Not the first post from her vacation, nor the last but the pictures from there make me happy and I hope they can make others smile, too.

It's so nice to see her roam free outdoors there, and rest when and where she wants. That's a luxury she doesn't have at home.

We miss you and love you Tuna bear ❤️

Yesterday was the day I had to say goodbye to my old man. He was 15.5 years old. I’ve had him since I was 19 years old and I’m 34 now. Such a long time with the most amazing dog in the world and now idk what I do. He grew up with me, he’s saved me more times than I can count. I just want my dog back, yall. I miss him so much it hurts.

Edit: I understand the sentiment behind the suggestions of getting another dog, or fostering. I have my boyfriend’s dog, and my two cats I can still love on. I don’t have the time, or energy right now to foster or adopt a new dog. I don’t even have enough energy to get through the day right now or to feed myself. I have to get through this one day at a time and when the time is right, I’ll allow a dog to come back into my life that I can pour my all into again 🖤

The account was removed before we could send out Thank Yous! Most people did NOT write their names on the gift receipts, but, please contact us if you send something!

This is our last morning together (yesterday). I made a post two nights ago about thinking it was time, and I was right.

Yesterday morning after we went outside, he looked at me and I knew. The look I was so nervous and obsession about seeing, was right there in front of me.

We had someone come to the house, take his paw print and allow our other dog to be there as well. It was the worst day of my life, the pain is unbearable, and the love is so worth it. I don't know how I'll live without him, but I will figure it out. 14 years is amazing for a big ole boy like him, and I am so honored to be his momma for 10 of them. He came out of the woods, covered in ticks having no idea what his life would hold, and he just became the happiest pumpkin you ever did see. I always wondered if soul dogs were real, because I was assuming we'd all have multiple dogs in our lives, but I really know now. He was and is my soul dog. He was with me through my 20s and we formed together as full beings. He's my partner and I'll love him forever.

My dog Chili is 14 years and 9 months old. She has been suffering from severe dementia symptoms for the last seven months. She is especially scared outside and we don't go out anymore, only for her doing her business. She eats with gusto. But she has extreme restlessness, can't sleep properly. She also has other health issues but the restlessness is very difficult to manage. Only theanine works (she doesn't tolerate any chemical medication like gabapentin). Hericium worked for a few weeks. But right now I feel desperate because her symptoms are getting harder to manage by the day. She also can't stay alone, gets extreme panic attacks if I leave her alone. So I'm not leaving her alone. I'm her sole caregiver so after seven months of always staying with her in our apartment that doesn't have a garden or a balcony is taking its toll on me. My sister visits us twice a week and Chili still recognizes her. But meeting everyone else stresses her out enormously so I had to tell people not to come over.

She still seems to be content in her own little world. But her quality of life is pretty non existent at this point. She doesn't seem to be in severe pain though which is the reason why I haven't put her to sleep yet.

Dementia is such a horrible illness.

I just needed to vent. Thank you for reading this and I'm grateful for this community here on reddit.

Indy will be tuning 15 in less than a few weeks, still up for a 1.5mi morning walk.

Showing off the scraped up eyebrow he got chasing bunnies last week

my first ever, and still greatest christmas present . theres a 13 day period every year where we’re the same age and that so magical to me

I rescued my old doggie a few years ago and when it gets hot he begins to have strange behavior. He will go into the dirt and just lay in the dirt. Is this normal behavior or should I be worried? He has a heart condition and normally stays inside but since he was a stray and most likely had always been on the street he prefers being outside when he can. None of my other dogs do this so I wanted to make sure

I'm still in disbelief honestly. I was walking my dogs and I see one chihuahua bolt from its house and make a bee line right towards us. That dog sniffs us so I think all is cool. Then the second one comes a-racin at us and bites her on the leg!

The little fucker was 5 lbs soaking wet compared to her, 24 lbs, and her brother 70 lbs right next to her. Those little dogs have a lot of guts to be so stupid. Obviously I shouted at them and I had to kick the air around them to keep the dogs from trying again because there is only so much this little girl will take before she will defend herself, and rightly so. The owner slowly meandered over and didn't even acknowledge me hardly.

If I want to report the bite, I have to go to the police station to start the process. That seems like a lot of work for something that I'm not sure even had teeth because her leg was completely unscathed. But I am now carrying my air horn with me again. Opal is going to be 18 in December and her age is catching up to her in general but she is completely fine. I have a feeling she is not going to be very friendly around little taco bell style chihuahuas anymore, though.

Absolutely no respect for the elderly out here on the streets!!!

I was pointed to this sub and wanted animal lovers to know how wonderful she was.

I look forward to contributing more to this sub

As I’m writing this, my chest feels tight and my tears will not stop. They just burst out of nowhere. I can’t sleep and eating is a nonnegotiable. I honestly thought I’d be doing better because it’s been coming for a while.

Dashy is 13 years and 2 months. I’ve had him since he was 6 weeks old. It seems like he’s had ibd for as long as I can remember but 5 years ago he was diagnosed with cushings. Shortly thereafter, hypothyroidism, anxiety and a mild heart murmur. After a routine yearly “old man” blood and urine visit, I received a call from our veterinarian. It was October 19, 2023. She called to let me know that she wanted me to take him to an oncologist because she was fairly certain he had cancer in his bladder.

After visiting the oncologist, it was confirmed that he had inoperable transitional cell carcinoma. I won’t go into details about the oncologist because it makes me furious but we thought we only had 6-9 months left with him. (He’s never been back to the oncologist btw)

Since then, I have obsessed over whether he has a full stream or not. Just constant monitoring. I think when you have a part of you that is terminal, you don’t really realize how much things have changed until it smacks you right in the face. You’re so worried about medications and appointments and every little change in their behavior that you just keep your head down and ensure they are not in pain and still living a good life.

He’s a super high energy dog and toy driven like a madman! He loves everyone in our home but since we brought him home, he chose me as his person. I’m so grateful for this. He has been by my side, steady and unwavering since day one. Fortunately, the tumor was very slow growing and with daily peroxicam, it stayed that way for a good long time.

Until June of last year, he hadn’t had any blood in his urine which is usually how people find out their baby has cancer. He started very light spotting here and there and we were told it’s when the tumor moves that it bleeds. I started to ask the vet how I’ll know when it’s time, even back then. She said the chances of a blockage were low but that she was sure he’d let me know. About 3 months ago his anxiety had him vomiting after vet visits for his pain shot for spinal stenosis. He hates the vets office and now he was going monthly.

Before then, you would have zero clue that he had anything wrong with him. This is also when he decided that he hated his prescribed food (Sign #1). He would also have days where the blood would be all over the house. Spots everywhere (Sign # 2) He had always made life difficult in regard to giving him his meds. He’d find his medicine no matter what I put it in. I was spending between $30 and $50 a day on different burgers or groceries to try to find something he’d take for 2 days until he realized meds were in it. He’s never been food driven so it made it difficult from the start because he’s so finicky. By 3 1/2 weeks ago at his vet appointment, the vet decided to check the size after I said he has a full stream but he keeps trying to urinate after he’s done like when you have a uti (Sign #3).

I found out that the tumor had grown exponentially, hence the amount of blood prior, and now almost filled his bladder when fully expelled. As I’m writing this and reading it, I know people may think “well yeah, duh! Of course these were signs you idiot!” But until it became impossible to give him treats with meds (Final sign), I was completely focused on daily care that soon became hourly. I have a whiteboard on my fridge with every medication and dosage amount with times and boxes to cross out. It kept me on track and anyone else in my home aware of what he needed and when. Vet appointments were listed too. I had my phone alarm set at all hours because some of his meds would change times if he refused the pill.

The day before his final vet appt, July 16th, he refused food and treats. That was it. That was the day I knew we wouldn’t make him any further appointments. I feel so connected to this amazing being and I was so deep into what he needed and when that I didn’t step back and look at this nightmare of a whiteboard. Seriously, what was I thinking?!

Since Friday (after his pain shot), the only meds he’s had are Emprev (I asked my vet for this instead of zofran because it’s once a day) for nausea and gabapentin. My oldest daughter comes over and plays with him and administers his pills. It’s quick and he’s not shaking afterward like when I did it. He’s been eating fresh cooked salmon and rice and his favorite beef treats. The Emprev helps the ibd so he can keep it down and eat as much as he wants. I made teeny (pill sized) football shaped turkey balls to give as treats and to use, in case she’s late or can’t make it in time to give him his meds. It’s once a day so it’s not been an issue.

After reading this, I’m almost embarrassed to post it but I need somewhere to get it out. To have it documented that he was here. He’s still very much here. He’s snoring away right by my foot. Anyway, I called Lap of Love and the woman on the phone said “oh, you called us on the same day exactly one year ago for information on pricing for Kopi.” I knew August 1st was the 1 year anniversary but had no idea when I had started calling for information. I had been grieving him so much that dates, outside of the final date, were wiped away.

Wednesday at 5pm is going to change my life forever and destroy my heart.

Mommy loves you Dashy. You have been the best snuggle bean on the planet and my life has been so much better since the day you arrived. I’m so sorry about all of this and I hope you know that I tried everything I could to keep us together for as long as possible but you deserve to go out on a good day and those bad days are starting to far outweigh the good. I will be with you until the end and I’ll carry you with me for the rest of my life. It’s almost ni-night time, Beanie.

When physical mobility slows down, it's super easy for senior dogs to get bored or anxious. I've been trying to focus more on "mental exercise" instead of long walks.
Frozen Greek yogurt or pumpkin puree keeps them busy and calms anxiety.
Extremely slow walks where they just sniff whatever they want. 10 mins of sniffing burns way more brain energy than a fast walk!
How do you keep your golden agers mentally stimulated when their bodies start slowing down?

Half the weight, twice the joy! What a sweet dog, and as cute as he was, Juggles needed to lose weight ASAP when he came in 2025. His backstory? His guardian was no longer able to care for themselves or for him. The guardian had started to become forgetful and would unknowingly overfeed their faithful companion. Their vet said the dog was dangerously overweight and needed to be in someone else's care.
At Muttville.org, Juggles was placed in foster care, where he began his weight loss journey. This happy, friendly boy loved toddling from room to room to be near his foster mom. "He is really into walking around," his foster reported, "I'm sure he's going to be doing doggie pilates in no time."
Just a few days after he arrived, Juggles found his forever home! His loving new parents were committed to getting him to a healthy weight. They renamed him Hockey, and recently, they sent an update about his progress.

Adopt a senior dog at Muttville.org in San Francisco or near you on petfinder.com

13 years of love from this baby. He watched me graduate middle school, high school, and finally watched me graduation from my rad tech program 3 days ago. It’s like he was waiting until then :’(

He suddenly couldn’t use his legs yesterday morning. Couldn’t control his bladder, was shaking like a leaf. We made the difficult decision to put him down. But we were with him. I find peace in that

He's 12 now. We lost his sister(last pic) 4/17/25. I actually posted about her dementia the month it happened.
Anyway. I feel sick thinking about losing him too. We adopted a puppy and she's kept him young(2nd pic) - he's the most active he's been in years. He's got lumps and bumps everywhere but so far harmless. I love him, but my heart hurts for my baby girl every day. I think I unintentionally distance myself because I don't want to hurt when he's gone(although I know that's impossible).

Betty is announcing that her 17th birthday is 1 month from today on August 20th. Shes making the announcement so that people are getting ready to shower her witg expensive gifts and filet minon.

15 years old. Had her from 8-23. I’m so heart broken. She was blind,deaf, and had dementia, and last Monday she very steeply declined and we decided it was time as she wouldn’t eat or stand up. I feel so lost without her, she was there for me through so many things and I feel like I’m missing a part of me without her. I asked the doctor to potentially have one of her teeth and my parents got it in the mail yesterday with her ashes. I think I wanna make a necklace out of it or something. I just feel so distraught and helpless, she was truly apart of our family and it just doesn’t feel right without her. Sorry for being so sad, I know she lived a long beautiful life but selfishly I wish she could’ve lived forever.

Just to clear up some questions about Buster’s face:
Before I adopted Buster at 10 years old, he was abused and his previous owners broke his jaw. That’s why one side of his face looks swollen, but it isn’t actually swollen.
We’ve seen multiple veterinarians over the years, and they all agree that since it doesn’t cause him pain or affect his quality of life, surgery isn’t necessary—especially considering he’s 19½ years old and has a heart murmur.
Thankfully, it has never slowed him down, and he’s still enjoying life every day. ❤️🐾

On Saturday it will have been 11 years since I met my darling boy when he was exactly 6 months old. He didn't come from the best circumstances and neither did I. We've navigated a lot of stuff together. I have no words to express how much I love him. His heart has been giving us a hard time for a couple of years but he's still so sweet and loving and funny and silly. I'm so lucky that he's in my life.