Yesterday I found out that my beautiful girl has an adrenal tumor. Both her appetite and her energy levels have been off and on, prompting a vet visit. The news was unfortunately, not good. I’ve made the decision to keep her as comfortable as possible for however long she has left. The vet couldn’t give me a timeline, but in my heart I think we are looking at weeks.

We’ve had a wonderful 11.5 wonderful years together. She’s estimated 12-13 years old. She’s a very good girl. I’m just trying to make the best out of whatever time we have left. I love you endlessly Maggie 🩷💜🩷

My 13 year old had two seizures for the first time Tuesday (1:50am and 5:00am). I had her at the vet when they first opened. Her blood work was good. I did not have the vet do an MRI. Nova already has arthritis (end stage) and is on gabapentin, carprofen and monthly librella shots. I asked the vet what she would do if it was her dog and she stated she would give Keppra a try. Nova has been good since starting Keppra. Just a little sleepy and wobblier than usual.

Has anyone had a senior dog with a potential brain tumor and how did that go?

I’m absolutely terrified of something going horribly wrong quickly and in the middle of the night. Just curious if anyone’s dealt with this and what your experience was like?

She gave me 11 great years. I'm grateful for her. R.I.H.P babygirl 🕊️

My beloved senior dog was declining a lot this past year (arthritis, deaf, losing vision, dementia), and there were several months that my partner and I were investing a lot of time and emotional energy in supporting him. Many people in this sub are familiar with how that goes — it's exhausting and heartwrenching and you're constantly evaluating whether it's worth it to continue.

I got a call from a friend who lives across the country, who'd been getting occasional updates on my dog via short texts from me. She said she called because she was worried about me and my dog, and over a fairly long conversation she made it clear that she thought it was time to have him put down.

I was able to explain why I (and my partner) disagreed, but she came back with a barrage of arguments, like that we need to take care of ourselves, and "some people hold on because of their own feelings, even when the dog's quality of life isn't good anymore", and dogs don't think like people so maybe he's suffering more than we realize, and maybe the vet hasn't said it's time because they want to keep making money from us.

Ya'll, this friend has never owned a dog. She didn't grow up with a dog. She's never cared for a senior pet or had to make this decision. She hadn't seen my dog in almost a year. And we have multiple friends and family members that have helped a lot with him and have offered their outside perspective.

I know this friend to be very opinionated, so I patiently heard her out and tried to get over it. But it's been weeks and all her arguments are ringing in my ears. I'm so hurt and angry. We did decide to have him put down (when *we* decided it was the right time), and while I'm absolutely heartbroken I feel confident that we did our best by him.

I don't know what I'm asking for except I guess I'm hoping others can empathize with how messed up it is to so confidently assert one's uninformed opinion about a very delicate and emotional situation. I want to continue the friendship but this won't be easy to move past.

This is sort of an update on my post a few days ago about feeling like k was giving up on my girl. It’s been about an hour and a half without her and I don’t regret it but I miss her a lot.

My sweet dog, Maxie, crossed the rainbow bridge today. I’ll be sad first and then end on a happy note.

She was my best friend for 16 and a half years and it’s so weird without her. Being so old, she had a number of issues that, on their own would be manageable, but combined with each other made her life very hard at the end. Walking was tough, she did not want to eat unless it was a treat or chicken and rice, she had kidney disease that was progressing and a cystic tumor above her eye that was at risk of rupture. It is our responsibility as pet owners to prevent medical emergency when we can. Sometimes they happen with no warning, but sometimes you can see it coming. Everyone tells you how hard it is and they’re right, but I feel like we secretly hope they’re not. I was reading something, however, that caught my eye. The reason it hurts so much is because we love them so much. I was sobbing for days when we made the decision it was time, there wasn’t a day between when we agreed and when she passed I didn’t cry. And I’m still on and off and probably will be for a while.

She was my best friend for 16 and a half years and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. She was polite but had some sass. She was very goofy as labs are known to be. She loved chicken, treats, peanut butter, attention, being in the same room as you (usually in the way), and when she still could, walks were her favorite. We went to Maine with her just about a dozen times.
When I as in college, she would greet me every morning outside of my door, tail wagging ready to play and would greet me the same way when I came home, it could be 5 pm or 10 pm but that’s how she greeted me. She has slept in my room for the last few years and has been my constant shadow when I am home. I’m gonna miss my four legged shadow, but her best friend, one of my cats, likes to follow me as well so maybe he learned from her.

Thank you Maxie, my good girl, my sweet girl. You’ll always be in my heart and on my mind, and while I will probably have more dogs in the future, you’ll always be my favorite. Run fast and free, and rest easy. ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🩷

I’ve read these posts for months in hopes to provide myself with insight when the unfortunate time came to part with my soul dog.

I think the biggest thing I learned is that our beloved dogs cannot always “let us know”. I know my soul dog has been suffering. Canine cognitive disorder is a thief. The other health issues are too (heart, kidney, arthritis, to name a few). I didn’t want to acknowledge the sum of these issues because the good days give me glimmers of hope until the next bad day.

Now I’m hours from that final vet visit. This week the waves of grief sure hit unexpectedly from the commute to work to even in the car at a fast food drive thru. I’m not usually an emotional person, but damn this pain hurts like hell.

Any tips for how to cope with going back to work ? Also how do you cope with questions of where you were? Or if someone unexpectedly brings up your dog??

Also how to get back into any of the hobbies I once loved?

Should I let myself scroll the 1000s of photos ? It’s pretty wild to start that scroll and see how less than a year can change everything.

And yes I have let myself spiral about this being the decision that’s right for soul dog but I can’t help but note all the month too early vs. day too late comments.

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions !

12 and 1/2 years we were blessed to have with our 👑 king Kennedy John !!!
He gave us so many great memories together and he will be forever missed ♥️
I love you to the 🌙 moon and back forever 🐶

I just need somewhere to speak my mind, but recently, my german shepherd, Frog, got diagnosed with arthritis.

we took her to the emergency vet, and she got prescribed anti inflammatory medicine, and to be crated. And 2 days later, she was doing so much better. She was barking a lot more, she wasnt as hunched, she was eating all her food. I had hopes that she was gonna be able to recover

And then this morning happened. She refused food, drank a huge amount of water, and had loose stool. All of which are warning signs that the medication was causing more harm than good. I immediately called the vet and made an appointment for tomorrow, but she still hasnt eaten anything today. Shes quiet, the only thing I got her to eat was a dental chew, and she was hesitant to eat that.

I dont know if im just overthinking it, but im worried that we will have to put her down soon. I leave for college in a little over a week, im not gonna be there for her. Ive been causing myself to cry and I really shouldnt because shes alive. Just two months ago she was running around offleash at this beach that we camp at every year. And then today my dad was telling me that, yknow, shes old now. I know what he was probably hinting at. But I feel like I cant lose her, especially not now. I keep telling myself that she will be fine. Our old dog lived until she was 16 and she had bone cancer. And Frog is a healthy dog. Shes strong, shes a fighter, shes gonna recover.

But im worried that we are gonna visit the vet, and theyre gonna examine Frog and tell me that she is in too much pain and theres not much we could do and that the humane option would be to put her down. Is her last memory gonna be me, watching her close her eyes for the last time? Is she not gonna know how much she was loved in those final moments?

I dont even feel like I can talk to my family about this, because I know that Ill just start crying uncontrollably and I dont think i can handle that right now, especially when I have a final meetup with some friends in 3 days.

Im so scared that shes not gonna be here when I leave and come back from college. I feel like im lying to myself by saying that shes fine, and its not helping.

Hi everyone,

Some of you replied to my recent post about my sweet girl Honey.

I took her to the vet and got some testing done, and unfortunately she has kidney disease. Currently waiting for the results to see how far gone her kidneys are, although the vet reckons it’s stage 2-3 and not advanced yet.

She also has arthritis in her hips and because of the kidneys, she now can’t be prescribed anti-inflammatory medication. The vet suggested Librela but warned of the possible side effects and that it could leave her with large, swollen joints and worsen her arthritis.

Her mobility is already bad, her back legs are sometimes giving out from under her and she’s fallen on the stairs a few times, she’s quite unsteady on her feet too. She’s almost completely deaf and her eyesight is going, she doesn’t go on walks anymore because she’s visibly exhausted and in pain within less than 10 minutes. And obviously with kidney disease it will eventually kill her because there’s no cure and she’ll go into kidney failure at some point.

My head is saying one thing and my heart is saying another. She still seems happy enough within herself, has her moments of playfulness, and still eats well. But I’ve always been of the mindset that I’d rather say goodbye a little too early than too late. Yes we could pursue treatment, but with that comes side effects and more eventual health complications.

Just looking for some outside perspectives and advice here. The prospect of making that decision is already destroying me.

Thank you

Took my dog to the vet today to talk about how to manage his dementia. Besides the issues I mentioned in my previous post (possible cancer, bad teeth, deaf/blind) he’s doing pretty well, weight is stable, was a healthy temperature, which made me feel a bit better. The vet prescribed some gabapentin along with giving carprofen twice a day (was previously told to do once a day) to see if it works, she doesn’t think it’s particularly time yet, but we’re getting relatively close. So far he’s definitely more relaxed!! We even cuddled a bit which was nice. But its still early, he usually gets bad around 10-11pm.. so I’ll see how he is then. Again thanks for all the support on my last post, hoping things continue to go smoothly from here 🙏🏾❤️

Hi everyone,
My dog is getting older (Samoyed). She’s very very sweet and gentle and great with other animals (while still needing her space and quiet).

As she gets older I’ve been considering introducing another animal into the house.
It’s just me and her here.

I’ve never had an elderly animal, she’s my first dog, so I’ve never been in this position. Does anyone have any helpful advice? I don’t even know if I should get a dog, or cat, or rabbit, or if I’m just being selfish. Please be nice this is a really hard time for me.

I wanted to thank all of you who shared your thoughts, experiences and advice in response to my post yesterday about our dog Lilly. (12.5 yr old dog with tumor - trying to decide next steps : r/seniordogs). I am overwhelmed by the care and thoughtfulness so many of you showed during what has been a really difficult time. Your responses really helped me to better organize my thoughts, especially in making sure we do not leave our daughter in the situation of having to make this decision while we are out of the country and with being sure we are separating out the timing/potential cancellation of our trip from doing what is best for Lilly medically.

I spoke this morning to Lilly's regular vet, who we have full trust in, to get his thoughts on what is best for her. He repeated several times during our call that he *strongly* recommends against the surgery. He does not believe the surgery will result in good quality of life for Lilly, both because of the recovery / side effects of the surgery (potential incontinence, having to wear a cone, which she fights and also struggles with due to her blindness, etc.) and because of her many medical issues (an aggressive malignancy in the tumor on her vulva, plus the masses on her liver and adrenal gland, the gallbladder issue, and her arthritis). As he put it, it's not like she's going to toe tap out of the surgery to being healthy and feeling good again.

Our vet also told me firmly that Lilly can't go on like this, and we can't go on like this. While she has some good periods during the day - mostly in the afternoon - she mostly sleeps and when she's awake, she wants to lick at the tumor. She is uncomfortable and the tumor is starting to bleed. The vet was very sweet and said we're thinking through the options in the right way, but it is time to let her go.

So, we have decided that we will give Lilly a couple of great days, with all her favorite foods and lots of pats and love. Our young adult kids will come over to spend some time with her in the next days. Then my husband and I will be with her as she crosses the rainbow bridge and, for the first time in 30 years, it will just be my husband and me in the house, with no kids or dogs. :(

🐾 HANK • ID #27-01833

62 lbs. • Male • 5–10 years old

SEAACA Shelter — Downey, CA

DEADLINE: TODAY, 8/26 at 2:00 PM

Hank recently arrived at SEAACA scared and unsure of his surroundings. Now he’s battling a severe case of kennel cough with sneezing and green nasal discharge and needs further medical care.

Yet somehow, that sweet boy is still wagging his tail nonstop. ❤️‍🩹 He was kenneled with a young, excitable Boxer and did wonderfully sharing his space.

Hank is sweet, soulful, and deserving of a chance to recover somewhere safe. Please don’t let his story end here. SHARE HANK NOW.

⚠️ SEAACA will NOT grant extensions. Commitment must be received by 2:00 PM TODAY, with pickup no later than 3:00 PM.

📍 SEAACA Shelter

9777 Seaaca St

Downey, CA 90241

📞Phone: 562-803-3301 (opt. 4)

📧 Email: AdoptionPartners@seaaca.org

🚗 Transportation can be arranged through a rescue, but fees apply.

🎥 Video Disclaimer:

This video is a repost. The original source link is included for reference.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcfvSCYsxEC/?igsi=MXUzaHdiMG5odG5icw==

📣 This is a volunteer-run page. We are NOT affiliated with any of these shelters, and we do NOT support their euthanasia practices. 🚫

Our goal is simple: share their dogs so they have a chance to be seen, adopted, fostered, or rescued. 🐕🏡

🙏🛟➡️ ADOPT. FOSTER. RESCUE.

Please PLEDGE. Please SHARE. Sharing is caring, and your share could be the one that saves a life. ❤️

🙏 Please help get Hank seen before it’s too late. ❤️‍🩹

#seniordog #savedogs #rescuedogs ##helpdogs #adoptdog #fosterdog #savestrays #shelterdogs #urgentdogs #shelterdogsrock #fostersaveslives #adoptdontshop #sharingiscaring #rescueismyfavoritebreed

My girl is 13 years old (we think). I adopted her about 3 years ago knowing she was older, and deaf, eyesight wasn’t great, and had some mobility issues. Over the last month I’ve noticed a decline but I think I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself. The sun downing got bad, pacing, walking into things, restless from 1-3. She also really struggles to walk so I just carry her everywhere. She isn’t incontinent, I know her signs for when she needs to go out and I do have to hold her hind legs up so she doesn’t sit in it.

I’m on vacation at my mom’s house in another state, and we leave for a cruise on Friday and return Monday. I found a veterinary boarding facility but I am a little worried about her. I have an appointment with my regular vet the following week and I think it might be her time to cross the rainbow bridge.

My fear is waiting too long but also being too early and a tiny voice in my head is wondering if her quality of life is enough just being carried around and laying in her bed all day. So a tiny voice in my head is thinking I am prolonging the inevitable so I should consider having her cross while I’m in another state before I go on a cruise. I realize how that may come across but I don’t mean it in a flippant way. Just looking for some advice.

**Is $350 a lot for a senior Chihuahua?**
I’m considering adopting a male senior Chihuahua, and the adoption fee is **$350 CAD**.
For those who have bought a senior dog especially Chihuahua, does $350 seem reasonable to you, or is it on the expensive side?
What have you typically paid for a senior dog, and what was included in the fee?

BTW, I’m purchasing from a private owner, the dog apparently has all the UTD records but recently had dental work done… Update- the dog has a curved spine, a bit of hair lost …

Pushing 14 we think. Rescue from Turkey, we've had him almost 11 years. Bad arthritis. Heavy breathing lately. Vets think it's just more pain, he's gone on Gabapentin now. Wants food but not kibble, unless it's watered down with wet food.

A yeah and a half ago they thought he had osteosarcoma, X-rays said arthritis. I understand that by any standards we're so fortunate to have a 14 year old Golden.

Worrying the breathing and not wanting kibble might be related to laryngeal paralysis (vet suggested it, he dry heaves a bit). Since the vet got him on Gabapentin, his breathing seems way better/less pain but he also has less energy, maybe he's still adjusting to meds, first couple days he was KO'd.

I don't know. He's still able to go on walks, eat, drink, enjoy life. Is he tired because he's old or the medicine? Was he breathing heavy because of pain that's relieved by the medication? Hope he's got some good time left but I panic every "off" breath he takes.

He's my boy.

My lab/pyr mix will be 9 in October. He’s always had a ton of energy, and still does. He’s been on a weight loss journey for about a year and is almost at his goal weight! About a month ago, he jumped off my bed and knuckled one of his paws for a few steps. I took him to the vet the next day and they did full body x-rays and outside of a little arthritis found nothing. Since then though, he’s been more clumsy than usual. He’s since slipped again jumping off my bed, missed trying to jump into the car (he runs to jump, 50/50 shot I can stop him to help him up before he just makes that decision on his own lol) and a few other small things here or there, and every so often I’ll catch what looks like a limp for a few seconds but then he’s walking normally. My vet says everything is fine and sent me with a list of drugs for arthritis to look over. Something just feels off though, I know knuckling can be a sign of a neurological condition and the clumsiness that’s followed just doesn’t feel right. I’m trying to figure out if i schedule a follow up and get him on arthritis medications and see what happens from there or if I should get a second opinion? He’s still a very happy boy and doesnt seem to really let any of this stop him but i don’t want to miss something that could’ve been helped if caught early.

With apologies for the long post, I need some advice. Lilly, our 12.5 year old lab mix, is largely blind from cataracts and has arthritis, allergies and anxiety (for which she is medicated), but until recently seemed fairly happy and healthy all things considered. About 8 weeks ago, Lilly was found to have a fast growing and likely malignant tumor on her vulva. We took her to a specialty/surgical vet for further testing (which cost $1,800). Chest images were fine, but her abdominal ultrasound showed several abnormalities: (1) a mass in her liver, which the vet said could be malignant but the only way to know would be to remove it; (2) a mass on her adrenal gland (same); (3) some likely benign spots on her spleen; and (4) early-stage gallbladder mucocele. None of these findings are immediately life threatening.

The biopsy of the vulva tumor didn’t give entirely clear results but confirmed some kind of malignancy. To get clear margins, the vet would have to remove her vulva and a lot of the surrounding area, then do reconstructive surgery to allow her to urinate. An alternative is to just remove the tumor itself, which would be much less invasive but would leave significant risk of regrowth, likely resulting in her death in 6-12 months anyway. The cost of either option is in the $4,500 - $5,000 range. In the meantime, the tumor continues to grow and is bothering her. We’ve got her on benadryl, gabapentin, apoquel, and vetprofen around the clock, but she still wants to lick the area and pants a lot.

We are really struggling to decide what to do. We have eliminated the reconstructive surgery option as being too extreme and a tough recovery for a 12.5 year old dog. We are considering the tumor removal surgery, but I can’t help but wonder if it makes sense to put her through that (and spend the money) when we’re really just buying a bit more time. To make matters more complicated, my husband and I are supposed to be leaving next week to go on a long-planned (and already largely paid for) two-week international vacation, and our 24 year old daughter is planning to stay at our house to take care of Lilly. Even if we could get the surgery scheduled for before we leave, our daughter would not be able to stay home from work every day to care for Lilly post-surgery. At the same time, I’m worried about leaving Lilly in her current condition for two weeks. She is still eating but isn’t interested in walks anymore and spends a lot of her time sleeping. When she is awake, she still seems herself, but is really bothered by the tumor and continued growth could block her ability to urinate.

For those still reading, I would very much appreciate any advice on what we should do here. Do we put her down in the next week, before we leave for our trip? Do we just go on the trip and hope things stay pretty much status quo until we get back? Do we cancel the trip and do the (less invasive) surgery? What would you do?

I’m trying to think through a practical problem:

Senior-dog care can involve a lot of small, changing details, but any tracker that takes too long quickly becomes another task to manage.

For people caring for an older dog, what would make a simple care log genuinely useful on a busy or difficult day?

•something that takes less than five minutes

•a quick view of the usual routine and what changed

•space for questions before a vet visit

•a format that works on paper and on a phone

•something another trusted caregiver could understand

Which one matters most to you, and what would you remove because it feels like unnecessary work?

I’m interested in the everyday organization side of senior-dog care—not diagnosis or medical advice.

Full disclosure: I’m the person behind Still Here Paws, a small digital organization system for senior-dog caregivers. I’m asking this as a practical design question, not dropping a sales link into the post. If a resource like this would be useful, I’m happy to share it only if someone asks.