Old Dog Care Tips to Prevent Silent Suffering | Mary Gardner, DVM

[@Moongazer17]

Mary is always such a calm voice and bright light for those of us who struggle with stressing out about the health and well-being of our older pets. She really is an angel!💜

[@karencrecco2922]

It is a kindness to put an end to their suffering. I loved all my pets, but NEVER let them suffer!

[@jsherwood26]

Oh my goodness, I cried at minute 48. That's exactly what we did with our puggle almost a year ago. We knew we could have kept him a little longer, but he was already suffering and we refused to let it get any worse for him. I loved when she said she suffered so the dog wouldn't have to because that is exactly it. It's so hard to do but I know he's ok and the others we have said good bye to now.

[@nonasings]

I think knowing when to let them go, rather than keeping them around just to make YOU happy is super important… you have to consider the consequences of that for the dog.

[@Jupefires]

I’m 65 and I grew up in the country and we had all kinds of animals. Our dogs lived well into their teens and some over 20 years. They didn’t have cancer or other diseases. Something is very wrong with what our animals eat and the vaccinations they are injected with.

[@marielevin6001]

My dog is blind and too tiny for a halo. She’s around 6 lbs. She’s also deaf and loosing her sense of smell. She sleeps about 22 hours and in diapers. Lily will turn 16 in 5 weeks.

[@marielevin6001]

My Mindy will be turning 15 in 5 weeks and was total high energy. Last year she lost 85% of body weight, fur and energy. Found a sarcoma between small and large intestines. I changed her food and within a week her energy was back, the next week her weight was starting to come back the next week. Her fur started to grow. I thought we were out of the woods until it flared up just three weeks ago. She started with heavy diarrhea lack of appetite and was in a lot of pain. We took her to the emergency room where they made her comfortable and took an x-ray. Monday I took her to her vet and they did an ultrasound to find that the tumor had doubled in size in this last year. There was a mild infection along with a lot of inflammation. We now have good days and bad days. Sometimes she eats breakfast sometimes she won’t. We’re doing everything we can to calm down this inflammation and hope that she will have a sense of her beautiful spirit come back. I’ve heard oil of oregano can help. Am I at the point where it’s just wishful thinking, or could my dog have another six months of joy?

[@DogCancer]

Mindy sounds like an amazing dog! Everything is possible, but as you know, her time is probably limited. Since we don't have a crystal ball, we'll say that depending upon her weight, time passes 4-7 times faster for her than for you. So you could think about her "last year" as more of "four years ago" or even "seven years ago." Similarly, your six months might be one month for her. You can find more about sarcoma specifically in our article (link below) but it's just so important to remember to cherish your time with her. You clearly are a great dog mom and have already given her TONS of time in dog-years! www.dogcancer.com/articles/types-of-dog-cancer/soft-tissue-sarcoma-in-dogs/

[@marielevin6001]

@@DogCancer I am heartbroken. Mindy did not make 15. On 10/9 I had to say goodbye. The tumor just reared it's ugly head. Her body temp was down as well as her weight. She whimpered in pain when we would pick her up. The vet said her body was shutting down and if the tumor ruptured it would be a very painful death. I honestly thought I would have her for another year. She was so full of spunk, so happy. In a matter of 4 days, I had to let her go. I'm still in denial and very sad over this. RIP Mindy.

[@2dodger2]

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