Loving my Oldies

Thank you, DOLers. It IS hard particularly as they are all so old now and all having health issues. I had accepted that Bunter would probably not see the year out, but it was so damned sudden ..... although I have come to realise that that is what can happen with elderly dogs, cats, humans. Suddenly, the wheels just fall off. Big big Bunter-sized gap in the lounge room, today

Bunter’s pound photo: 2011 3 Bunter at Renbury by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr Making sure not a pinhead of food is wasted" IMG_1128 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr Yum yum, nom nom: IMG_0392 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

Yesterday, my darling Moocher, Bunter, crossed the Bridge. Bunter had been part of our ever changing household since March 2011 when I had been watching the Renbury page following a little elderly dog with bad hair and completely blind from cataracts. When I realised that this little chap wasn’t going to be swept into the arms of a rescue group, I trekked out and brought him here. And so I had the honour of looking after this darling man for close on 9 years. For reasons known only to the strange conniptions going on in my brain, I called him Bunter as he was a solid little boy and I recalled from my far distant youth a comic strip about a very fat schoolboy called Billy Bunter. After a couple of months here, Bunter had cataract surgery and we were given the unbelievable joy of changing sightless cloudy eyes to glorious bright brown eyes that saw immediately. He really did have lovely eyes, my little Bunter. So passed the years of many adventures, joys and worries and miles of walking around the neighbourhood when I and all the dogs were a lot younger. For the past couple of years, Bunter has been battling with Dynamic Airways Disease which for the first year or so was kept under control by an array of medications including a puffer. He also began to suffer from dementia and no longer went downstairs of his own volition. I used to carry him down so he could have a wander around, but often he became confused and distressed, but just as often I would go out onto the deck to check on him and he would be racing competently up the ramp. It certainly became a roller coaster of emotions. On Tuesday morning, I had to take Sooty back to SASH for a check up (she has had eye surgery to try to give her some sight) and Bunter was still sound asleep on his back in the bedroom. When I came back he was still on his bedding, but in a different position, so I left him to snooze on A bit later, he started to bark and yelp, so I went racing down and he was having trouble turning himself onto his feet. I picked him up and he was soaked in urine. I gave him a bath, took him downstairs and the rest of the day was pretty well the same as ever. The next day, I realised he wasn’t well and made an appointment to take him to my vet. They kept him all afternoon, on oxygen, did xrays and blood tests and were very concerned. Because they don’t have anyone to monitor dogs through the night, I took Bunter home that evening, with instructions to bring him back first thing on Thursday morning. He was still a little sedated, but through the evening his breathing became laboured so at 2am, I rushed him to SASH so he could be kept comfortable and safe until I could take him back to my vet. Which I did as early as possible at 8am. I was pretty upset with SASH as it was perfectly obvious that Bunter was not going to rally and he should not have been put through the transfer from SASH to my vet, where he was gently let go within minutes of my arriving there. So Myrtle Street Moochers are bereft today, but amazingly, after fifteen years of living here, two of the original Moochers are still with me: Tamar and Jeune. And here is a little video of Bunter in better days. I am just so grateful I have this little video as, even through my tears, I can still have a little laugh. Watch it until the end. When we walked, I would take Bunter’s lead off at my neighbour’s driveway and he would run the rest of the way home, looking back to ensure his mummy was following and watching over him.

Well, I am far as could be from an expert, but I’m with @persephone. She is gorgeous and that first photo is a cracker Many of us have rescue dogs and enjoying pondering not only their breeds or mix of breeds, but also their stories.

Photo ??

I hope you and your vets can find and answer so you can treat and help Jax. I have an elderly Pom x Corgi who has dynamic airways disease which was diagnosed a couple of years ago. But he (Bunter) doesn’t get exhausted in the way you describe Jax. He has a dreadful cough and sometimes it is so damned harsh and strong that I wonder he doesn’t cough up his insides . He lies around most of the time (he is 17), but when he went to the vet the other day he was as bright as a button and we went for a little walk down the street. He does puff quite heavily, though, and a few weeks ago in the wee small hours he was breathing so heavily, I was contemplating taking him to emergency. We’ve been using a puffer on him for sometime now and have tried heaps of meds and combinations of meds, but we are now down to just ABs (injection every fortnight as he has become difficult to medicate), Codeine three times a day, Pred every second day and the puffer three times daily. Good luck. I hope you can find Jax some relief.

What a beautiful boy he was and always will be in your heart. Deepest sympathies, @stellnme. Basil. You’ll never be forgotten.

This sort in of thing makes me a bit cross, really. I am sure they are out there, but I don’t know of any rescuers who “vilify or discourage” responsible breeding. There are irresponsible rescue organisations and people, just as there are irresponsible and unethical breeders breeding dogs who can hardly breathe, GSD who can hardly walk, Westies whose skin conditions ensure a life of misery, etc etc etc. I don’t know who this Beret Walsh is, but she needs to take off the blinkers.

LOVE LOVE LOVE icon needed, @koalathebear. Many of “my” adopting families kept in touch as well. It is just so gratifying to know how much the dogs are loved and, in some cases, how they have changed the lives of their families.

That’s what I feel is way to go, @Tassie. Day by day, really. She has eaten well today, but each time I pick her up, she feels lighter , so I think it will be a case of lots of smoochies and cuddles.

Hope she gets better soon.

She is now on the deck eating dinner with Tamar swapping bowls

I’ll look that up, thank you, PK. However, I do contemplate the quality of life issue daily and that is what is at the heart of the quandary. Jeune has always been a funny little girl (funny as in odd and different). She has always been fiercely stubborn, has never played with toys, out on walks when we had them, if left to her own devices, she could have taken an hour to go 20 metres or even less because she would fasten on one spot and sniff and sniff and sniff. I once tried to time her as to how long she would stand sniffing at one little patch. She won and I had to drag her to continue the walk . This was always the pattern of our walks . . . . . . So, maybe she is quite content in just snoozing the days away?? She has been in my life for over 16 years, 3 years old when I adopted her. I made a mistake in my post above. She saw the vet on 11 Dec not 17 Dec, so it is just over a week before we see her again and I will ask for some more guidance then.

A wonderful series of photographs .... just beautiful.

I decided to take a look at the topics I’ve created regarding my dogs and that great mystery, EATING, and came across this one started a year ago. 2019 has been a very very very long year in terms of trying to manage to give all my very elderly dogs the best lives I can. Despite all the supplementary feeding she is getting, Jeune continues to lose weight and I am very very conflicted, because, depending on what illness or age a dog has, it can be very difficult to make the decision as to what is in the best interests of the dog (or any other pet). When I got up this morning, Jeune was out on the deck in the sunshine. As I watched she had a couple of little episodes of throwing up something that is very rare considering her age and her cancer. She is drinking a lot these days and I wonder if that is because of all the extras she is getting such as lots of Nutrigel and Anitone (I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten who recommended that). When I checked on her again, she was just lying down on the deck, which I’ve never seen before except when she lies on the top step in the sunshine. After her meds, she had about 25mls of Recovery, Bone Broth and Nutrigel and ate a tiny bit of breakfast. Her #2s are normal and I have only once seen her straining and that was some weeks ago. So for a very elderly dog with cancer (not in pain and taking Piroxicam), is she okay considering these things? I just don’t know what to do. I cannot see it in her eyes that she is ready to go and, yesterday, after I gave her a bath, she was racing around the house and deck like a youngster, but today she is very tired and is so thin. If someone picked her up in the street, they would think she’d been deliberately starved. I last took her to the vet on 17 December and the vet said to see her in a month’s time. Well, this is just a bit of a ramble because I don’t really know whether I keep on doing what I’m doing until Jeune is half the weight she should be. She still makes her way downstairs and has a little potter around, but mostly she just does her business, stands around for a while and then comes back upstairs by herself or waits for me to carry her. (I should add, that she has always done this, even when she was young and healthy. She would just stand in the sun for ages. I’d take a bed down for her, but, nope: she just wanted to stand there soaking up the rays.) A little anecdote from many many years ago. A woman with terminal cancer was being interviewed about the refusal of the Australian government to allow a particular drug into Australia because they weren’t satisfied that enough testing had been done to prove or otherwise its efficacy or safety. That woman was relatively young, she was standing at her front fence talking to the interviewer and she didn’t look too bad, just quite pale. It was later reported that she had died the following day. The point of this story is that although she was “well” enough to stand up and talk to reporters, she was actually just hours away from death.

So thrilled you have all come through this very scary time. Looking forward to when you can manage the posting of photos. Belle is one very fortunate little girl to have a family so on the ball and to have acted so quickly

Please let us now how your puppy is going. Hoping for the best outcome for your both. BTW, I can relate. I collected my first puppy (many years ago now) from the breeder and took her straight away to my vet just to show her to him really and have him check her over. He diagnosed her with heart disease . I let the breeder know straight away and they offered to take her back, but that never entered my mind. I’d visited her a couple of times waiting for her to be old enough to bring home so she was mine. So all the best and do keep us posted.

Yes, I’ve been wondering what the poster eventually did.

I didn’t want to say anything, but have to agree with you @tdierikx. Owner sounds extremely iffy. Very sad for puppies.

Something pretty well all dog lovers know (and I don’t know to whom to attribute this), but “ ’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." It doesn’t make the loss any less hard to bear though. Deepest condolences on your loss, @luvmybulldog. Farewell, lovely Shab. May your reunion with Hoover and Crumpet be joyous.

It is such a paradox and a heart wrenching one. Deepest sympathies on your loss, @Taliecat. Dozer was blessed and cursed at the same time: blessed to have you and yours as his devoted family and cursed with having an illness which shortened his life drastically. Those photos are so adorable and a true testament to the wonderful life he had with you. Farewell darling boy and may there always be hoses aplenty for you to play with.

Made of satin Best wishes for all of you and Otto. Fun and loving times ahead.

Interesting question, @PANDI-GIRL. I simply don’t know . It wasn’t always like this and there was a time that I could feed all the dogs together. All I can recall is that both Jeune and Tamar started to carry on as though their food bowls were hiding snakes or full of poison and would take ages to eat if at all. Tamar eventually got over that with the help of an appetite stimulant, but which did nothing for Jeune. Despite being fed exactly the same, Jeune would hang over Tamar’s bowl, so I would swap them around and then she’d start eating. And Jeune became even worse and would eat something one day and then refuse it forever more and so we have reached the current situation. A few months ago, I started her on Peractin (an appetite stimulant) which I think might just have started working a little bit but not enough to arrest her weight loss. Hopefully supplementing the little she eats on her own will help her.

Ha ha ha. Nutrigel doesn’t smell too badly (molasses based) but I’ll pass on the rest. She eats (eventually) at just about every meal and sometimes hoes in as though she hasn’t eaten for a month, but the amount is miniscule. I feel quite lightheaded really at the relief of being able to get so much more food into her. And the fact she keeps it down seems to mean that she wants it, she just wants help with it.

Thank you so much, dear persephone . We will never know whether the dogs drove me crazy or I would have become anyway............