Old Molly, is still going so far. Seems to be getting used to her new place, she eats walks all around in her pen, then goes back into her dog house, crawls up on her soft bed, and sleeps for hours. Each day after she's eaten and slept for a while, we let her around to the front porch, for a little, then let her walk to the mailbox and back with us. At night she goes into her house to sleep on her own, and up walking or sitting in her yard waiting to be fed the next morning, and not barking like she used to. I've never seen any dog drink more water than her, she seems to love it most.
I have thought the same, Beth, our gran daughters dog does and she said he drank a lot of water so took him to the vet, and they put him on insulin shots, so they administer those to him regularly. So Molly being almost 18 now, I thought to maybe let her drink the water instead of sticking a bunch of holes into her every day. Not sure if that's right or not to do. Goes back to my earlier post about all the emotions you go through, when you're old.
I bet that was a wonderful experience. I loved the few times I got to dive. Did you go diving? I bet the Caribbean is really beautiful.
Molly, made it through the night and she had eaten pretty well yesterday, but none so far today, and seems to be getting weaker, and less coordinated each day. I had to come back and edit this; it's weird after I posted this I went out to see if she would eat and she jumped out of the dog house and almost jogged around her pen 4 or 5 times, and started drinking her water. She never ceases to amaze me. Kinda like; the energizer bunny or something.
Still not eating, Marie was saying; before some go they have a burst of energy. Not sure It's tiring me out though, and not sure if I'm doing the right thing or not. I had to help her up in the house just twenty minutes before she took her laps around the pen. She was down in the dog house, at the door and struggling trying to get up, but couldn't; so I helped her up, to try and get her to eat, and then she flew around. Plants are growing fast and will have to do more transplanting on them. I can see them grow they doing it so fast.
She ate, just about a minute ago, chicken and rice, for the last three or four days she's been stressed and having diarrhea from being placed outside, "I think". Usually, her stool is hard, but ever since we put her outside she's had diarrhea, so figured rice with chicken may help that. She finally let me know she was ready to eat tonight and had drunk a pint of water all day, she's gone back into her house and lying down now. It's so hard to deal with an old dog, who has been a loyal companion for 18 years, but in the end, you want to be faithful to her, and make things as comfortable as possible. Not the best subject when it's about a dog and the hard things you have to do in the end. We had Fred for fourteen years and Ester for fourteen, and Ester died, and Fred lost it after that, and was down not moving and sick after the death of her, so we thought he was done for and put him down, it broke our hearts putting him down. Marie thought she was going to have a heart attack, and I felt no better. After that we decided; never again. So when Alice was 19 years old she got sick and we didn't have her put down, but it got to where I was having to walk her with a sling, seven times a day and after watching her suffer to death, I'm not so sure which is the most humane way to deal with your pets; when they come to their end. What do you think?
I'm sorry to hear of Molly's problems. Ups and downs concerning pet health are upsetting. Hope she snaps out of it soon, Jake. I think staying hydrated is VERY important. If she has diarrhea and is not drinking it may be the problem. They get weak. Kidneys don't function as well. Causes a chain reaction. Pull up the skin around the back of the neck and see if it snaps back, or stays pulled out. If it doesn't snap back it could be a sign of dehydration.
It is always hard to know when is the right time to make a decision with a beloved older pet. Just letting them fall asleep in their bed and not wake up is maybe the ideal, but that does not always happen, and then we have to decide when we are helping and when we are not, by keeping them alive just because we love them, and not because the pet is enjoying a quality of life. With my Chipper, I kept him until I could hear him making little crying noises and he seemed like he was hurting and he didn’t have any enjoyment of life left. It broke my heart, but I didn’t want him to suffer, and if he was going to whimper because he felt bad, then it was time to take him to the vet and put him to sleep, for his sake.
Thank you for the reply, Nancy. She's almost 18 years old now, so I don't see her snapping out of it. Her best days, I think are gone, and it's just a hard road to hold here on out. She drinks lots of water and always has. May have diabetes not sure, she's skinny. It's always a roller coaster ride when they're this old, and headed for greener pasters, so to speak. All I can do is, do the best for her until she passes, at this point and time, I guess. Just thought I would ask if anyone on here, had any advice about dealing with an old dying dog, that may help make things be better for everyone.
I'm sorry what you are going through, Jake. I got confused with all the ups and downs. My advice? If you're absolutely sure she's never going to snap out of it, better sooner than later. I had a bad experience with our first dog when I was a child. My father just let him die gradually. Refused to have him put down. It was probably cancer. It was awful to watch him waste away. It lasted for days. Still bothers me.
Molly is a large dog breed Weimaraner mix maybe Greyhound. She use to weigh 65-70lbs. Large dogs don't usually live this long. She is hard for us to lift, especially me. She is skin and bones but then, last year so am I. She is in the doghouse outside her and her female sibling shared since 8wk old puppies. It is a large doghouse and filled with cedar shavings to deter bugs and critters. We made a large pen for her to have room to potty and walk around. She loves to look out the side window of her house and bark. I just heated a towel and Jake put it on her, she loves heated towels after dark, tonight will be chilly 45 so we may need to turn on her heated bed pad. There is an outdoor plug a few inches from her doghouse.
That's what I'm talking about, figuring out what you should do, it is so hard when dealing with a pet you love. As I had posted before, she had had a couple of strokes, and I was sure she was she was dying. Then she sprang back, for about two more years; so it's taking a toll on me, thinking this is it, "well" maybe not. We had her in the bathroom until just a few days ago, she kept waking me all hours of the night until I had to put her out in the yard, so I couldn't hear her shrill bark, which woke me up at all hours of the night, so I could finally get some sleep. Like you said it's really hard. You know that you doing the best you can, for them, but still feel guilty anyway. She doesn't whine or act like she is in pain and usually eats well and drinks lots of water, so I think she wants to live, and not hurt, so I'll wait until she gets worse. Second opinions are a good thing, so that's why I was asking y'all opinion too.