My dog has an "old dog" thing

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So, my best friend, who I found at a “Mega-adoption Event” at the fairgrounds in 2018, and is currently aged between 10 & 11, has developed a muscle atrophy on the left side of her skull.

The vet says it is usually caused by benign tumors, and surgery is not a treatment. Chemo to shrink them might be an option, but the muscle probably won’t grow back, and she’ll be sick while she’s on the chemo, and won’t understand why. Plus, she’ll have to go through diagnostic tests first.

She had bloodwork done, and she is otherwise healthy.

She is exhibiting no symptoms other than some congestion in her left sinuses, causing sneezing and drooling, successfully treated with whatever the generic name for Zyrtec is, and a minor eye infection treated with ointment, probably caused by her rubbing at her face before she was taking the generic Zyrtec.

She chews her rawhide just fine, on both sides, eats just fine, drinks fine, is at a normal weight, normal elimination, etc.

Her personality is intact. She is a high-energy dog who acts like a 2 or 3-year -old, and still does. She’s bouncing around like a pinball right now, because the snow and cold are keeping her from proper walks. She’s getting out only about 10 minutes at a time, a couple times for some off-leash play at the Bark Park here, but the gate can’t be closed, so I have to stand by it.

The snow is cold, and about as high as her legs-- we got 9 - 10 inches, and overnight negative temperatures. It’s 5 degrees F right now.

She is absolutely doing everything. She is happy, and snuggly, and does not seem to know that anything is wrong.

The vet says that there’s really no way to say what her life expectancy is, since she weighs 55lbs, and is a mixed breed, so the average life expectancy is 11, and the range for “normal death” is 9-13. The vet says that not doing any treatment, other than symptomatically, will probably not affect her life expectancy much, and treatment will gain only months, and they won’t be “quality” months, because of the side effects of treatments.

This is a really special dog. She was surrendered to a shelter by her original family, there was one failed adoption attempt, and she had actually timed out at the shelter, but they weren’t full up, and the adoption event was scheduled, so they decided to keep her until then, and that’s where I met her.

She takes being a dog very seriously. I have never had a dog like this. Every dog thing she dogs gets 100% effort, including guard-dogging, and snuggling. Whenever there is a new dog in the complex, she knows, somehow, and sniffs out its yard, so she can pee there. I don’t know if she’s the welcome wagon, or a warning. She loves to play, though. She still goes to daycare where the next oldest dog is four.

And she plays well with little dogs and puppies-- she will let puppies pretend to “pin” her-- she lies down after some wrestling, so they can put their little paws on her chest, and their mouths on her neck. It’s so cute.

She’s not the best with people-- she can get defensive of me-- but she waited almost 3 years to get a mommy, and she’s not going to lose me. And once she knows people, she’s fine.

She is next to me right now, and her face is always right behind the door when I get home from work.

She gets shots in May, and that’s her next check-up.

I’m busy enjoying every day with her.

2

Your dog sounds like it’s living the life! My sister’s dog has an old golden retriever (I think she’s 10 years old) with some undiagnosed digestive disease. The vet has done exams and blood tests with indeterminate results.

The dog was medicated for Valley Fever the last maybe eight years. She hasn’t eaten from her bowl in two weeks but had a healthy weight beforehand. She is the sweetest dog and all the dog lovers in our family are concerned for her health. Thoughts and prayers go out for dogs like yours and ours!

3

Thanks!

4

A good vet is worth more than rubies. It sounds to me like you are getting excellent advice, even though he could probably profit by selling you the treatments. Gentle massage will help to keep blood flow to the affected muscles. You are probably doing that anyway, but try to just gently rub them a couple of times each day.

The home stretch is a sacred time. You are lucky enough to know that you are in it, and possibly to have a good long one. Take her to do all of her favorite things as often as possible. You’ll be glad you did. All the hugs to both of you.

5

It’s tempting to let them go on too long. Sometimes you don’t get the balance right.

6

I. Love. That.

Enjoy her while you can.

7

Agreeing with this. A vet you can trust to tell you when not to do stuff is important.

She (the dog) doesn’t know there’s anything wrong. May that state continue for years longer. Sometimes it does.

8

I think you’ve described all the best parts about having a dog, and it sounds to me like you’re making the right decisions WRT her care. She’s loving and loved, and living her best life. No sense in going to extraordinary measures to extend her life if it means she’d be confused or uncomfortable in that life extension, especially if her current condition is symptomatically manageable. Your (her) vet is a good one. Some would recommend expensive treatments because they have boat payments due.

9

I’m not sure this statement is fair to the profession as a whole. My understanding is that on average veterinarians don’t tend to be all that wealthy. Yes, becoming a vet is typically a secure, well-paying career path, BUT: veterinarians end up with a lot of debt to pay for their education, yet they can’t charge fees as high as those typically charged for human patients.

No doubt there are mercenary vets out there who care more about making money than serving the best interests of the public - that’s true in any profession. And for sure there are vets who will be tempted to encourage clients to opt into the most expensive treatments available. But I think they are the exception rather than the rule. And even then, they are more likely to be motivated by a need to pay their ordinary mortgage or child care costs, rather than finance luxuries.

10

My old dog is experiencing “doggie dementia”. She will pace, try to get into places that are not dog-suitable, and just claw at things for, it would seem, the sheer novelty of it. Giving her 5mg of melatonin once every couple of days seems to be effective.

11

Me too. Burpo.

I say the biggest Dog DOG in my house weighs about 4lbs.

Good luck with your “old” dog. And he remains happy and healthy til he is no more.

Skritches and all.

12

Some veterinarians. Not all. Not most. Some. Our long-time vet did not, and usually was quite scornful of his brethren who would recommend the full host of options to run up the bill. We were appreciative of his candor - he frequently told us that some options that were available were not worth it - but we didn’t realize his full value until he retired and the vet that replaced him turned out to be more interested in maximizing our bill than what was in the best interests of our dogs. We found another vet.

I was remiss in not saying that very few vets are in it for the money. But it seems, at least in our area, that more and more veterinary practices are being bought up by vulture capitalist investors bent on squeezing every last dollar out of their clients. It seems to coincide with the increased number of pet health insurance programs.

13

Yeah, and in general it’s probably best to err on the side of earlier than later, lest your pet suffer. It’s definitely something you should have a frank discussion with your vet about before it comes to that point.