getting old.....

[malta blue]

My beagle mix Luna is 15 years old. Amazingly, she tolerates my young rat terrier's high energy level with little complaint.

I got her in 1994 when she was rescued from people who beat and electocuted her. I have given her the best life I possibly could. She is my first dog ever. She slept with me until two years ago when jumping up on the bed became a little difficult. My bed is pretty high, even the rat terrier can't get up there herself. Luna now sleeps in a bed next to my side of the bed.

The last few snow/ice storms, she slipped all over outside - reminded me of the videos on the news of cattle in Nebraska and Oklahoma when there is an ice storm and they can't seem to get their footing. Thankfully, she is not that far gone but I have seen her back end slide out from under her quite often.

Recently, I noticed her a little grayer in the face, a little slower. She is getting old... she is losing weight too. I have not weighed her, but she had lost 4 pounds when we went to the vet in April of last year - I'm sure it is at least that since then, if not more. Her ribs are visible, and her spine is knobby along her back. I have been watching way too many of those "Animal Police" shows, because I am now convinced that the animal police would cite me for having an underweight dog.

Obviously, there is no way I would starve my dog. I have started feeding her more at each meal. I feel horrible.

I'm not sure why I am posting this. Perhaps it will help me come to terms with it all...

[livetohike]

1. There's nothing like the love of an older dog

:hug: for you both......

[malta blue]

2. she is so sweet - that Luna dog....

She had such a rough first year of her life - beaten, caged and electrocuted by some jerks. When the property was raided, there were 82 dogs seized.

When I went to the shelter, I found her huddled in the back of her cage and I knew I just had to have her.

That was 14 years ago this month.

[skygazer]

3. I remember when my Dixie started showing her age

Bittersweet. Gratitude that she had been with me so long but fear of facing a future without her in it. Good loving care goes a long way towards keeping them going comfortably. :hug:

Is she getting a senior pet food? I found that Dixie held weight better when I switched her to one and fed her 3 times a day.

[malta blue]

4. She is getting senior food.

She has eaten 2 cups of food daily for years because she had a propensity for getting a little chubby.

I have now upped the food to 3 cups and she is still un-nervingly thin.

I have never lost a pet to old age before. My cat Kobe was hit by a car in June and all my childhood cats were tended to by my mom and stepdad.

When my mom got into town this week, she was very alarmed by Luna's weight and wanted to go buy her canned foods to fatten her up.

edit:typo

[skygazer]

5. Canned food isn't a bad idea

I started feeding Dix a mixture of canned and dry as she aged. She was a Boxer and had always been a sensible self-feeder (unlike Beagles - I know what you mean about chubby. I had a Beagle who would have eaten herself into a coma if I'd let her) so I started giving her some canned morning and night and dry throughout the day. :hi:

[BeachBaby]

6. Hugs to you, MB....

I know where you're coming from, my golden retriever is slowing down a bit (she's a wee bit shy of her 12th birthday) and not as interested of mealtime as she used to be. Also alot slower taking the stairs. And quite the gray mask going on! :)

It's a tough thing to deal with, especially when we have to watch the changes day after day. Hang in there, and know that you can always come here to talk about it - we're a great bunch of pet lovers!

:hug:

[malta blue]

8. Thank you.

:hug:

Good vibes for your golden too :hi:

[RebelOne]

7. You and your doggie have my sympathy.

I am going through the same thing with my Rottweiler. I adopted her from a friend when she was 2-1/2. Now she is 10-1/2. She is slowing down drastically. When she comes inside the house, she has trouble getting up the stairs on the front and back porches. And I see the gray around her muzzle. It's breaking my heart because I know she won't be with my for too much longer. A Rottweiler's lifespan is 11 years old, though my last Rottie lived one month short of 12 years old.

[malta blue]

9. My friend just pur her rottie down last month....

she was 9 1/2 but she could no longer get up the two steps to get in the house...She was heartbroken.

good vibes for your rottie :hug:

[hvn_nbr_2]

10. Luna needs one of these to get on the bed with you

[malta blue]

13. I have a set of steps and have tried to get her to use them

but she just balks at them.

Oh well, more room for me in the bed :P

[Brigid]

11. Luna might have kidney disease.

Have you taken her to the vet lately?

[malta blue]

14. I am planning on taking her this month

since all the dogs need to get their Lyme vaccinations.

[ThomCat]

12. It is quite obvious that you love that dog

and dote on her. :hug:

You're giving her everything you can while you still can. But it's obvious that you're thinking about her mortality. :(

I wish both of you a lot of love, and I hope her remaining time is all good time. :hug:

[malta blue]

15. thanks Thom.

It is really hard to fathom life without the Lu.

She has been my constant companion for 14 years - helped me get through a divorce, gave me a reason to come home every night when all my friends started doing serious drugs and staying out for days on end....she is my baby :cry:

I am glad that I adopted my little rat dog 6 months ago, because life without a dog is just something I don't think I can do. But there is no replacement.....

[malta blue]

16. we took a nice walk but the train scared her...

we went for a walk (until it started to rain) but the trail has the train tracks running alongside and the train scared the bejeebus out of her. I had to pick her up - something she hates AND is difficult for me - and just hold her while it passed and for a few minutes after.

Otherwise, she is happy curled up on the couch with me.

[applegrove]

17. Pets teach us alot their whole lives.

[malta blue]

18. very true.

[lost-in-nj]

19. aww MB

15 yrs old!!!

thats awesome

you most be doing a great job.....

:hug:

I guess they slow down like we do when we age....

my female beagle is very gray and she is only 8
my 7 yr old male has a white face so its harder to see......


have fun with your old lady......

lost


:hi:

[malta blue]

20. Thanks lost....

I just took this picture of her:

[lost-in-nj]

21. wow

just.....wow


a beautiful face.....


:hug:

her eyes show wisdom......

lost

[malta blue]

22. ...

:hug:

[Iris]

23. Did the vet check her thyroid?

[malta blue]

24. we have an appt in two weeks

so barring an emergency, I will ask the vet to do so.

[Iris]

27. let us know how it turns out

[Mike03]

25. Bless you. My first two adopted dogs were older dogs.

It's amazing what some people will go through to adopt a dog that they fall in love with. We will move to apartments we don't want to move to because they accept large dogs. We'll downsize, throw out half of everything we own.

I moved 500 miles to adopt my first dog, and she only lived seven months. She died of angiosarcoma. My second dog died of lymphoma. Just last October I adopted a younger dog, for the first time.

Older dogs are soulful and so appreciative. There's nothing like that connection with a dog. I call it ecstasy--usually sad ecstasy, because it ends sooner.

[malta blue]

26. I visited this dog at the shelter every day for 10 days

because she was quarantined prior to being adoptable.

There was a family that had come in and checked her out, and one night, this man came in and asked "Where's the dog called Dixie?" (that was her pound name). Someone pointed at me and said "with her". The man came over and checked her teeth like one would a horse and pronounced "She'll do just fine". The employees at the shelter went to bat with the administrators to ensure that I got the dog because they saw how dedicated I was even before she was mine.

Like you said, I have lived in apartments I did not want to be in - just because she weighed 50lbs and no one else would accept us.

I am lucky enough to now own my home, and she has a HUGE yard (not fenced but she isn't a runner anymore) to explore.

[littlebit]

28. It is hard to watch

your baby get old. I adopted a 3 year old beagle about 7 years ago. She has been my best friend since the day I brought her home. She has slowed down a lot in the last year and it's hard some days to watch her try to do things she use to do but can't anymore.

[rurallib]

29. We had a Siamese cat that started to really go downhill

Wouldn't eat hardly anything. So one night I gave her some of my pizza all chopped up. She snarfed it down. She then proceeded to live on pizza for about 3 more years. Unreal.