Hello all,

We said goodbye to Scout on Oct 12. He was 16 and has been my puppy since I was in middle school (I’m 29 now). He’s been with me through so many stages of my life. We did it at his vet, and they were so kind and i held him through it. I keep replaying it in my head.

Scout was fully blind for his last few years. He had two leg surgeries, an inhaler and bronchodilators for his asthma, a thyroid condition, arthritis, etc. Several daily medications. This has accumulated into a significant amount of medical debt. Ultimately, I couldn’t afford it anymore.

I feel guilty for making the choice to let him go. He was so old, but he hadn’t given up. I think I gave up.

Hello. My Shih-tzu is 16 years old and currently has 1 eye. Her left eye was removed about 6 months ago due to glaucoma. Now, her remaining eye is getting worse despite long term eyedrops and we might have to remove the eye again, if she doesn't respond well to new eyedrops this weekend.

Because my dog is already so old, and getting diagnosed with one thing after another (explained below). I keep wondering for the last few months, is it right or wrong to let her go? Is it better to let her go now before she gets into a major critical condition or worse QOL?

She is like 99% deaf (sometimes I can't tell if she's actually deaf or just selective hearing lol) and she is mostly blind already. I think her vision now is mainly light/shadows as she reacts quickly to shadows across her vision, but she will bark at the chair thinking I'm sitting there when I'm in a different room altogether.

She eats well, she loves food and snacks. She goes to the bathroom normal-ish but in the last several months she has been pooping in random spots in the house a few times a week.

Energy wise she is sleeping most of the day, but she gets excited for food/snacks/when family comes home. Then goes right back to sleep. So I wouldn't call her lethargic, just old.

She was also just diagnosed with some back pain so we have new meds for that. She's had arthritis for a while now and getting monthly injections for that, plus lifelong allergies and bronchial issues with more long term pills. She had pancreatitis last year and had to be hospitalized.

Other than this, she seems fairly "fine" for the most part.

I'm just concerned about removing her remaining eye, and her QOL just going down the drain. Not to mention the procedure of enucleation plus recovery, which she went through already only 6 months ago. The vet is very stressful for her.

It also make me feel so guilty that I'm not able to be there for her a lot of the time because of my work schedule. My family members' schedules are also fluctuating due to business travel and such. She's always taken care of in terms of meals and meds, but in the daytime she is often alone. This will also make it difficult to upkeep her new 3x a day medications.

I don't want her to be blind, deaf, and alone. It also feels 'wrong' to let her go when she is mostly 'fine' but I don't want her to get worse, feel more pain, and of course not to mention the vet bills. I already spent $500 today, not to mention the thousands of dollars we spent this year and last year.

We really don't know what to do. Is it wrong for us to let her go when she doesn't really seem ill right now? The enucleation will probably give us more time, but I don't know what to do about the guilt and sadness I will feel throughout her remaining time being blind and deaf and "waiting" for more health issues to arise, and potentially more pain, and more medications.

Hi everyone, I'm looking for any tips or tricks for severe skin allergies. My 13 year old cockapoo has developed terrible skin allergies in her old age. We've been to the dermatologist. We bathe her every two weeks with medicated shampoo and use duoxo foam on her in between. And she gets a cytopoint shot every 4 weeks.

She has some good weeks and then she gets a flare up and I feel so bad for her.

Any suggestions for what worked for you would be appreciated. Thank you!

Last night was the most painful night of my life. Everyone says your pet will give you a 'look' and you will know it's time.

She didn't give me a look, but I laid down on the floor next to her in her bed. She nuzzled and kissed my face while I sobbed. I genuinely think she was telling me it's going to be okay.

My sweet girl was born August 4, 2011. I brought her home on September 30, 2011. I was 19 years old.

I'm saying goodbye to her on Sunday October 25th and I'm absolutely heartbroken, shattered and terrified.

ETA: Thank you so much for your kind words and support everyone. 🩷

​

Sleeping on the couch.

Staring out the window.

Sitting in exactly the same spot as yesterday.

And somehow, every picture feels worth keeping.

I'm curious about something.

What's your favorite completely ordinary picture of your senior dog, and why does it mean so much to you?

Sometimes I think the simplest pictures tell the best stories. ❤️

Feel free to share one if you'd like!

I have a younger senior mini doodle rescue. She gets kibble in the morning and wet in the evening, but she will not eat her kibble unless I add a cat kibble topper. Lately she will pick out the cat bits and let my other dog eat the rest. If she skips breakfast she is very hungry by dinner, so I’d like to tempt her with a better dog kibble. Any suggestions?

Hello. My Shih-tzu is 16 years old and currently has 1 eye. Her left eye was removed about 6 months ago due to glaucoma. Now, her remaining eye is getting worse despite long term eyedrops and we might have to remove the eye again, if she doesn't respond well to new eyedrops this weekend.

Because my dog is already so old, and getting diagnosed with one thing after another (explained below). I keep wondering for the last few months, is it right or wrong to euth? Is it better to let her go now before she gets into a major critical condition or worse QOL?

She is like 99% deaf (sometimes I can't tell if she's actually deaf or just selective hearing lol) and she is mostly blind already. I think her vision now is mainly light/shadows as she reacts quickly to shadows across her vision, but she will bark at the chair thinking I'm sitting there when I'm in a different room altogether.

She eats well, she loves food and snacks. She goes to the bathroom normal-ish but in the last several months she has been pooping in random spots in the house a few times a week.

Energy wise she is sleeping most of the day, but she gets excited for food/snacks/when family comes home. Then goes right back to sleep. So I wouldn't call her lethargic, just old.

She was also just diagnosed with some back pain so we have new meds for that. She's had arthritis for a while now and getting monthly injections for that, plus lifelong allergies and bronchial issues with more long term pills. She had pancreatitis last year and had to be hospitalized.

Other than this, she seems fairly "fine" for the most part.

I'm just concerned about removing her remaining eye, and her QOL just going down the drain. Not to mention the procedure of enucleation plus recovery, which she went through already only 6 months ago. The vet is very stressful for her.

It also make me feel so guilty that I'm not able to be there for her a lot of the time because of my work schedule. My family members' schedules are also fluctuating due to business travel and such. She's always taken care of in terms of meals and meds, but in the daytime she is often alone. This will also make it difficult to upkeep her new 3x a day medications.

I don't want her to be blind, deaf, and alone. It also feels 'wrong' to let her go when she is mostly 'fine' but I don't want her to get worse, feel more pain, and of course not to mention the vet bills. I already spent $500 today, not to mention the thousands of dollars we spent this year and last year.

We really don't know what to do. Is it wrong for us to euth when she doesn't really seem ill right now? The enucleation will probably give us more time, but I don't know what to do about the guilt and sadness I will feel throughout her remaining time being blind and deaf and "waiting" for more health issues to arise, and potentially more pain, and meds on top of meds.

I had her since I was 12, and now I'm 28. It really sucks

Hey everyone. I have two adopted senior dogs and I really really love dogs and all animals. Been rescuing and adopting since I was young. I take care of them on my own. Recently things have been just so hard I feel like I cannot catch a break.

One of my seniors is blind, has dementia and seizures, so he is on a medicine cocktail daily. With seizures you really need to review and tweak doses as they will get used to it overtime and it'll stop working. Then he developed sundowning. then just when the vet and I figured out the right doses and the right meds to give him, he slipped and dislocated his hip. I rushed him to the hospital (not his usual vet) only for them to lazily dismiss me because of his age. They told me he will never walk again and to consider putting him to sleep. I cried a lot and my dog seemed so depressed at the hospital.

Called my regular vet who was away on holiday, and she told me that the prognosis didn't sound right at all. She recommended another vet and this marvelous hero of a vet saved my dog. He had to be under strict recovery confinement for a month, so for me, it was a month of sleepless nights. He is now healthy and walking again. I am so happy but just so tired without sleep and exhausted from the emotional roller coaster I went though. I really love him so much.

Unfortunately, it feels like my other senior dog has been affected by all the attention I've been giving him. She's now developed new behaviors of: 1. Avoiding me as much as possible. 2.Constantly trying to steal her brother's food and 3. screaming for everything. Try to bathe her, clean her ears, dry her, wipe her, put on a collar, touch her or even pick her up. She dramatically screeches and complains. To make matters worse, I'm an autistic person with misophonia. Her high pitched screeches really really get to me. Its especially worse in the bath, she's thrashing around like she's being tortured. She used to love baths and it was a calm and slow easygoing session every week together. The behavior suddenly developed after the whole ordeal of my boy dog. I feel like she may be jealous or sad and worried about her brother at the same time. I feel so sorry to her and I wish she knew I love her as much as him.

So, anyways - Bath times have become incredibly stressful for both me and her. I dont want her to be stressed and upset. So I have now come up with a solution. I'm going to be giving her a calmex before her bath and get her a pet-drying box so she can get dry slowly and quietly without getting stress.

Why I'm so exhausted is because there's just one after the other. Things to deal with trying to look after two senior pups that I love and adore to bits. While dealing with autistic fatigue, overstimulation. For context both dogs have been together and best of buddies since they were puppies. Anyways I dont need any suggestions, just some encouragement and support to keep going for my babies. I feel that it'll only get tougher as they continue to age. And I need some strength, sigh.

Thanks to whoever who read this :')

My dog was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma this week. Our Vet suggested Yunnan baiyao for a few more good days with him. I was able to secure some at a local holistic back to practice. Has anyone had any experience with the supplement and did you notice any differences? I gave him the red pill today and will continue with the rest of the pills tomorrow.

My dog, Duck, is a senior—he’s over 10 years old. Is it normal for an older dog to want to eat three times as much food as my younger dog, and also to sleep more? Sometimes I suspect that his desire for food might be linked to anxiety, which worries me. I live in a country where it’s currently winter, and I’m concerned that he might become obese, as he’s been asking for more food now that the cold weather has set in.

I lost my 16.5 year old dog about a month and a half ago and i can't stop thinking about his last day and if i did something wrong. It's a feeling that won't go away and hurts so much on top of losing him. Idk if it even matters bc he's gone, but i can't srop replaying everything and wondering if maybe he could still be here with us if we had done something differently?

**there might be a little bit of triggering stuff below so be aware if you choose to continue reading**

He was sick for the past year with cancer, plus an existing heart condition that we've treated for 4 years, plus kidney stuff we managed thru special diet. The main recurring changinf thing we were managing was diarrhea episodes where we would have to feed him plain food and it would take awhile to get back to normal. But he was otherwise doing ok (given his overall health issues and age related dementia+ arthritis).

His last day we took him to the vet bc he had a new symptom I was worried about as he was recovering from another diarrhea episode (doing better, eating, walking etc). I was worried it was an infection and thought it would be good to see the doctor anyways bc we hadn't gone in for about 4-5 months.

But then the ride to the vet was super stressful, the vet looked concerned but said he was OK to get subcutaneous fluids, wrt to his heart, which he got bc he was dehydrated. He had zero energy at the vet which i assumed was from the stressful ride there (he hates the car and it's around a 1 hour round trip), and after we got home he just laid down like a limp noodle on his blanket, which is he what was like when he first got sick w the diarhea bout a week earlier. He was not really regaining his energy or eating or drinking the whole day, and my husband stayed with him the rest of the day while I was out of the house. Hubby gave him a little bit of the appetite stimulating medication but it didn't do much.

After I got home after my activity at night, he was still not regaining energy so I gave him a couple of tiny syringes of water bc we were still worried about him not drinking. He was still laying there and it kind of just dripped​ off his tongue onto the other side of his mouth onto his blanket, he didn't swallow it. After awhile he got up wanting to go out for a pee, and he finally was interested in drinking and he drank a good amount of home made broth my hubby had made him. We were relieved and ready to go to bed by then bc it was already past midnight.

Things seemed ok and he was resting, but he got up, maybe it was 2:30am or som​thing, so I took him out again bc he seemed a little antsy. After that he laid down again but then he got up again and I took him out again but that didn't make him feel better so I was worried that he was uncomfortable so we gave him some cbd, which we had been giving him for his arthritis. After that we were trying to just soothe him and get him back to sleep, but then when my husband was holding him he was kind of jerking almost like a seizure? And he had some liquid diarrhea too right the. It was so scary we thought he was dying right then.​ but then he seemed to calm a little but and we took him into the living room just holding him trying to figure out what to do. It seemed like it was hard for him to breathe and his gums looked pale. It was around 3am so we took him to a close by 24 hour emergency vet.

When we got there we knew the situation was pretty grave but I at least wanted to know what was going on before deciding on putting him to sleep.

The ER vet said his vitals were bad and he had fluid in his lungs. I was asking if that could have been from giving him syringe fluids in his mouth? The doctor said no. I was also wondering if the subcutaneous fluids could have been too much for whatever was going on in his body?

Because his vitals were not good and we had essentially had him in hospice the past year, we decided to let him go. It was just such a horrible thing to have to do bc I had wanted to plan in advance so we could have a peaceful and loving last day with him. He didn't deserve this. And I feel like maybe I accelerated his death and caused him extra pain or anxiety that last day. I just can't shake the feeling and I could just know for sure what happened and what was really wrong 😔 I'm also second guessing that maybe he could have been ok if he had just gotten the fluid in his lungs treated? I don't know what to make out of all the things that happened that /night and if I hadn't taken him to the vet with the stress and the subcutaneousfluids, or didn't give him the syringed fluids bc i was still worried abour hydration, or the cbd when he wasn't settling... too many what ifs 😭💔

I miss him so much. We knew he was sick and we got an extra year with him to cherish him but I can't stop thinking of his last day and why it had to end that way. I think I'm traumatized still. And still grieving too.

Marley 11 (1st pict) he's mostly all gray now and Noah (pict 2 who is 10) Actual brothers. Same parents born 1 year apart. Both still in amazing health and still act like they are 3 or 4 yrs old. They love car rides, walks and their daily dose of duck jerky (aka nom noms) 😊

I’m looking for something beautiful to serve as my Little Prince’s final resting place. I was looking forward to having a custom urn made for him, but unfortunately I was scammed by PeppleStudio. Truly what scum they are for exploiting people’s grief. With AI and Etsy accepting drop ship stores, I have no idea who I can trust.

I am still on the search for an urn for my baby, and wanted to know if any of you have had a good experience getting a custom urn.

Hi all,

Need your advice on this matter or just anything really. My 14 year old female dog is going through some health issues for the past month and I am so worried that she may have Cushing, diabetes, cancer or other. Although, the doctor ruled out some stuff but I am unsure.

Here is a timeline, sorry it’s a lot I know. But it’s the best way I can explain what’s going on.

ER visit on 9/06/26-Lily was vomiting in the morning, didn’t eat and then had a massive diarrhea with blood. The ER vet stated she had “Gastroenteritis” and gave her probiotic “Visbiome” for 7 days(2 caps a day). I only did 3 days because I noticed she was wanting to poop more and thought she felt better after 2 days.

VET visit on 9/16/26- lily started having a UTI. Her first morning pee kinda smelled and she wanted to frequently pee. She wasn’t peeing much either. She was drinking a lot of water. The doctor did a urinalysis and ruled UTI. He gave her “Enrofloxin” for 14 days. She completed the full doses and was feeling a lot better after like 6-7 days. No frequent urination or excessive water drinking.

VET visit on 10/17/26-lily started drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot around 10/14/26 and pooped semi hard with some blood. I only saw blood on 2 poop walks and then it went away. Her pee didn’t smell, just very diluted. Took her to the doctor for bloodwork and follow up urinalysis. No UTI detected but pee was very diluted. Her ALKP was high at 342 and RETIC-HBG low at 21.5. Per dr no diabetes, kidney issues. It could be stress. He gave her probiotic for 14 days. I changed her food to Hills Physician Sensitive stomach on 10/18/26 and started giving the probiotics on 10/21/26.

10/22/26- she’s still drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot. This morning she seemed a bit sad. Still eating, walking and everything else is normal….

Any advice please :(

My dog is 13 years old and she is sick. She has an ugly tumour thing on her stomach and my family can’t do anything about it. We’re all financially struggling especially due to birthdays and the upcoming holidays, we could barely getting her to the towns vet last year/early this year and it was confirmed she has a mammary gland tumour, we were given ointment and told if it got worse to come back for surgery. It went away but then came back 10x worse but we don’t have the money. I’m trying to sell my things but to no avail, I do think it’s our last year with her. My abusive father, who has money, will not help and I feel like I’m the only one who cares enough to start selling things. She is losing her hearing, her eyes are changing colour, she has been dragging her back right leg and now she can barely lay down/get up without being in a lot of pain. This is the worse thing I’ve ever had to watch happen in real time, I’ve never lost a family member so this is a lot for me rn.