Aging animals

[HopingFor2v1]

It sucks when our beloved animals get old!

Today we celebrated our dog's "birthday"...since we adopted him, we don't know his actual birthday so we use the day we adopted him as his special day! Well, by our estimations, he is about 10 years old (he is getting arthritis in his joints and is slowing down quite a bit) We've only had him for 3 years and I hate that he is getting another year older. I just don't feel as thought I've had enough time with him yet.

From what we know about his background, he didn't have the best owners. They abandoned him in a neighborhood and took off his ID tags and he is terrified of belts. It breaks my heart that he was treated poorly and we do everything we can to make up for it.

Sorry, I'm a bit emotional tonight (darn pregnancy hormones). I just hate seeing him get old.

 

[princess_1991]

My moms dogs 13 (you wouldn't think it looking at her, she still looks and acts like a pup) but we've grown up with her and knowing she might not be with us for much longer breaks my heart, our mutt isn't even 2 yet so got a while before I worry bout him, definitely think I'll be in bits if either of them go

 

[saitiffeh]

I hear ya. My OH's dog Pink Floyd is 14 years old. He's become such a big part of our little family but I know he is old. I will be heartbroken when he passes. We also have 2 cats who are also 14. So eventually the house will seem a lot emptier
I know when Floyd passes, OH is going to be heartbroken. In fact I sense that he may never really be the same...
The picture is Floyd and my son. Dunno who the dude in the back is! But LO loves trying to walk Floyd, who usually just ends up turning back to OH and dragging the boy along with him.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Omg Pink floyd is a class name!

My staffie is 15 1/2

I will be devastated when she goes

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

my charlie xx

 

[truly_blessed]

my choc lab Winston is 8 in March and has started getting a few aches and pains. they only last for a day or so and then he's back to his spritely self, jumping up and racing around but on the days it's bothering him he loks so sorry for himself hobbling around. guaranteed to get more treats and sleep in the bedroom on those days.

I sometimes think about the day he isn't here anymore but it upsets me too much so I push it to the back of my mind. hopefully that will be a long way off yet.

 

[HopingFor2v1]

Thanks Ladies! I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks of their animals as part of their family!

Here is our pup, Sammy, in his glory days swimming on our boat:

 

[saitiffeh]

Omg Pink floyd is a class name!

Yeah can you tell what a fan OH is? And me too!

I'm just happy that OH has gotten so many years with Floyd. You can see it makes him sad sometimes to see the his best friend is getting older and can't play the way he used to, but Floyd has a few good years left yet. For being 14, he is in great shape, not even any arthritis or anything. But when he goes, all of our hearts will be broken. He truly is part of our family!

 

[smokey]

Our cat is routhly 24 years old, not sure exactly as we got him as a rescue cat in about 1989 and he was a few years old then.

Untill about a year ago he was still acting like a kitten, chasing bits of string giving the dog a clout for no reason, jumping on and off the extension roof.
Its realy seemed to have hit him thi year though, he had a tumour on his neck for about 10 years but they couldnt do anythign about it because it was so close to a main artery but last year a new vet had another look and managed to operate.
This thing was the size of a tennis ball so you can imagine how happy the cat way to get rid of it

Sadly I think his days are coming or have come to an end, he went missing 3 days ago which is not like him and we cant find him so I think his time finaly came
Im not giving up looking for him though I just hope hes ok, hes half blind, half death and a little senile but he can still chase the string

 

[HopingFor2v1]

Ohh, Smokey, I hope he comes back home soon!

Thanks again ladies for sharing your stories...they all made me get teary!

 

[saitiffeh]

Aww Smokey I hope he comes home!

 

[SophiasMummy]

Its hard watching our pets getting older my 2 dogs both died 3 and half years ago within a month of eachother our eldest was 17 yrs and she had to be put down due to dimentia then a week later our other dog who was her son got diagnosed with heart failure at 11yrs old, they never even knew there was anything wrong with him till the day his mum waas put down and he developed a cough, my auntie said he would die of broken heart when his mum went but I didnt actually believe it until then he was put down exactly a month later, was the worst days of my life, its only now im thinking about getting another dog. I finally feel like im ready to fill a little bit of that whole they left in my heart x

 

[Jchihuahua]

My staffy is 15 in January and it is horrible to think of him getting old. He's still really healthy though so I'm hoping for a good few more years with him yet.

I hope your cat comes home Smokey.

I love everyone's photos. Here's my old boy, Bullet being used as a seat by Daisy. He's as gentle and patient as can be.

 

[WANBMUM]

aw u all have me tearing up. they are such special members of our family arent they?

we had our collie 18 years!!! so hopefully you all have alot of years left in your old boys

Smokey, keep us posted about your cat. that is so sad, i hope he is ok, or you at least find him.

is it true dogs 'go away' to die? (or is that just Marley)

 

[dizz]

My 3 legged moggie is at least 10 years old (but apparently hasn't got the old lady memo yet), and one of my dogs is 7 - that one's fairly well-confirmed since she's a retired greyhound so her past is well-documented. I live in fear of old age finally starting to hit them.

The other dog - well we'll never know his past, he was picked up wandering the streets in the snows last November - no one ever claimed him, but he fell on his feet and ended up here where he's loved to bits - vet thinks he's about 3 from the state of his teeth.

 

[smokey]

aw u all have me tearing up. they are such special members of our family arent they?

we had our collie 18 years!!! so hopefully you all have alot of years left in your old boys

Smokey, keep us posted about your cat. that is so sad, i hope he is ok, or you at least find him.

is it true dogs 'go away' to die? (or is that just Marley)

Dont know about dogs but its true for cats thats why we think he went off and found a quite dark place somewhere.

 

[SophiasMummy]

I dont think dogs go away to die, in my experience they seem to try hold on for as long as possible. The vet said our dogs dementia due to old age was so advanced that she shouldnt of even known who we were, yet she still showed all the signs of knowing who I was when I walked through the door, she really didnt want to go xx