Caring for an older dog

Tranceypoo

We've had Archie for over 5.5 years now, when we got him we were told he was between 1 and 2 years old, so now he's 6.5 - 7.5 years old. I've noticed he's slowing down a bit in the last year, his muzzle is getting more grey by the day, he was always content to snooze the day away but on walks now he's definitely slowed down, I don't walk him as far as I used to, we used to do 4 or 5 miles a day, now it's about 2 to 3 miles max, spread over 2 or 3 walks. However, he's still lively when he's running around the garden with our younger dog and if I take them up to the sports pitch where I can let them off lead, but I've realised he doesn't know when to stop running he'll just keep going so I keep an eye on him and don't let him go too mad.

I'm just wondering about the best way to care for him as he gets into his twilight years, he's being fed Burns chicken and rice, I wonder if he should be on a specific 'older dog' food, he has a heart murmur (grade 2 at last check up) and will develop arthritis in his back leg eventually due to an injury he had before we got him so I wonder if I should be giving him supplements (other than a weekly tin of sardines in oil!).

He's such a big lazy loveable lump but also full of beans when he gets a chance to run around, we just want to make sure we give him everything he needs and anything that can help him be healthy for as long as possible, we do have a nice vet but I do like to get the advice and experience of other dog lovers/owners cos I think that's where you get some of the best advice!

So, any thoughts or advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated!

mymo

In my experience best to get in early and give all the help you can.
The heart murmur is probably responsible for the slowing down on walkies, it tires them quicker, as a result they exercise less and get stiffer. Vicious circle.
Joint suppliments won't do any harm, I would go for either an older dog food, or as good quality(less ingredients the better) as you can afford.
Hopefully you'll have many good years yet.

kylith

I really feel for you, my Rani is going through the same things at the moment. I'll be bringing her into the vet in the next couple of weeks to get some blood tests done as she has a suspected heart murmur, will have to figure out some way of getting a urine sample too.

It's heartbreaking to see the grey spread, but she's still full of beans and will remain boss of the house until the very end, I wager.

mymo

Just wanted to say, a heart murmur can be a problem but it can have little effect on some dogs. We had a dog growing up that had a heart murmur, he played football, swam, chased us on our bikes, was dressed up, everything a family dog should do.
I was too young to remember him being diagnosed, but I know the news wasn't good, the vet said he wouldn't make it past 9 or 10. He died during my exams, I was 16 and he was a week shy of 17. He was stiff and on heart meds the last year or so, but had a great life.
He was given cod liver oil, fresh oily fish, meat and bones, and lots of time playing with kids and walking, he got tired sometimes, so we took a break and had a cuddle.
Hope you both have many more years with you furry pals.

Tranceypoo

kylith wrote: »

It's heartbreaking to see the grey spread, but she's still full of beans and will remain boss of the house until the very end, I wager.

I have no doubt he will always be the boss!!

Mymo, he was actually diagnosed a few years ago with the heart murmu and to be honest, so far (touch wood etc etc) it hasn't had much impact or gotten any worse, it's one of those things I think, it might always be a grade 2 or might get worse as he gets older, just don't know. My last dog had cardiomyopathy and died young so I couldn't believe it when the next dog had a heart condition as well, they must seek me out!!

paultf

I have a similar situation too. Darby is 10 years old and has slowed down alot over the last year.

He had a heart scan last year and has a leaking valve. I noticed at the time he was slowing down on walks. Then he would hide if he saw his harness. He is now on heart meds.

I normally take him on short walks seperate from the other dogs. If he is off lead with the others he can't keep up and slows down very quickly. I find 30 minutes max is all he had can do and we have to walk very slowly. Also with the cold weather I sometimes put a coat on him more than before.

Not really sure if he needs them but I have him on joint care supplements. I get a big jar of Yumove (green lipped mussel) from Amazon. Sometimes he can be slow getting up from a lying position.

Food wise he is on Burns too. He likes that food so I don't really want to change. I started recently getting Burns moist food from Zooplus and I mix it with the kibble. He gets this twice a week as a treat. He loves the variety.

This winter was the first time ever that I noticed the cold affects him. In the evening time he won't budge when I open the back door if he is comfortable. So last week I got him an extra comfy bed made from sherpa fleece (which is suppose to be like wool). He likes to curl up in this. I mainly got this as I felt sorry for him - even with the heat on, he sometimes looks so frail.

I get his heart checked by the vet every 3 months and I am planning on getting another scan soon. Just to be on the safe side. Most of this is covered by insurance.

OP (and the other posters), it's hard when your dog slows down but hopefully like mymo's dog ours will keep going to a good age.

kylith

Ra says "Who you calling old?"

toadfly

Aw TP its hard isnt it. We have Ozzie 3 years now and we were told he was around 5 when we got him. Hes still flying around the place and putting Lexi in her place! He is on Barking Heads fusspot with an odd raw meal thrown in.

We had all the bloods done on him about 6 months ago and everything came back fine so fingers crossed he will be around for a long time to come.

Pinklady11

Would also consider a new bed. I had similar thoughts recently as i have a Lab and he is almost 7 now. He's very active and healthy but as he is a big heavy dog and it's common for Labs to suffer from arthritis so I thought a big comfy bed with better support was in order.

Got this one from zooplus....

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_beds_baskets/square/238961

He absolutely loves it and looks so much more comfy as you will see from this pic! This was taken 15mins after he got the bed!!!

HPIM1371.JPG

angeldaisy

My collie will be 11 this year and is still fairly active, he's a little more anti-social but that's about it really.
He's always been a big fraidy cat and this is probably getting worse.

I got him a new bed but he still lies on the floor a lot of the time, he has 2 favourite spots outside, one at the front of the house and one at the back - both on bare concrete.

He hasn't really had anything special food wise, although I'm trying to start him on fish oils, but he's not that keen.

He is still well able to keep up with our 2yr old jrt on walks and loves a game of play fighting.

Health wise he's pretty good - had a haemgioma(?) removed from his chest last year but recovered well.
Long may good health continue, I think his dad lived until he was at least 15 so hopefully we've a good few years to go yet.

Tranceypoo

THanks for that link PinkLady, that bed looks great I'll have to save up some euro's though! Love the pic of your dog on it, so sweet! Do you have another bed under it, it looks like the one I have under the dogs bed on the floor, a square of 'memory foam' that I got from Aldi ages ago!!

To be honest, Arch loves the sofa more than anything and we have a sofa in the kitchen as well as their dog bed (which the cat mainly uses!)

coathanger

kylith wrote: »

Ra says "Who you calling old?"

Love this pic!Rani is the image of my Dads dog Tyson who will be 15 in May(touch wood) he has breathing problems,but on his good days he is mad to go for walks,but we just go for little walks,he has perfect vision,but is stone deaf...His nickname is the "Boss" because he is the Boss:D,where would we be without our furry friends:)

kylith

coathanger wrote: »

Love this pic!Rani is the image of my Dads dog Tyson who will be 15 in May(touch wood) he has breathing problems,but on his good days he is mad to go for walks,but we just go for little walks,he has perfect vision,but is stone deaf...His nickname is the "Boss" because he is the Boss:D,where would we be without our furry friends:)

Who knows, they could be related; the vet usually puts Rani's age as '13ish'. We call her The Tiny Tyrant.

grumpyboot

my dog has similar problem over last 4 yrs distance she can tolerate has reduced significantly andin the last six months can only walk daily if walks are shorter than 40 mins or under if she walks for the hour she refuses to go out front door the next day. however im now concerned as she has just come into heat and completely gone of her food usually she only goes off her dry food for couple days but would eat her meat food we would cook her fish and shed eat that no bother and go back to dry food again after day or two but since yesterday she wont even touch this is drinking plenty of water but im really struggling to get her to eat any suggestions????

anniehoo

grumpyboot wrote: »

im really struggling to get her to eat any suggestions????

Hi grumpyboot welcome to the forum. If you can help us out with some further info then we might be able to help you a bit with some advice:

• How old is she
• What breed is she
• When was her last veterinary check up
• Does she have dental problems
• What food are you feeding her and how often
• Is she stiff/slow when getting up from sleeping
• Does she have any current medical conditions that you know of

Deank

Pinklady11 wrote: »

Would also consider a new bed. I had similar thoughts recently as i have a Lab and he is almost 7 now. He's very active and healthy but as he is a big heavy dog and it's common for Labs to suffer from arthritis so I thought a big comfy bed with better support was in order.

Got this one from zooplus....

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_beds_baskets/square/238961

He absolutely loves it and looks so much more comfy as you will see from this pic! This was taken 15mins after he got the bed!!!

HPIM1371.JPG

I have 2 Labs both in their latter years, 8 and 9 and every bed I given them the buggers have minced, and still do. They only sleep on old duvets now and love it, but one is creaking a bit at the hips (no arthritis, thankfully), I was looking for a bullet proof orthopedic and chew proof bed they won't chew to bits, both of them still think they're puppy's even though my Choc Labs mussel has more grey than brown, and my Yellow lab looks like he's wearing shades, more Grey than Yellow.
Anyway with a bit of luck I'll get another 4 to 5 years out of them...