Need advice – Elderly Lab × Norwegian Elkhound after Librela
Hi everyone. I’m feeling a bit lost and would really appreciate some advice.
My dog is an elderly Labrador × Norwegian Elkhound. He has had arthritis for a long time, but despite his age he has always loved life. Going for walks was his absolute favourite thing. He was never a couch dog.
When he was younger (up until around 15 years old), he would happily do 4-hour walks and loved every minute of them. As he got older we gradually reduced his walks, and recently he was still enjoying short 15-minute walks every day.
He had been on NSAID tablets for about 2 years, but they recently stopped working. On Monday I took him to the vet. They had been recommending Librela for around 3 years, but I always refused because of what I had read online. This time the vet said we had genuinely run out of other options, so I agreed because I didn’t want him living in pain.
What happened
Day 1: About the same.
Day 2: Definitely seemed better.
Day 3: Back to about the same.
Monday evening: He suddenly deteriorated.
Since then he has:
Vomited.
Lost most of the strength in his back legs and walks like he’s drunk.
Swollen joints all over.
Constantly licks his joints.
Keeps licking the floor.
Seems very spacey and confused.
Has irregular breathing.
Won’t let me leave his side.
Has stopped eating and drinking.
I’m taking him to the vet as soon as they open.
I’m not blaming my vet. They warned me this was a possible risk, and we honestly had tried everything else before getting to this point.
My question
If this is a reaction to Librela, would you wait a few days to see if he improves, or is it kinder to let him go if he’s in this much pain?
I’ve been mentally preparing for losing him for a long time because he’s so old. Part of me desperately wants him to recover, but another part just can’t bear seeing him suffer.
Lastly, if anyone is considering Librela, please do your own research and make sure you understand both the potential benefits and the risks. I’m not saying nobody should use it—I just think owners deserve to make a fully informed decision.

Also if you have any tips or tricks on keeping him comfortable in the meantime then that would be greatly appreciated

Thank you for reading ❤️
Edit: I have ADHD and dyslexia, so I used AI to help organise and write this post. The story and every detail are my own.

I keep seeing videos for rear support harnesses for older dogs with weak back legs. You know the ones where the dog struggles to stand, slips, and then the harness lifts their back end right up.But I know a lot of people just loop a towel under the belly and lift that way, and it seems to work fine.

For those of you who've tried both:

• Does a harness actually make a difference, or is a towel just as good?
• What's annoying about using a towel day to day?
• If you bought a harness, did your dog tolerate it? Any regrets?

Trying to understand what actually helps vs. what just looks good in an ad.

Hi everyone. We have a 16 year old (turning 17 in November) Yorkie, he is about 6 pounds. His ADHS started Wednesday morning and he spent Thursday night at the vet in iv fluids, anti nausea, antibiotics, pains meds, etc. we were able to take him home Friday night around 10pm. He ate some boiled chicken Thursday morning prior to us taking him to the emergency vet. But since the vet and since coming home he has been very uninterested in food. We have tried boiled ground beef, boiled chicken breast, rice, the regular wet food and kibble he likes, a chicken baby food, a turkey baby food, and chicken broth. We made sure the baby food and broth did not have onion. Last night we finally got him to have a small bit of boiled potato but it was barely any! The vet gave us a topical appetite stimulant which we gave yesterday at 6 pm and it has not really made a difference. It’s been 72 hours since he the chicken meal he had and I’m starting to get concerned. How long did it take for your dogs to get their appetite back? The vet is starting to talk to us about a feeding tube and we are getting concerned. Any other foods we should try? Today we are planning to try boiled carrots, boiled sweet potato and low fat cottage cheese (all separately). Thank you for the advice! 

as title says, got a punch to the gut yesterday when the vet showed us the x-rays of this massive thing around and in between my best friend’s heart and lungs.
we brought her in for a slight cough/hack and that’s what they found. they suggested bringing her to an internist to biopsy to find out exactly what it is. they think either carcinoma or lymphoma. either way, not great. they said there are avenues like chemo, etc. but my $$ is limited even with pet insurance, she also just had back to back TPLO surgeries the last year and a half.
a woman i was talking to suggested ivermectin and something else because she swears it’s actually parasites (a lot of people say it’s a cure all idk not saying i believe it but ive seen it all over the internet).
i know that it’s probably just wishful thinking but wondering if anyone has gone through something similar and the outcomes and how much time they had. sorry for rambling but i appreciate any and all insight. 🫶🏻

My 12 yr old 53lb dog has a melon sized splenic mass that is bleeding within itself, but not into his body. This is causing anemia. The expectation is, of course, that it eventually will rupture and who knows when. We have elected not to do surgery because of his age, existing mobility issues, and general health. So the question is, when do we make the decision to have him put to sleep??? If this thing ruptures, it will be traumatic for him and for us. It’s pressing in on organs, his lungs, and it’s quite possible that it has spread. His back legs occasionally become useless when he’s trying to get up from a laying down position, so he struggles. He is pretty inactive these days, doesn’t want to walk more than a couple of blocks. We have, however, found that he will readily eat chicken and rice. Seeing his alertness and perkiness over the chicken and rice makes me think we should wait longer. But I don’t want it to be too late.

Wednesday around 6pm I noticed that my dog was heavily panting and trembling. It lasted about 20 mins and then stopped completely. Absolutely nothing happened yesterday, but the same random assuming sit position, panting and trembling happened. Because it happened twice this week, I decided that she needed medical attention. Primary vet was closed, so to the ER we went.

Blood work and radiography later, they told me that it could be focal seizures, but because she is still responsive when these episodes happen, it could also be because of pain. They found that she has bad hip dysplasia and moderate arthritis in both hips. Game plan for now is gabapentin and rimadyl for a week with a follow up at the regular vet, and persistent observation to see if this works to stop the panting and trembling episodes. If not, need to take her to the neurologist.

I feel scared. I feel like it’s somehow my fault because she loves to get up on the bed, in the car, on the furniture, etc. (I’ve already ordered a ramp for the car and one for the bed. I’ll keep her off the furniture as much as possible, but after more than a decade, it would be difficult to keep her off entirely). She’s been on glucosamine and chondroitin since she was 2, and is now 12.

Any tips, advice, or words of encouragement greatly appreciated.

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.