Discussion
My working cocker will be 13 in a few months & is starting to show his age in certain ways.
After advice on here he has been on YuMove for nearly a year which is helping his arthritis, he will still walk for miles given the chance but we restrict his exercise & try to keep him warmer & drier than years gone by. Not sure if it's his hearing or not but he definitely takes longer to respond to verbal or whistle commands now, he's still Ok with hand signals.
He is getting grumpier, his hearing & sight seem to be deteriorating & because of this he can get funny if anybody catches him off guard, thankfully the kids are old enough to understand this & treat him accordingly. He takes ages to settle in the evening then take ages to wake up again to put him to bed!
I've been around dogs for nearly 35yrs but due to various reasons I've never been around an older dog on a daily basis before, what do I have to expect in the coming years?!
We've shared a lot of moments over the years, just want to do right by him in his twilight years.
After advice on here he has been on YuMove for nearly a year which is helping his arthritis, he will still walk for miles given the chance but we restrict his exercise & try to keep him warmer & drier than years gone by. Not sure if it's his hearing or not but he definitely takes longer to respond to verbal or whistle commands now, he's still Ok with hand signals.
He is getting grumpier, his hearing & sight seem to be deteriorating & because of this he can get funny if anybody catches him off guard, thankfully the kids are old enough to understand this & treat him accordingly. He takes ages to settle in the evening then take ages to wake up again to put him to bed!
I've been around dogs for nearly 35yrs but due to various reasons I've never been around an older dog on a daily basis before, what do I have to expect in the coming years?!
We've shared a lot of moments over the years, just want to do right by him in his twilight years.
moorx said:
Something else I've shared before:
http://ubertoolcomic.com/?comic=no-97
Warning - it may make you cry....
Lucky I'm alone in this suddenly dusty office...http://ubertoolcomic.com/?comic=no-97
Warning - it may make you cry....
Well, he got rushed to Vets at lunchtime, started swaying from side to side & walking funnily.
Vet gave him a thorough checkover & said he doesn't know where his back feet are, hence he's walking funnily. Thinks it is spine related, he goes in for x-ray on Monday morning. Had metacam injection today & metacam to start tomorrow.
So, so hard, love this dog so much, been in bits all day. We collected a new rescue cat this morning so it's been a full on, very strange day (not to mention, expensive!).
Vet gave him a thorough checkover & said he doesn't know where his back feet are, hence he's walking funnily. Thinks it is spine related, he goes in for x-ray on Monday morning. Had metacam injection today & metacam to start tomorrow.
So, so hard, love this dog so much, been in bits all day. We collected a new rescue cat this morning so it's been a full on, very strange day (not to mention, expensive!).
After neck, spine & hip X-Rays yesterday the Vet thinks we're looking at a slipped disc, he was x rayed a few months ago & there is a small difference between then & now. He said that because spaniels are so stoical we would never have realised even if he has been in pain for a while.
He also told us it could be an embolism or soft tissue tumour but they were less likely. Said the only way to be sure was an MRI, at £1500+ on an uninsured dog that slips a long way down the list of options!
He's on metacam & rest and goes back to the Vets on Friday.
He also told us it could be an embolism or soft tissue tumour but they were less likely. Said the only way to be sure was an MRI, at £1500+ on an uninsured dog that slips a long way down the list of options!
He's on metacam & rest and goes back to the Vets on Friday.
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