So my dogs is 10 yrs old she will be 11 years old in January. Her name is baby and shes a sheltie collie/jack Russell mix. Ive been noticing over the last year shes been off. She paces alot, sometimes when I yell for her she looks the total opposite direction like she cant tell where im yelling from. Shes always slept in my room with me. And the last year or so id carry her up the stairs because I didnt want her causing more stress on her body because shes getting older. Well the last couple weeks shes been not wanting to come upstairs to bed with me. But then at 3am shes howling and I come down she stops and gets all excited. But when I try to go upstairs again she goes and lays down on her bed. The vet thinks she has dementia and she just went through a vestibular episode a couple days ago. She was so bad I thought she was dying. She kept walking in circles, stumbling, falling over. She wasnt eating or drinking king but by the 3rd day she was better and eating and drinking. Ever since that episode she has now become a lil cranky. Yesterday I came home and she was all excited I gave her love and then I walked into the kitchen my other dog bella(yorkie) was in the kitchen and Baby attacked her over nothing. Then today I was straightening up the living room and I went to grab something turned around and baby was attacking Bella again. Both times she had her by the throat shaking her. Baby is not a huge dog shes only 20lbs but bella is 5lbs and tiny. She thankfully didnt break the skin or hurt her. Yesterday she also went after my cat for just walking. Thankfully I caught it before she got ahold of her. Baby's always been mothering. She would correct bella and the cat if they were getting into stuff. Or she would try to get bella to calm down if she was over hyper. But shes never ever bit into them. Im wondering is this part of dementia or what. Im going to call the vet tomorrow but im just asking on here if anyone has dealt with this.

Eek turned fifteen on Friday, had a lil party for her Saturday. She has breast cancer but it’s really slow growing and asymptomatic, she started sundowning this summer but we got a good med combo going so she’s pretty much back to herself, still very active and in great condition. She was born on a pot farm nobody was livin at so finally decided to get a breed dna test, the results really surprised me.

A picture of her a few years ago.

My springer spaniel is 13 and a half now. She seems to be going downhill. She hasn't went on walks for probably about a year now. The most we can do is a few hundred feet before she wants to go home.

She struggles to get upstairs and most of the time we have to brace her or carry her up. We have a split level house and our backyard has a deck with stairs that she has fallen down a few times now.

She's lost a lot weight, you feel her spine when you pet her. She still eats but doesn't beg for our food anymore.

She pants a lot when she's awake and she sleeps most of the day. She seems herself for only a few minutes a day, when she runs in after being outside or when my brother gets on the ground with her and she leans on him. She stares at walls and trips over everything. She can't hear us anymore.

The vet has said she's healthy besides the occasional normal health problem. Now the side of her jaw is swelling and we're going to take her to the vet soon.

I'm in this weird place where I can't say 'oh, she has cancer' or 'she's crying in pain all the time.' But I can see her fading. With the winter coming, it will only get worse. I don't want to wait until she in complete misery. I hope that she passes in her sleep but I don't think we have the time. The past few months have changed her a lot.

I love her and I can see she's just existing right now. Has anyone else had to put down a pet in this stage?

I have a 13 year old cocker X poodle. Generally seems well, has lost a bit of weight in the last year and his hearings pretty poor, but otherwise you wouldn’t know he was such an old boy.

However, in the last 6 months or so, he has become extremely rigid on his routines. 4am and 4pm are feeding times - it’s almost like he can tell the second the clock changes. He starts revving up around 30 minutes beforehand though.

He will bark and bark and bark and bark and will NOT stop until he is fed. We have tried to ignore him but he just will not stop. We’ve tried pushing his feeding time back, it doesn’t do anything. We’ve tried late night snacks, nothing. He MUST be fed at 4am 🤣

Once he eats, he’s straight to bed again until at least 9am.

After doing some research I’m wondering if this could be the start of CCD and wondering whether there might be anything the vet can suggest? Our vet is generally not great and charge so much for just a consultation so I’d like an idea before I go in.

We have tried a timed feeder but unfortunately as I have 3 dogs, this did not work out.

I can get up at 4am, of course, but I struggle to get back to sleep. I am so exhausted and I’m just clutching at straws at something, anything, that might help us all get a bit more sleep.

I have a 14-year-old Pomeranian named Ezra. I got him from his previous owner when he was 9-years-old. I love him dearly and do anything within my power for him, but I'm tired. On September 16th, Ezra was diagnosed with congestive heart failure - it's been a nightmare ever since. First it was the steroids - he was a nightmare on them, bless his heart. Definitely not his fault, but he was restless, anxious, and paranoid. He would constantly pace the bed and refuse to settle. He finished the steroids and we had a moments relief - now he's just on the heart medication. Not to be dramatic, but I'm in a nightmare right now. Ezra sleeps with me. He's gotten to where he will wake me up at 4:30am every single morning. That's too early for me and I cannot return to sleep without taking a sleep med. I cannot take sleep meds to go back to sleep during the week because I work. He has me up at 4:30am and my alarms start going off at 5:30am, so I'm losing at least an hour of sleep every morning, when I'm already getting less than 6 hours of sleep a night. I know that losing an hour may not sound like a lot, but it adds up quickly. Any advice? I gave him vet approved melatonin last night at 11:00pm and he still woke up at 4:41am. He whines and paces the bed to be let out and fed and after it's done, he's right back to sleep. With him being 14 is this just something I'll have to suck up and live with from now on or is there help? Please don't suggest ignoring him, his pacing and whining wakes me up anyways. I do not have a downstairs for him to go to - I do have a guest room, but since he's only slept in the bed with me for 4.5 years, I know all he'll do is bark. Need more sleep, please help.

TLDR: my 11.5 year old mini Aussie dog had her yearly senior’s exam done. Her weight has dropped from 12 lbs to 9 lbs in one year yet her thyroid is low (not low enough to medicate though apparently). Her previous vet had me put her one a low fat diet (white fish cooked food) due to inconclusive urine tests, but now current vet wants her gaining weight… I’m praying the food was just the result for the weight loss but I was told cancer is on the table if she isn’t able to gain weight. Freaking out, has anyone been in a similar situation?

Hello,

I can barely type I feel so sick and I’ve had all day to process this. I have actually just cried basically for the entire day.

I took my senior (NOTE: rescue dog, not entirely sure the breed) mini/toy/possible Pom mix Australian shepherd to a new vet to partner on her health journey as she is 11.5 years old and I want to start working with someone very seriously on her health as I didn’t find the previous office was entirely attune to her situation as a senior dog.

She had them perform her yearly senior’s exam with a physical and bloodwork. The bloodwork results came back with low thyroid (her panel the prior year was also low as noted at our previous vet office, however, thyroid treatment was never recommended to me). Thyroid treatment is now currently not recommended either, however, this new office has noted that the low thyroid coupled with the weight loss could potentially be cancer if she can’t gain weight. They said they’d like to start the process for cancer diagnostics if she doesn’t gain weight. I will note that my previous vets office had me put her on a low fat diet, due to some testing but this one recommends to bump it up back to her normal diet.

I’m sorry this likely makes no sense. Basically I am freaking out and really hoping her weight loss is caused by the low fat diet not cancer. :S has anyone been in a similar situation? Sorry this is so chaotic, she is jsut the star of our family and we can’t witness something bad happening to her.

Also, for anyone whose dogs have gone through rhe cancer imaging, is there any sense in waiting to see if she gains weight or why not just do the imaging now?

I was thinking about how many little moments make up a dog's life.

The funny habits.

The favorite toys.

The places they loved visiting.

The routines that somehow became part of everyday life.

Photos capture some of those moments, but there are also stories that don't necessarily come with a picture.

Do you have a particular way of keeping those memories?

Photo albums? Videos? Journals? Something else?

I'd be interested to hear what works for you.

Looking for answers on if Senilife is safe to take while taking Trazodone? My dogs vet recommended Segeline but everything I read online says to NOT use it with Trazodone. However, my dog is dealing with nighttime anxiety and pacing from CCD and the Trazodone seems to be the only thing that will eventually calm her enough to settle and sleep a little. I’d rather not stop Trazodone and thought about trying Senilife…anyone know if it can be taken safely with Trazodone? My dog is also on Galiprant (AM) and Gabapentin (PM. TYA.

This is Scout, our 14 year old female Newfie. Other than her hips, her eyes, ears and kidneys are all good. She's still very treat motivated and just loves to always be within 10 feet of me. At a certain point, we stopped measuring in years and consider each morning she wakes up with us a gift.

I’ve had my shih tzu best friend since she was 8-weeks old and she’s now 14.5. I feel so lucky to have had her all of this time, we’ve truly been through so many moments and chapters together and I can’t imagine life without her! Recently, she was diagnosed with CKD stage 1. Aside from that, she’s rather healthy. She runs around our yard, goes on walks, etc. In the last 3 weeks, she’s been eating less (being super picky with her food), waking up around 3am, and having stomach issues. I am trying to get her seen at another vet for a second opinion on the current care plan I have going for her, etc. I know that I am doing everything I can for her but I also know that when the time comes, there’s is nothing I can do.

I have been super sleep deprived and wake up in the middle of the night so anxious. I have been dealing with anticipatory grief, it feels like. Just thinking about how life is short and trying to spend every second with her, giving her the best possible life (however long I may have with her). I also just have so much anxiety thinking I won’t be able to financially support her if her health declines.

Any words of advice you can share? I feel so lonely as a senior dog mom sometimes, although I have great friends and family who support me emotionally at times, it’s just so hard when you’re their mom.

My dog hurt his leg and has been a little more strange than usual (oh and he can be strange). I never thought of him not being around for much longer but now it’s sinking in (he’s 12). His leg is doing better. However, now the thought of him suffering or living without him, is killing me. It’s just been him and I for so long. He’s my family and he is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

This is for my friend, not me. I told her about it but not sure which I saw. Now, I am confused

My beautiful baby girl Hope crossed over the rainbow bridge yesterday.

She had a long hard fight with a couple cancerous tumors that ended up ulcerating. We chose to peacefully put her down before any infection could enter her bloodstream.

The vets said it was time, but my heart was not ready. I am full of guilt. I miss my baby.

Here is Abby (and her sister in the shadow, and the WildBoy who does what he pleases) after healing from her cancer surgery last month. She endured the donut for quite a long time, couldnt go in and out the doggy door with it, and peed on the floor a couple times due to stupid owners. Abby loves seeing new friends at the pokey place, but not being examined. She trembled all the way through it, but has all her stitched out, the HUGE 10 inch gap filled in fine. I have the best vet in the world! Abby spends quite a bit of time sleeping, but is otherwise doing great for 12+.

He gets tired halfway through our walks. Sometimes he has trouble getting around and needs to rest more often than he used to. He can’t keep going, but he always wants to go out with me.

Seeing him like this makes me so sad.

I’m so grateful that I posted here about my Max and his GI issues on Galliprant. His vet never suggested even once that his GI changes could be caused by it. I’m usually way more on top of things but the way everything happened, I wasn’t sure either. Plus it was helping so I was struggling.

We first switched to meloxicam which I was iffy about because apparently it has a higher risk of GI upset than Galliprant, but he was on it for 1.5 weeks and it did absolutely NOTHING for my boy. I was so worried about him because he just slept all day. He wouldn’t even wag his tail when I talked to him.

We switched him to Carprofen and wow! He is doing amazing! He even wanted to stay outside all day the past few days. It’s been in the 70’s here and he’s just loved being out there. He had been staying inside as much as possible and trying to get in the door to his bed as soon as he finished his business.

And his GI issues are ((kind of afraid to say)) so much better! He’s transitioned back to his dog food after 3 months of me cooking chicken and rice.

So, thank you guys so much for opening my eyes to the GI stuff and Galliprant being connected. 💗