Old Dogs (with possibly too much information for some)

[Calico]

Our vet told us it typically resolves significantly in 72 hours. If it doesn't you are dealing with a much bigger problem. I would not put our dog through this for a protracted period but a few days is worth dealing with. She made a quick, complete rebound last time so I am hoping for another good rebound.

I hope Darcy rebounds quickly. She is lucky (as are your other dogs) to have you as her pet parents.

I don't have any experience with rover (whatever that is).

In the past I have had good luck hiring pet sitters through my vet's office. Several of the vet techs (who don't get paid much, I believe) were interested in pet sitting to make extra money. The benefits were:

1. they already knew my old pets with chronic medical conditions
2. they were professionals who could handle medications, etc.
3. they loved animals very much (or they wouldn't be in that line of work)
4. if my vet trusted them to work for her, I trusted them to pet sit for me
5. they knew what conditions required taking my pets to the vet in my absence

Just another idea to consider if you need to find someone trustworthy to pet sit while you travel.

Good luck with the current episode and I hope it resolves shortly.

 

[Scuba]

We have a 15 year old australian cattle dog. She is still hiking with us, but for no more than 6-7 miles now. We used to do 13-14 miles regularly. She usually has some trouble that evening with stability, but we give her lots of rest, and massage her rear quarters. Also have some acupuncture done to her, which also has helped. We have found a good housesitter for both our dogs (other is a 9yr old border collie), but it took a lot of time and vetting. Many said they were staying there overnight, but we found out they weren't. In other words they were lying - BUH BYE. Now we have a sitter that stays there overnight, and spends time with them. Could not possibly fathom boarding them in a kennel - the barking/noise and general chaos would be too hard on them. I agree with a previous post that said when they are in the puppy and old age phase are the sweetest times to have them. We will do whatever is necessary to make their lives comfortable in their golden years.

We had the same experience - a sitter we hired to sleep at our place was supposed to be here from 9 pm to 7 am. Our neighbor emailed me at 10:30 pm saying our dog was on the balcony barking. When we got home the next day, she had left our dog outside on our balcony in the rain! [emoji35]

Fortunately we found a great sitter who cares for dogs in her home. Bonus is she lives right by LAX so we can park at her place free!

 

[rayinpenn]

We’ve been together for 11 wonderful years but since he’s had his knees replaced he’s stopped taking me on those super long walks. Oh he’s still good for a few minutes petting in the morning - after I warm myself up by the stove that is. I have to remind him that I don’t like being left alone at night by getting hold of something in the kitchen and chewing it thoroughly. Oh and sometimes he forgets to fill my water bowl to the brim at bedtime (I like an early AM snacks and drink) so I have to wake him a 4AM and make him take me out.. yeah he’s gotten old and just like me we are pretty banged up.
I still make a fuss when he comes home in the afternoon - he’s always good for a treat.

I am sitting by the stove and he’s sitting in his leather easy chair. We make a good pair ...I just hope I don’t have to let him go.

 

[HadEnuff]

I adopted a rescue dog in 2007. I had just lost a beautiful boxer-bulldog mix when he got out of the house and was hit by a vehicle. I came home with the mangiest looking dog of undeterminable age. The guess was "somewhere between 2 and 6"...So after 10 years when she really started showing signs of aging, we didn't know if we had a 12 year old dog, or a 16 year old dog. Probably not 16, but what?
She was good for a 45 minute romp off leash down by the river, and the other 23 hours and 15 minutes of the day she slept. Unfortunately she was getting to the point that she often didn't wake up to relieve herself.
The vet suggested some interventive measures, that involved meds that zoned her further out.

And there we (I, as she was basically "my" dog) were faced squarely with the hardest dilemma of pet ownership: Am I keeping her alive for her? Or me? or conversely, am I putting her down for her? or me? Ugh...

Eventually I made the decision to euthanize her. I haven't replaced her, partly because I want to travel, and don't like boarding dogs, but mostly because I can't handle the inevitable end-of-life series of events that eventually puts us back into that dilemma.

All the best to those of you with old dogs. I love old dogs, and the folks who do their best to take care of them

 

[Teacher Terry]

HadEnuff: there is a saying in the rescue world that your dog wants you to rescue another in his/her name. That is the highest honor you can do for a dog that has passed.

 

[AlbaCrush]

We have two Boston Terriers who are 101/2 years old. Once our dogs pass, we're doing like you and going dog free for a few years so we can take longer trips. We do put the dogs in the kennel and try to keep their stay under a week. It cost us $500 each time for the kennel.

 

[splitwdw]

I adopted a rescue dog in 2007. I had just lost a beautiful boxer-bulldog mix when he got out of the house and was hit by a vehicle. I came home with the mangiest looking dog of undeterminable age. The guess was "somewhere between 2 and 6"...So after 10 years when she really started showing signs of aging, we didn't know if we had a 12 year old dog, or a 16 year old dog. Probably not 16, but what?
She was good for a 45 minute romp off leash down by the river, and the other 23 hours and 15 minutes of the day she slept. Unfortunately she was getting to the point that she often didn't wake up to relieve herself.
The vet suggested some interventive measures, that involved meds that zoned her further out.

And there we (I, as she was basically "my" dog) were faced squarely with the hardest dilemma of pet ownership: Am I keeping her alive for her? Or me? or conversely, am I putting her down for her? or me? Ugh...

Eventually I made the decision to euthanize her. I haven't replaced her, partly because I want to travel, and don't like boarding dogs, but mostly because I can't handle the inevitable end-of-life series of events that eventually puts us back into that dilemma.

All the best to those of you with old dogs. I love old dogs, and the folks who do their best to take care of them

HadEnuff, About 3 years ago we had to put our 2 furry buddies down about a year apart and couldn't bring ourselves to add another buddy right away. Then my husband go sick and was so glad we hadn't gotten another puppy or older dog.
Have fun and travel maybe you'll decide later to add a furry buddy. It's such a hard decision. Right now, I still can't get another buddy so I donate to our local shelter.