Our old rescue dog is suddenly not eating, and there’s no obvious cause. She’s sad and hopeful all at once, in case we can fix it. To try to remember how old she is so we can tell the vet we search back to the day she came to us at “about four, maybe”. She made us better people and she always has.
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@kate Hugs to you and the pooch
Really appreciate all the kindness here. Elderly dog is overnighting at the vet, who can’t figure it out. She now has a swollen face and her back legs are not working, and our hopes rest on the vet’s best technical advice: “let’s hope she perks up”. So the good news is that it’s none of the big obvious things, and the less good news it’s not clear what it is.
It feels like a small calamity in the face of the world’s immense catastrophe, but also quite big for us.
Elderly dog has progressed to surgery. No one can figure it out but the current hypothesis is that she’s eaten a stick.
“Labradors. They eat everything,” said the vet sympathetically, like Richard Dreyfus who has found a Florida license plate in the guts of a dead shark.
Waiting really is the hard part.
Elderly dog made friends with everyone at the vet and has come home shaved and wobbly but ok. No one knows what it was (nothing found stuck inside her) and now we just focus on quiet recovery.
Now she’s here snoozing at my feet, I’m thinking about why she’s here at all when I’m such a cat person. She came into our lives when we had gone through messy and protracted trauma. Unexpectedly this traumatised little dog needed rescuing just as we did. She had no experience in ordinary dog things like walking. We taught each other that recovery could come through routine, calm and small joys. So she won’t live for ever, but we’re just so grateful that she showed up and pointed us in a direction that we could go too.
@kate
Glad she's ok. 😀
so glad she is home!! 💙
so glad she is home!! 💙
@kate Here’s hoping the surgery goes well! Fingers crossed.
And yes, as the proud human of a 50% labrador—they *do* eat everything.
@kate So sorry to hear your older puppy is so unwell. Its heartbreaking when we want so desperately to help them. Fingers crossed its 'just' a stick, and she recovers well from surgery. But, yeah, the waiting is awful.
@kate Oh goodness, sending healing thoughts for your dog and you all who love her too.
@kate far out. Hopefully she learns from this misadventure...
@kate
Hope she is okay 🫰
@kate So sorry Kate, hope they can remove the stick and all will be well!
@kate hoping for the best for elderly dog. Take care of all of you 🫂
@kate Sending big loves and all good wishes 💜
@kate It's so big, and it's okay that there are bigger ones in the world. It always felt to me like it takes up all the breathing room in my life.
I said so many times over the years that having an old pet is not for the faint of heart.
@bright_helpings I’ve had your time with Gary very much in my heart as we’ve gone through this. Also @BigGayShaun and Dottie. As Mel is the only dog I’ve lived with (I really am a cat person) I’m beyond grateful to people putting their lives with dogs out here where I can learn from them.
@kate @bright_helpings So sorry to hear of this Kate and I truly understand all the feelings around this. There's a corner of South Yorkshire that's keeping you all in mind and staying hopeful. Dogs are special creatures and the older ones bring so much to our lives.
@kate Oh no, hoping for the best
@kate Very sorry to hear that. Fingers crossed! 🤞
@kate Seems odd to click "Favourite" but please take it as a way of saying many understand what you're going through. Here's hoping for the best.
sounds so scary. hugs to you and to the doggo
@kate good luck - always worriesome when they won't eat.
@kate So sorry to hear that; crossing my fingers and hoping she recovers.
@kate Oh, I'm so sorry. Sending all good thoughts your (and her) way.
@kate oh Kate. Just popped on here and saw your post. What a beautiful face your dog has. I hope it is something you can magically fix. Hopefully there are good moments amidst the challenge.
and hugs
@kate Best wishes for you and doggie. Hope the vet finds something simple to remedy.
@kate how old do you think she is? She doesn't look old at all, no grey. I hope the vet is sympathetic and comes up with things. Our old girl has painkillers for arthritis and thyroxine. 🤞🤞
@Florapis Ah, no — that’s a photo from the day she came to us in 2018. She’s very grey now. We think she’s 12 or so. She’s had pancreatitis episodes but this doesn’t seem similar.
@kate oh no. Hope it's nothing too serious.
@david Same, but it’s never good when a labrador doesn’t eat.
