Loving my Oldies

Tamar is a Maltese/Shih Tzu whom I collected from a pound for another rescuer on Friday 2 July 2004. She was approx 6 months old, severely traumatised and, surprise surprise, she ended up staying with me. Although Jeune was totally ambivalent, Tamar clung to Jeune with a sort of desperation. For years, if Jeune moved, Tamar moved. If Jeune went downstairs or even went to look out the front door, Tamar followed and she always slept next to her. For the last few years of Jeune’s life, this need for closeness ceased for which I was relieved as I knew Jeune would go before Tamar and was really concerned as to how she would cope. Some years ago, I noticed when we were out walking Tamar’s right back leg would bend over at the “ankle”; at first it was so fleeting, I thought I had imagined it or that she’d just caught it on grass roots or something. However, over time it because very evident, but stayed at just that one leg for quite a while and then the same thing started with her left hind leg. After some time of no escalation, she became very wobbly on her back legs. By the time she had reached this wobbly stage, I had taken her to the vet who diagnosed nerve damage with nothing to do; on one of my visits with her the vet more or less said she would die before the condition worsened to the state she couldn’t use her legs. On 6 Feb this year, I saw another of the vets at the same hospital and he said she had UMN. I have noticed quite a deterioration in the past few weeks and had a very distressing experience yesterday. I headed for the couch to read/watch television and, of course, fell asleep very quickly. I woke a couple of hours later when it was dark and heard some sort of squeaking noise. I raced around the house looking for but not finding Tamar, grabbed a torch and ran downstairs calling her. The squeaks turned to squeals and I found her huddled on the ground in one of the gardens. As you can imagine, I was so upset at her distress and, worse, because I’d been asleep, I had no idea how long she’d been there. As she can no longer negotiate the stairs (up or down) or the ramp, I can only assume she must have tumbled down. As the other two (Mezza and Sooty) can't go downstairs on their own either, from now on, I will be putting up a barricade when I go out The vet told me that UMN affected the hind legs, back part of the spine and brain. As to the latter, for some time now, Tamar starts walking around and around and around in a manner I have seen with brain damaged dogs. During these wanderings she regularly gets caught up in chair legs, behind the curtains, plant stands and anything frankly. I few times I have found her caught in the gap between the piano and the wall, and also the gap between the frig and the pantry. I have attached photos to illustrate this. The vet who told me her condition was UMN has been away, but as soon as he returns, I will be taking Tamar to see him. In the meantime, I wonder if anyone has had any experience of this? Would Tamar be a candidate for little wheels? Has anyone used leg braces for anything similar to this condition? IMG_1200 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr IMG_0690 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr fullsizeoutput_c49 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr IMG_1201 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

OMG little Maisie is a heart stealer

@twodoggies2001. I had a similar experience many years ago. My dog was fine with other dogs in the off leash park, but as soon as his leash went on to go home, he would carry on if any dog came near him. Many dog owners don’t understand that being on a leash isn’t inherent in a dog. Many believe that dogs pop out speaking human, sitting and walking on a leash.

Being a money spinner started a while ago, @asal . I well recall my first vet in the mid 1990s showing me how easy it was to slip the bones in and out. He had his own veterinary hospital practice for over 30 years and said that, in that time, he’d done one operation on a luxating patella. So many dogs condemned to pain through to agony in their later years because of the venality of some vets. Good and bad in every profession. A vet says to a trusting, wide eyed client ..... oh, if you don’t do something now your dog is really going to suffer in later years and the owner, trusting the practitioner to want nothing but the best for the beloved pet, gasps in horror and the dog has the operation. Well if they live long enough most dogs (and people) will get arthritis to some level. It is criminal. My same vet was attending a conference where the speaker was talking about luxating patellas. My vet said, in disgust, to the man sitting next to him, that the vast majority of these operations should not be done and that he’d done one lp in the whole of his career. The man said, “Don’t say that, mate, that’s how I make my money.”

Very lightweight collar straight away. Put lead on puppy a few times a day and just let him run around with it on to get used to it - fully supervised of course to ensure no tangling up in anything, including his legs.

Does your little dog’s new companion have to be a Toy Poodle? I can understand why, of course, as I have shared my life with a few over the years . Take a look at Chihuahua Rescue Queensland (they are very active on facebook, with constant updates). They often have other breeds and at the moment have a couple of Maltese. And, if they can’t help, they would certainly be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck.

I feel your pain. I don’t know enough to comment on Probiotics, but I am sure there will be DOLers with experience. My vet suggested Periactin (just bought over the counter at the chemist) for one of my inappetent dogs, but to what extent it worked would be hard to say as she was very old and had been diagnosed with Cancer. I tried just about every food known to man to try to find something Jeune would eat, but your situation is very different. A young dog needs to have a good diet which is nutritious and has variety. Have you tried her on meaty bones? At her age, she needs a diet that is going to help her teeth. Jeune passed away last week and I still have a lot of Periactin, so I would be happy to send you some if you wished to try it. Jeune weighed under 4kg and had 1/2 tablet once a day. However, you should check with your vet first.

Think you have put this in the wrong thread, @Boronia

Make me so cross that people have to go through this sorrow, I think it would destroy me. Few people and their dogs are as lucky as these are to have found someone like you, @BJ. Sheer bloody mindedness, I think. It’s like taxi drivers not taking dogs --- the dogs are probably cleaner than many of their passengers. I don’t think that is a weird question . I think it depends on the dogs’ personalities, but it is an interesting proposition.

Thanks @Boronia. I’ve been buying those very cheapie donut beds from Kmart for a whileThey wear out very quickly as I wash nearly every day and they aren’t made for that sort of wear and tend to disintegrate I have never seen the range on your link at my local Kmart, but I will certainly keep them in mind.

@jemappelleHope this works: https://nightlullaby.com/search?q=dog+bedding

Thank you for the update. Booka has the kind of loving humans we would wish for every dog.

@jemappelle, I am still getting all the ads, but one finally popped up that looked like an original and their prices were similar to that which you paid. I took the plunge and have ordered two. Hopefully, I picked the right company - I am looking forward to receiving them. So much of my bedding is really old and, frankly, the cheapest have lasted the longest. One of the things I’ve noticed is that if there is a round bed, the dogs will opt for that. Most of my round ones have almost disintegrated hence my purchasing these new ones.

This is the part of your very very sad post that stands out for me. You have tried very hard, you have totally loved and cared for this dog for several years. What your dog goes through is so hard for him and so hard for you. You have not failed him if you decide to let him go.

What a traumatic experience for you both, @Mark powell. I hope your dearest one is on the mend soon and that you, too, can start to feel better. @Scratch has set out what I would consider the most detailed and carefully considered excellent plan of action. . I have had a few blind dogs over the years, but never one who became blind immediately from an accident. Given time, your little one, will manage very well, but as Scratch said, he is probably still hurting quite a lot from the accident and would be very confused. Has your vet put him on pain relief? My blind dogs have managed very well, but have always been in a family of several dogs and only one human. So the furniture isn’t moved around, there aren’t lots of different noises of people coming and going or confusing signals. My latest little dog is blind and came as a foster in January of last year. Despite being severely compromised healthwise through neglect, she adapted very quickly and within days was finding her way unerringly around the house. You are both probably in shock, but when this starts to wear off, you will be surprised at how quickly your “real trooper” starts to return to the happy active little dog he was before. Good luck and please keep us informed as to progress. We do really care on this forum.

Oh my goodness. Lucky lucky dogs and lucky lucky @BJ. A house full of love.

Living the life. I am worried that she harbours a secret desire to run away to the Circus.

Thank you @grumpette. I hope it is Danny and not Bunter she meets up with. Shortly after Bunter came to live with us, he took real exception to Jeune and was intent on doing her damage. Luckily, she was young and spritely then and very happily lived on the couch. I used to divide the house every few hours to give Jeune room to run around, go downstairs etc without being attacked. I even listed Bunter for rehoming and had a few acceptable responses. However, one day when we were all in the lounge and Jeune was in her usual spot on the couch, she just jumped off, walked past Bunter to go downstairs and Bunter didn’t bat an eye. With equilibrium restored, Bunter was removed from the adoption pages.

Thanks, @jemappelle. Gosh, that was a long time ago, wasn’t it? Hard to remember the good times, yet, but thank goodness for photographs to prompt memories of happier and healthier times.

You are so right. And such a good way to put it because we love them all and would do anything to keep them well and safe, but sometimes one comes along . . . .

We are so lucky to live in this time of instant photos, @Kazm. I’ve been scrolling through my photos and have forgotten so many. Those in the post above are from a long time ago, though. Seems another life time.

Thank you everyone. You have all been through this loss and pain, so it is very comforting to have kind and understanding words from those who come from a place of knowing. Two loved ones gone in a couple of months - such a strange feeling. After Danny died a few years ago, I was a three dog family for only a little while as I started to foster again. But I don’t have the energy or drive to start that again. The past year has been difficult because I am a born worrier and, in terms of my little dogs, I have had a lot to worry about. And I’ve been sick for months with a diagnosis only a couple of weeks ago: Laryngopharyngeal Reflux. Not looking for “poor little you” just telling why I don’t have the energy for fostering anymore. So we are back to three little dogs: Tamar 16, Mezza 16 and Sooty 14. Tamar has been with me nearly as long as Jeune as I fostered her just a few months after Jeune in June 2004. Poor little Tamar was a complete nervous wreck, her first rehoming didn’t even last 24 hours and as she had turned to Jeune for comfort, eventually I could not bear to separate them. She was about 6 months old and spent her week in the pound listed as a male. Still makes me angry and sad. Jeune was uncommitted, but Tamar was attached to Jeune by an invisible cord, moving when Jeune moved, going downstairs when Jeune went downstairs (even in the dead of night), getting into Jeune’s bed and, when they used to sleep on the bed, if Jeune changed spots, Tamar would move to be close to her. I remember being quite surprised when I noticed that Jeune was going down to the bottom of the bed, but Tamar was staying in her place at the top of the bed. Strangely, this started to change a few years ago and I wonder if it had something to do with Jeune having been diagnosed with cancer. It was quite a dramatic change in that, until a few years ago, Tamar would not even start eating unless Jeune had started. I am quite relieved this separation happened because I have seen in one of my dogs, a long time ago, the terrible grief at the loss of a mate. So despite one strange thing happening this morning, Tamar has not shown signs of distress. The strange thing (and probably quite unrelated to Jeune’s passing) was that Tamar came into the bathroom, lifted her head, gave one great screech-cum-bark and left the room. Because she is the only dog I’ve adopted who was a puppy (apart from my first two dogs in 1993), I’ve always called Tamar my puppy and she still is, just a 16 years old puppy. She has her own problems having been diagnosed with Upper Motor Neurone disease. Luckily, she is very light so, although her back legs are all over the place, she stills gets around easily although she does fall over quite easily and trips over things (like the water bowl) despite them being in the same places forever. Tamar loving Jeune: 2009 Jeune and Tamar on the bed 1a by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr Tamar Jeune 2 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr Tamar Jeune 1 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

And you took the best photos I have I her. When I am not so raw, I will take a trip down memory lane with them.

Today, my beloved crossed the Bridge to join so many of my little dogs. It was clear the time was right, but it absolutely broke my heart. Jeune has been in my life since November 2003 when she came as a little foster girl of 3 years. This was the last photograph which I took because she’d eaten everything in her bowl. IMG_1191 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr And below a thread I started when she was first diagnosed with a tumour. Hard to believe it is nearly 4 years.

Yes, I think so too. I sure as hell hope so.