aging animals

[impure]

my girlfriend ixtla has 3 wonderful dogs.
the last time i saw them was in march when i left new mexico for seattle.
when i arrived back at the ranch here a few days ago, i was shocked to see max, her 15yr old yellow lab. when i left albuquerque he was chasing balls and looking excellent for his age.
she had mentioned something about his leg being swollen.
but wow.
his elbow looks like it has a huge tumor on it, and he hops around because he wont walk on it.
he's lost so much weight, everything is sunk in and his little bones stick out.

i feel terrible for him.
she loves him to death and has had him his whole life.
she took him to the vet yesterday and they said it's either valley fever or a tumor. they'll know if it's valley fever in 3-5 days. if it's a tumor they want to amputate but i dont think he'd survive the surgery.
she said she won't put him down and won't amputate.
i catch her hugging him on the floor talking to him sometimes.

i know she knows he's going to die.
but she doesn't want it to happen.
and she doesn't want to admit it.

he still eats and drinks but i dont know how long that'll last.
tumors never get better....

it makes me so sad.

<3 max marino

[thechix0r]

I think that's terrible... that animal should be put down... for the sake of the animal... no matter how much you love your pet, you have to look out for their best interests. He's had a long life... it's time to do the right thing.

[Vitamin-X]

Rifle with a hotdog at the end.
Makes for a quick end and a treat!

[Jingles]

I am going through a similar situation with my 18 year old cat - she's been with me my whole life and recently it becamse apparent something wasn't right. I too am still watching and waiting to find out exactly what it is - but animals past 7 years old are seniors and late into the teens they are miracles =)

My cat has been my friend, she's been on my bed and in my lap since she was 6 weeks old, she's lived in every house, met every boyfriend and felt an ocean of tears of joy and sorrow - she has been too good a friend for me to let her suffer. I don't have to make that call yet, but if I do I will say good-bye while she still has her dignity. I am sure your girlfriend doesn't want her friend to suffer either, but it is so hard to think about a life without that animal. When you know more encourage her to have a real talk to her vet about pain, quality of life and what makes semse for her friend - it may not be the easiest thing, but it's a part of being a responsible pet owner. Pets do not want to disappoint they will do their best to hide their pain for you - we have to make the hard choices for them

Best wishes.

[t-skywalker]

its so hard to let go sometimes, i know. i hope everyhting works out:(

[christoqher]

death is a part of life. it happens..

[Jingles]

Originally Posted by christoqher

death is a part of life. it happens..

This really belittle the human experience of having a pet that is dying or a friend for that matter. Obviously death is the end of life's journey, but that is a fact it doesn't help anyone deal with the emotion of it.
I think you would find this of little comfort if you were hurting in a similar situation.

[Clayton.]

My dog is 14 years old, when i got him he was just a puppy and i was only 9 years old so i've had home more then half my life. His health is ok(could be better) his hips get stiff sometimes but it comes and goes. He to likes to chase his ball and play with his toys still. I worrie about him alot though, afraid something will happen and he'll get sick. Especially after a friend of mine's dog had to be put down recently because of heart problems.

[baby-phat]

My grandma recently put down her dog Cuddles (she was a toy pomeranian), but the poor thing honestly should have been put down quite some time ago. For several years she was getting stiff from arthritis, got very grouchy, had almost all her teeth pulled and even lost her hearing and most of her eyesight- but my grandma just would not put her down, which made me really sad to see this poor little dog go through so much. She was probably in alot of pain, no wonder she was so grouchy. But I am glad that she is no longer in pain.

[impure]

max is still quite happy.
but i know it wont last long, and sometimes i swear he gives me "that look" it tears me up.
he just isn't the same dog we had in new mexico in march.
period.

[LiveOnJim]

I disagree with putting the pet down... Labs have an exceptional life span... I have one and shes a black lab shes almost 14 and runs around like the day we just got her, for old swollen joints you can give them asprin or guclosamen(sp?) which helps alot too and labs have something in there herrititary genes that causes them to get bi-nine tumors mines has them and there non cancerous.... Hey man I know someone that had a lab and the dog is 17 and still jumps around !! I disagree wholy on put the dog down let them live there life since when do we start to decide when they live or die.

[LeeBrat]

Originally Posted by thechix0r

I think that's terrible... that animal should be put down... for the sake of the animal... no matter how much you love your pet, you have to look out for their best interests. He's had a long life... it's time to do the right thing.

I agree. you really have to think of how the dog is feeling. it must be going through so much pain, i mean, how would you feel if you had a tumor?
:(at least with the vet, it could geta shot and be put down quickly and painlessly. :( aww, talking about this is so sad

[impure]

Originally Posted by LiveOnJim

I disagree with putting the pet down... Labs have an exceptional life span... I have one and shes a black lab shes almost 14 and runs around like the day we just got her, for old swollen joints you can give them asprin or guclosamen(sp?) which helps alot too and labs have something in there herrititary genes that causes them to get bi-nine tumors mines has them and there non cancerous.... Hey man I know someone that had a lab and the dog is 17 and still jumps around !! I disagree wholy on put the dog down let them live there life since when do we start to decide when they live or die.

you gotta understand that this is not swollen joints.
we have racehorses and could treat arthritis and such ourselves.
i'm fairly sure it's a tumor.
perhaps it's benign, but it impedes his way of going.
in other words, he limps.
badly.
in fact he hops.
he seems happy but we have to help him eat by holding it in our hand and making sure he doesn't just walk away and the other two dogs eat it.
that alone tells me he doesn't have much of an appetite which tells me he may not want to live much longer.
but at the same time he was always a light weight dog, he was a tireless ball player and never really had a voracious appetite. so perhaps his disintrest in food shouldn't be too alarming.

his quality of life has declined drasticaly since i saw him last.

i had to feed him his pain pills in and it made me sad.

<3 maxie

[elliot]

i had a gold fish that lived about 15 years.. (and no, it was the same one)
he had quite the personality. also my oldest cat is 20 and she is still quite healthy and cute. i think theres something in the water.

[charly]

^ all depends on the breed and any health problems they have. while it was normal for the breed of my dog to exceed 15 years, mine died when she was 11 because she was suffering from epilepsy.

so as long as their healthy they can usually live quite a while. not far off from old people. some die when they're 60, others live past 100. :P

[LEEROY CHANG!!]

hay so can i eat it

[charly]

^ only if you share it with upchuk park! :P

[wishbone]

when i saw leeroy chang's post, i was hoping for a korean bbq reference. I was mildly rewarded.