Loving my Oldies

As @juice said: Zephyr (and his mates) was a DOL legend, as are you @grumpette with the stories of your wonderful wonderful dogs and the love that poured out from every post, every photograph. Farewell magnificent Zephyr. Such a sad sad day.

I hope little Dutchess lives many many more years so the lonely and difficult ones can be obliterated from her memory.

If ever

What a memory! Yes, they are still on the floor and they adapted very quickly, but I still feel mean and nasty. Sooty wakes up anytime between 1am and 4am and I have to let her onto the bed because there is no way of outlasting the crying becoming screaming if I don’t . Poor Mezza is so jealous. I have nearly weakened several times because of Jeune - she would wander around to my side of the bed and look up at me with such an appeal in her eyes, but one of her lapses was the final straw and I have to remember that. They now all settle down straight away. I miss having them on the bed, but I can get a few hours of unbroken sleep now .

Dogs are living longer and longer, @PANDI-GIRL, which is why here is so many more medications around these days. As for humans, now that dogs are living longer, all the ailments of old age are being presented and need to be mitigated. When I hear that someone has a small dog aged 11 or 12, I think .... oh that’s young . You’d know from being a DOLer for a long time, that I have always been drawn to the older dogs. My youngest dog now, Sooty, is 14 soon. I still think of Tamar as a puppy, but she turns 16 in January. Mezza is shortly to turn 16 and Bunter is 16/17. Since Jeune and Tamar came to me in 2003 and 2004 respectively, I have had many many more dogs, some only for a couple of years and some only for a few short months . I guess in the past (ie a couple of decades ago) some of my dogs would not have reached the ages they have.

WOW @jemappelle, that sounds great. Yes, it is Best For Pets. Good to know that you have found it so worthwhile. On every invoice from from my vet there is a large box at the bottom saying how much I would have saved had I been a Best For Pet member. The amount is always $0.00

Reading further, I’ve come across two quotes from the CE of Choice, Alan Kirkland, that are totally damning of this industry. “Pet insurance is the insurance a business sells when it wants to make money without providing any service at all." “Pet insurance is one of this country’s worst value insurance products. It relies on emotionally manipulating your love of your pet to sell worthless insurance.” Not holding back !!!

I’ve never taken it out as I’ve always had dogs from pounds and older dogs, but the veterinary clinic I have been going to for over 12 years has sold out to a pet insurance company Edited to say that this company says it is not an insurance company, rather it is a club and you pay an annual membership.

The ABC is asking for people’s stories: most are thumbs down, but there are some responders who have had a good experience.

And the winner is .......... Pet Insurance. Choice doesn’t recommend even one. I haven’t read the full articles, just heard it on the news.

Yep. Don’t rock the boat.

Tear here. I think Merlin is going to be one spoilt doggy.

So precious x million

Hmmm - - - think I know the outcome.

Love all these pix. Really beautiful. Florence is my middle name

That is great news, but I am so damned JEALOUS !!! I am having so much difficulty in getting a few of my dogs to eat, even Bunter who used to be a hoover. He is on several tablets a day and he just spits out anything that I try to hide them in, even if he eats that same without pills!! He can obviously smell them. Off to Woolies to buy a few cans of cat food to see if that helps. He is nearly 17 and has dynamic airways disease which we have been able to control this fairly well over the past few years, with the occasional flair ups being managed by tweaking his meds. For the past few weeks, however, nothing is working. He can cough for hours and I am sure he is totally and absolutely exhausted. I’d love to be able to try the Barf, but with five dogs, I think the cost would send me to the poor house . I have one little dog (Tamar) who used to be a “I eat simply to stay alive” and really thing, who now does the dancing and running around the kitchen like your Sara does, so I guess that’s something. At the suggestion of my vet, I am also off to the chemist to get some Periactin to see if that will help another of the dogs.

Hopefully sharing far and wide will find Rocky the home he and every other animal deserve

It would not matter if you were a millionaire, the only consideration is your dog’s health and happiness. Going on your description of what has been found via the xrays and the prognosis, I think you are doing 100% the right thing to opt for palliative care. Doesn’t mean it isn’t damned hard and you’ll question every decision you make. Nothing but support and empathy from me.

The post should still have a warning. I don’t care what might be a pest or not, glorifying in killing is base.

That should have come with a warning, @Two Best Dogs! What a horrible site - I just clicked it to see what the dogs looked like and I was confronted by carnage. All those beautiful birds. They looked like Peacocks to me.

Try contacting Paws & Recover to see if they can assist. They try to find foster care for people who are in a bit of a sticky situation with their pets, such as losing their house, difficulty in finding a rental where pets will be accepted, job, domestic violence, prison, etc etc etc.

What a wonderful life she had with you and you with her. So precious and rare.

I can’t imagine commuting for nearly three hours a day, but I think it would be a better solution than long term boarding. You’re in a tough position, but long term boarding would be something to avoid.

Sooty (and a few other dogs) are going to be TV stars. They will be part of The Bachelorette program. I’m not sure when it will be going to air, but the filming is tomorrow. Sooty is taking it all in her stride of course but her hooman is very very excited for her. Off to the grooming parlour today.

Sooty had her final xrays today and the orthopaedic surgeon is totally satisfied with the results of the surgery. I am overjoyed and a bit numb too as I have been on tenterhooks for so long now worrying that her years of neglect and deprivation would mitigate against full healing. She is a feisty and determined little dog who has overcome her obstacles so well. Just brilliant.