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17 year old Dachshund

AikenGameFan

AikenGameFan

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I have a 17 year old mini. We adopted her 6 years ago from an elderly couple which both had cancer and could not care for her anymore. Just like all our dogs, in these 6 years she has really become like a child to us.
She would not eat Friday night or Saturday. Finally, Saturday night I got her to eat some, but she has not eaten since then. She also seems to be going blind which may be the cause of her loss of appetite.
I was able to get her an appointment this afternoon with the Vet. I pray he says it is just an upset stomach that he can fix, but it may just be that time because of her age.
Don't really know why I put this post on here. Just a little upset and knew there are some people that understand going thru this.
I truly believe God gave us pets to try and help us understand what unconditional love really means. I just hate to give one up. I don't want her suffering, but it is really hard to tell the vet to go ahead when that time comes.
 
My sister and BIL have a Cocker spaniel about that old who acted that way last year.

Turns out he had a blockage created by the birdseed he had been eating below a feeder for a while. He had a big poop and was back to normal in a few days.

He has cataracts and a bad right front hip. She gives him pain meds for the hip that make him drowsy.

She gives him drops for the cataracts, too. Cataracts happen much faster in dogs and he seemed to go through a period of depression once he started having vision problems.

There are places that do cataract surgery for dogs, but there is also a risk of blood clots as in older humans. He's had some places on his skin, but the vet was afraid to put him to sleep to drain them because of his age. He said some older dogs just don't wake up from the anesthesia.

The little dog is still making it, though.
 
Always tough decisions around when to put down pet. Weighing quality of life, pain, vs. giving them more time. We had a cat with Feline Leukemia, Vet told us 2021 that she had a few weeks left., She ended up going about another 1.5 years before things really took a turn for the worse and we had to put her down this spring.

Never know with pets, and the hard part is they can't talk so always guessing about how much pain and discomfort they may actuall be having.
 
Understand completely. I had to put down our 17 year old male mini dachshund last year. My wife and I have no kids, so this was as close to losing a child as we will ever get. Very tough, I cried through the entire process while I was holding him at the vet. So I completely understand and wish both you and your dog nothing but the best.

We still have a 16 year old mini girl (avatar picture)...so we will have to do that all over again, but hopefully not soon.
 
We have a mini D that is approaching 13 and he is in decline. Vision, hearing are both getting bad. Still gets a case of the zoomies around the house from time to time and he appears healthy otherwise. He's our second rescue mini dachshund and as they old saying goes, "we didn't rescue them, they rescued us". Thoughts with you and your loved one.

Would suggest Carolina Loving Hound rescue to anyone wanting to adopt. https://www.carolina-loving-hound-rescue.com/home.html
 
Thankfully she may be okay. She had a cut on her back leg that my wife did not see until Sunday and because she kept licking it, it was getting bigger.
Vet thinks it may have been an abyss that busted and that may be why she quit eating, the pain. It really could use stitches, but because of her age, anesthesia was not a good idea. He gave her a shot with steroids and antibiotics. He also gave us some spray to put on the wound and more Antibiotic medicine for her.
She did eat dinner again last night. She just hates wearing a cone, but we got to stop her from licking that wound.
He said he would call Friday to see how she is doing.
Seems like I may still have my "puppy" for a while longer. Or she will have me a while longer. Like others said, I did not adopt her, she adopted me.
 
Unfortunately, I had to make that phone call today. They are going to come out to the house Thursday or Friday for my old girl. Got her as a pup at 7 weeks old she’s 14 now and is just getting too weak, I’m dreading it.
 
Well, she’s gone. Crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday afternoon. Had a vet come to the house, tried to get her to eat a little bit of her favorites and then they sedated her until we were ready to say goodbye. I have to say, it was a bit more expensive but having them come to the house and her not having to go to a strange vets office was worth every penny. They were super kind and accommodating, helped us take paw prints and made a paw impression.
 
carolina_corpsman said:
Well, she’s gone. Crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday afternoon. Had a vet come to the house, tried to get her to eat a little bit of her favorites and then they sedated her until we were ready to say goodbye. I have to say, it was a bit more expensive but having them come to the house and her not having to go to a strange vets office was worth every penny. They were super kind and accommodating, helped us take paw prints and made a paw impression.
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Sorry you had to go through that.

I know the vet my sister uses will not put an animal down without a good reason for it. Only if the animal is suffering or like yours.
 
kingofnerf said:
Sorry you had to go through that.

I know the vet my sister uses will not put an animal down without a good reason for it. Only if the animal is suffering or like yours.
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Yeah, we waited and waited, I think maybe too long, but it was clearly time, she was not happy.
 
carolina_corpsman said:
Yeah, she ticked all of the boxes
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We had to put one of our German Shepards down several years ago. We did the checklist and he scored around a 25-26 IIRC. The low score made the decision easier to accept. Take comfort in the fact that she's no longer in pain.
 
carolina_corpsman said:
Well, she’s gone. Crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday afternoon. Had a vet come to the house, tried to get her to eat a little bit of her favorites and then they sedated her until we were ready to say goodbye. I have to say, it was a bit more expensive but having them come to the house and her not having to go to a strange vets office was worth every penny. They were super kind and accommodating, helped us take paw prints and made a paw impression.
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Sorry to hear that. Always tough.
 
carolina_corpsman said:
Well, she’s gone. Crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday afternoon. Had a vet come to the house, tried to get her to eat a little bit of her favorites and then they sedated her until we were ready to say goodbye. I have to say, it was a bit more expensive but having them come to the house and her not having to go to a strange vets office was worth every penny. They were super kind and accommodating, helped us take paw prints and made a paw impression.
Click to expand...
This is what I plan to do when my 17 year old mutt reaches the point of no longer being comfortable. You made a very compassionate chioce in having the vet come to you so your buddy didn't have to go through the trama of going to the vet's office. Sorry for your loss.
 
My sister's plan is to put her dog on "comfort care" as time goes on.

She was my mom's healthcare power of attorney and had to make the difficult decision to take her off of life support (with my blessing) back in 2018 after her stroke.

So that's how she views her dog's situation. One of her neighbors' dogs has cancer, too, so she has been freaking out when her dog gets any places on his skin.

I know dogs don't seem to like having their scenery changed. It's the same as a nuclear holocaust for them. LOL

So props to you for having the vet come there. That seems more humane than taking them down to the local "death factory" so to speak.
 
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