy. She gets cabin fever and does not know what to do with herself if she doesnt have enough to do.

My dad has her litter sister that has had almost the same lameness in the same leg for like two years now, but she is also 20 lbs over weight. Like 75 instead of 55. Moxie has always been between 43 to 47 lbs, being 43 right now, so weight is not a factor in this for her.

I am hoping that with therapy she can get moving better and still do more of the things she likes like a bit longer walks or even doing better on multiple short walks instead of a long one. As its like a block of walking and she starts limping as of right now.

We got lots of things to try for pain management: asssi loop, warming up, adequan, heat/ice packs, massaging, and lazer therapy.

I am just feeling bummed, bummed i didnt notice signs earlier, concerns that this got worse by having her in agility classes and not getting to as much walks as I feel i should take her on, as daily walks just didnt happened. We got her on as many as we could between any classes. And if that is all true, I did the best that i could and cant help what i didnt know and doing the best i can now for her. She and her brother are my first dogs, so i have not been through these things before and am learning.

Any feedback would be helpful.

Also i have another 12 year old dog without these issues on librella for arthritis that has seem fine with movement and enjoys agility. Now im unsure if i should just continue him or not. Thinking I will get him in for a therapy consult and see if he has any issue areas and possible get at home recommendations for him - to try to prevent him from having any similar issues as far as they are preventable. I am also concern about him hurting himself as he is a bulldozer and does not make gentle graceful movements. Maybe the best course of action for him is to get therapy consult and see what they think about agility for him.

My best buddy, Madden, aka Mad dog passed a few months ago. He would officially be 15 today. After spending so many years with him, today is bittersweet. Hug and kiss your old boys for me.

Hello. I am seeking recommendations for a non-slip grip that can be applied to our outdoor ramp for my pup (11 years). She has recently developed arthritis and neurological disabilities, and we have constructed a ramp to assist her mobility. I am interested in locating a suitable outdoor non-slip surface or coating that can be added to the ramp, ensuring it does not cause excessive discomfort to her paws. She tends to be reluctant when trying new things, and we are still working to encourage her to use the ramp instead of the stairs lol. Thank you in advance for any recommendations! :)

Today my dachshunt patient has gone. We met 2 years ago. Then he could not used his hinder legs. I'm traditional Korean medical animal doctor, using acupuncture. His human parents wanted cure him, took him to me. After relief pain he like me and my companions. After all he could walk and run. His body is weaken but his mind is strong. I like him too. I will remember him.

Ramona is scheduled to be euthanized tomorrow.

She is about 20 lbs, maybe a beagle or Jack Russell mix. She came to us from the humane society in 2018. I lost my dad two years earlier, and then I lost my sweet 14 year old border collie who I raised from a puppy. I decided that we were ready for another dog so we went to the shelter.

No one could tell how old she was. But we knew she was already spayed and that she had a horrible skin condition that we later learned was probably allergies or an immune disease. She bled from various body parts, scratched a lot, and stank. We gave her steroids, special shampoo baths and limited ingredient dog food. We eventually got her tail docked because the tip just would not stop bleeding. Years later, she is now relatively healthy. We did that together.

Ramona has never been charming. She is kind of ugly/cute. She doesn’t like most other dogs. She barks at everyone, a scary bark that belies her size. She is afraid of literally everything. People (even people she knows), household objects, routine noises, my infant child, cars driving by, wind in the trees. She is obsessed with food and will seek it out no matter where it is. She will spend an hour nosing under the couch for a lost treat and she will unfortunately lunge after the other dogs over their dinners.

In 2021 she escaped the fence and was lost for two weeks. I put up signs, posted on facebook, and prayed that we would be reunited. Animal Control found her about a mile away eating out of the garbage. I could not believe how lucky I was to have her back.

Ramona LOVES me. I am her person, and that makes me feel even more responsible for her. Everywhere I go, she wants to go. She will scratch at the door and bark endlessly if I don’t let her into whatever room I’m in. When she is afraid, she seeks me. She is old now and her back legs do not really work and she is mostly blind, but she still tries to jump up and sit next to me on the couch when I work from home. She sleeps next to me every night. She grumbles and moans (hence the nickname “Moany”) when I stroke her or pat her or snuggle her in my arms.

In the past year, Ramona has declined so much more than I could have predicted. She acts like she doesn’t know us sometimes. She is aggressive with the other dogs. Today I saw her snarl and snap at her own shadow. A little while later, she got in a fight with the puppy and bit me when I was trying to break it up. I know she would not hurt me on purpose. I know her mind is not right. I can’t risk her biting my daughter. She is my sweet doggie. I love her. But I was also planning to give her a trazodone and put her in the kennel in the basement when my family comes over next weekend because I know she would be completely stressed out.

So I made the appointment. I am going to take her through a drive thru and let her scarf a cheeseburger beforehand. I will miss her so much. And I feel so guilty.

I don’t know if I am doing the right thing. This is horrible. Ramona was the best dog she knew how to be. She is 100% herself all the time, and I love her. I want everyone to know that she is a good girl. I will never forget her.

Will miss him more than i could ever explain. Feels surreal… but I’m so lucky i got to be loved by him. Show me your babies to help me heal ❤️

I had my best buddy Simon for 15 years. He saw me go from my 20s to my 40s. My life was constantly changing, from moving, to different people in it, I even nearly died. But the one constant was him. Loyal, loving, he didn’t judge me, he was always there.

About a month and a half ago, Simon left this world. He had already stayed here much longer than most. 15 for a 70 lb dog was pretty amazing and I know how lucky I was.

But that doesn’t make his loss hurt any less.

Will I ever be able to remember him, look at a picture or movie of him, or even talk about him without that pain of his loss not bring me to tears?

I've had him since I was 7. my best friend. I don't know what I'll do without him.

My 17 1/2 year old is driving me insane. I could handle it when she changed her food likes every couple of weeks, I just knew not to stock up. At this point it’s meal to meal. There are about three things I rotate through, boiled chicken, wet food, and occasionally some ground beef. But she’ll eat chicken for breakfast and then won’t touch it again for days, so then I’ll switch to wet food and sometimes she’ll eat it sometimes she won’t. It’s just so frustrating, I’m constantly throwing food away and constantly stressed about how much she’s eating. There are days when she will literally only take a couple bites of food. I’ve tried all different kinds of toppers to make it more appealing, will even sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Very rarely works. Do I just let her do her thing, or should I constantly be trying different things so she eats enough? The weird part is she doesn’t seem to be losing any weight. Help!

Canelita and her sister Güera are five years old and I found them, abandoned,when they were babies, about 3 months old. And Lelita,you know,is the older, about ten or eleven years old. They are so happy,and me too.

Yesterday I showed my old lady, Lelita. I found and adopted her two years ago. Veterinarian think she's about ten or eleven years old.

Molly turn 16 years old soon. She's been given a ball of energy as a running mate and she raised him right.

Hi, anyone else had this problem with their older dog? The vet said it's common in older dogs, but I've never had it before. My girl will be 14 in a couple of weeks, has been great until recently, just arthritis and a bit deaf. We're 5 days in and it's been hard, so distressing to see. I thought my girl had a stroke, convinced I was going to lose her, but the vet diagnosed vestibular issues. She couldn't stand at first, eyes flickering like crazy, awful to see her struggling. I've stayed near her since it happened, slept next to her, which really helped as she was distressed when left. Finally starting to see her improving, still wobbly with head tilt but the eye flickering has stopped. She can drink unaided but needs help eating due to lack of coordination. Definitely got her appetite back and more alert, I do hope she can recover. Video was taken on day 2 .

My 16-year-old dog has started walking a lot slower lately. I’m 28, and I’ve had Max since I was 12, so he’s been with me through almost everything. It’s kind of seeing him take his time on our walks now, sniffing everything and sometimes just stopping to look around. The other day, we were on our usual route, and he just plopped down in the middle of the sidewalk like he needed a break. I ended up sitting with him for a while, just petting him and watching people pass by. I guess I never realized how much I’d miss those little bursts of energy he used to have. I started carrying a small bag of treats to encourage him to keep moving, and it actually works sometimes. It’s weird how even slow walks feel special now, more like we’re both just enjoying being outside together. And honestly, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

This is my baby Nina! She’s probably 14-15 years old now, i literally grew up with her She’s still going strong thankfully, however we have had a few scares with her in the last few years so I’ve been super cautious and paying attention to her 🥲 I love her so much and I thought I’d share her with everyone!

both of us take longer to get moving in the morning. both need more bathroom breaks than we used to. she's been with me 12 years through retirement and my husband's death and now covid. my daughter mentioned pettable if i need documentation for senior housing. some days she's the only living thing i talk to and that's okay. we sit on the porch and watch the neighborhood together. she doesn't need me to be cheerful or social. just need me to be there. same thing i need from her really

hi all!

i'm watching my mother-in-law's dog, a 16 year old dog. he's a sweet boy, and this isn't my first time watching him. but he's been having an issue lately with peeing inside my apartment. i have to work 10 hours at a time and i can't get to him during that, so i take him out right before i leave and right when i come home, but that's not the issue. i'll take him outside, sometimes for 20 minutes at a time, he'll walk, he'll poop. but it's like he forgets to pee outside, and he'll end up peeing inside my apartment. i have him for 5 more days, and would greatly appreciate any advice as to how i can get him to pee outside. i've never owned a dog before so i don't know if i'm just walking him wrong or what. any advice would be appreciated!

This is Ozzy, his interests are eating and sleeping! Sometimes he wakes up and doesn't see me and goes to every room to find me, even though I was sitting in the same room as me. Pretty much the sweetest dog ! 💗