Little Red Man’S Roller Coaster Journey:

[westiemum]

That darling little red man of yours is so precious - to all of us DD - that when the time comes you will draw courage and strength from us - as I did - and we'll cry buckets with you when the time comes - as you did.

In the meantime treasure everyday, take photos and build precious memories - as I did.

DD there's no easy to do this but we'll be here and I hope as JayGee says that Danny keeps surprising you.

Big hugs to you and to Danny.

[Loving my Oldies]

DD he is the most adorable little man, he reminds me so much of my Aunt's boy, Benny, who is also 17. Those little greying chops are so sweet. We have been saying for about three years that this is Benny 's last year, and he keeps surprising us. I hope little Red Man keeps surprising you.

Go Benny :thumbsup: I think we need a pic. I noticed that I started this thread in November last year, so Danny keeps on surprising me too. I have to remind myself that he is very old and, like all oldies, has good days and bad days.

I re-read all the comments in this thread and there seems to be concern that I “do the right thing” by Danny. There is no way in the world, I would allow an animal of mine to suffer because of MY feelings. In every action and every thought, my prime and only concern is for the welfare and happiness of my dogs.

[Loving my Oldies]

Thanks Westiemum. I know your loss is still raw. Your comments mean a lot to me and Danny will get lots of extra kisses and cuddles tonight.

[JayGee]

DD he is the most adorable little man, he reminds me so much of my Aunt's boy, Benny, who is also 17. Those little greying chops are so sweet. We have been saying for about three years that this is Benny 's last year, and he keeps surprising us. I hope little Red Man keeps surprising you.

Go Benny :thumbsup: I think we need a pic. I noticed that I started this thread in November last year, so Danny keeps on surprising me too. I have to remind myself that he is very old and, like all oldies, has good days and bad days.

I re-read all the comments in this thread and there seems to be concern that I “do the right thing” by Danny. There is no way in the world, I would allow an animal of mine to suffer because of MY feelings. In every action and every thought, my prime and only concern is for the welfare and happiness of my dogs.

I have pics of young Benny on my phone, will try and put up tomorrow DD. He still chases his ball, and has his little walks. We all love him dearly and hope he will go on and on. He's just had a heart murmur picked up, so hoping that won't be an issue.

About doing the right thing.....DD, I've been following your posts with your littlies for years, you have always put your dogs first. It's funny how attached we get to a dog that we have never met. ????

[Boronia]

O dear DDD, old dogs are such a worry aren't they, and there is nothing we can do...what I mean is they are not going to get better.

They get creaky and their hearts begin to fail but so long as their tails keep wagging furiously and they potter about happily that is all we can hope for.

It just sucks

Hugs from me and Creaky 17 year old Penny and my 16 year old Mac with his congestive heart

[Loving my Oldies]

Thank you, JayGee and Boronia. I am very emotional today as I have an appointment with the vet as he wants to run some more tests. I was so thrilled that Danny ate all his BARF, but last night he brought it all up at about 2am with those great heaving throws that are exhausting for anyone let alone a little old 17 year old.

But this morning, apart from going straight to a bed in the lounge instead of prowling around the house, he is bright and “uptailed” and came up his ramp without any problems and straight into the house.

As I’ve said before, Boronia, I love your sig, but it took me a while to realise you didn’t have six dogs :laugh: :laugh:

JayGee, I used to love posting the stories of my littlies and rescued ones, but it is a long time since I rescued and the most exciting thing that we do now is waddle around the block a couple of times a day. I have had had a couple of fosters, but the rescuer told me I wasn’t to post about them on DOL .

Anyway, into the shower to get ready to take Danny to see Angus. Luckily none of my dogs worry about vet visits which says something good about the vets, I think.

[stellnme]

DD, I missed the February post about Danny turning 17. What a grand age for a beautiful boy. We all hope for a few more years, sometimes even a few more months, but all we can do is love them, look after them and carry on until unfortunately we have to make the hard call. My beautiful Stella is 15 now and I am so aware of her fragility - she can't see or hear too well, can't get up on anything and we make allowances and look after her all the time.

I'm hoping that the news from the vet was positive and that Danny will be wagging that tail for a long time to come.

[Loving my Oldies]

Thanks Stellnme. Yes, their fragility is sometimes very difficult to reconcile with how they were even just a couple of years previously. The vet is confident that Danny has plenty of life in him yet, but we have to take more bloods tomorrow morning as their machine went into fail mode :( .

[westiemum]

Yes its hard to reconcile their fragility - particularly as it worsens. Last night I looked through my photos of Mac back to early 2014 (there are a lot of them!) - and it really struck me just how much he deteriorated over the last year. Yet because I was so close to him I wasn't seeing it - but Mum did. And I now have a better understanding of her earlier concern.

Edited May 18, 2016 by westiemum

[Loving my Oldies]

It’s hard seeing the historic photographs. But it is good to have them to be able to reassure yourself down the line that it was time or it wasn’t time.

I had to take Danny back to the vet this morning as the “bloods machine” spat the dummy last time, so hopefully there won’t be any nasty surprises and we just have a very elderly little fellow here.

[westiemum]

Fingers and paws crossed for you DD and Danny here.

[Loving my Oldies]

Thanks, WM. After the tests, it is business as usual. Slight kidney probs but nothing we didn't know about. But it is tearing my heart out to see him winding down. That said, I take him downstairs several times a day and sometimes he comes back up straight away and others he spends so long sniffing around that I Keep checking on him LOL.

[westiemum]

Oh DD your description of Danny reminds me so much of Mac!! He loved sniffing and pottering around!.

[Loving my Oldies]

Oh DD your description of Danny reminds me so much of Mac!! He loved sniffing and pottering around!.

Did Mac just stop and stare at nothing or just hang there as though going to sleep on his feet? Danny does that a lot lately as though he has forgotten what he was about to do ( which was nothing LOL ). He also does a lot of pacing and I really put that down to the fact that the painter has been in the house for 6 weeks and so normal routines have gone by the way. Instead of spending a couple of hours in the afternoon with Danny (and the others, of course) on the couch or the recliner chair, I have been going out in an attempt to stay sane. He also can no longer negotiate the stairs or ramp to go downstairs and has to wait for me to carry him down.

This week is going to be even worse as the painter has started on the interior and is using gloss enamel and making me feel quite ill. God knows what it might be doing to elderly dogs. I will shut them out on the deck while the painter is inside. He is good with doors generally, but I am worried about the fumes.

I’ve seen the man with two Westies twice this week. Privileged LOL.

[westiemum]

Did Mac just stop and stare at nothing or just hang there as though going to sleep on his feet?

Yep! Mac used to just stop and stare - and he used to get caught in corners - but it came and went a bit. The fumes sound awful DD - reminds me of when they did the floorboards here - the smell was terrible so I put towels below the doors and holed up in the bedroom with the dogs for a day or so as the smell was so bad!

[Loving my Oldies]

The painting is finished and I can't smell it anymore, but OMG, it has made me sooooooo crook. I was really worried about the dogs because they are all elderly, but seem to have come through it okay. So thankful to have the house back to just us. It is so stressful having someone coming and going all day - he started at 7 am and wouldn't leave until he couldn't see well enough which has been about 5pm. Never again.

I took a couple of videos of Danny today, but don't know how to put them up. He has had a really good day today. :thumbsup:

[westiemum]

So sorry you're crook DD. But maybe the smell has made Danny feel better!! But at least its finished so I hope you're happy with it.

[Loving my Oldies]

So sorry you're crook DD. But maybe the smell has made Danny feel better!! But at least its finished so I hope you're happy with it.

It was not a smooth ride ....... nor a smooth finish .

On a couple of days Danny was pretty sick (he is very old after all and we elderlies have bad days) and all I wanted to do was to lie on the couch with him, but at times I was so cross, I just had to leave the house for a few hours. The man is, I believe OCD, and I don’t think I have ever experienced anyone so argumentative.

Anyway, I can now spend as much time as I like lazying around with Danny and the others :laugh: :laugh:

[Scottsmum]

So sorry you're crook DD. But maybe the smell has made Danny feel better!! But at least its finished so I hope you're happy with it.

It was not a smooth ride ....... nor a smooth finish .

On a couple of days Danny was pretty sick (he is very old after all and we elderlies have bad days) and all I wanted to do was to lie on the couch with him, but at times I was so cross, I just had to leave the house for a few hours. The man is, I believe OCD, and I don’t think I have ever experienced anyone so argumentative.

Anyway, I can now spend as much time as I like lazying around with Danny and the others :laugh: :laugh:

But is it all better now? Shoddy job from last time fixed?

[Boronia]

So sorry you're crook DD. But maybe the smell has made Danny feel better!! But at least its finished so I hope you're happy with it.

It was not a smooth ride ....... nor a smooth finish .

On a couple of days Danny was pretty sick (he is very old after all and we elderlies have bad days) and all I wanted to do was to lie on the couch with him, but at times I was so cross, I just had to leave the house for a few hours. The man is, I believe OCD, and I don't think I have ever experienced anyone so argumentative.

Anyway, I can now spend as much time as I like lazying around with Danny and the others :laugh: :laugh:

But is it all better now? Shoddy job from last time fixed?

good news about the finishing of the painting débâcle DDD.

have you seen these dog halo vests?

maybe you can make one for Danny

https://www.google.c...iw=1375&bih=805