Buddy is a little doll. My Nikki is estimated to be 19 years old. He was a rescue and then his rescuer had a stroke so I took him. He had limited sight and now 2 years later he is pretty much blind and deaf. He is still eating and does not appear to be in any pain. He went through a period of disorientation and Bon Bon was kind enough to give me Alexander's left over Anipryl. After checking with his vet she said it would be fine to give him. It did help with his restlessness. Now he is pretty much sleeping all the time except to eat. Sometimes I have to wake him up to eat. He does have kidney failure and is on KD diet. I found that leaving lights on all the time helps him maneuver better. I have 3 night lights on in my bedroom so he can get up at night to use the pee pads. My babies use a ramp and I put up a baby guard rail so that Nikki doesn't walk off the bed at night. I had to have all of Nikki's teeth removed as they rotted to the gums when found. He eats canned and kibble with no problems. Did your vet say anything about his urine being clear and no odor. If you haven't had his blood work done recently I would have his Bun and Creatine levels checked. Nikki is the oldest dog I have ever had so it is new territory to me also. I do notice that Nikki will walk up against one of my other dogs to help him navigate. Also, we have to be careful to not put anything in his way or he will bump in to it. Even doing that he will walk into my leg on occasion. As long as he is not in any pain I feel his quality of life is ok. One of my other dogs had a severely collapsed trachea at 6 and had been having difficulty with breathing. I too her to my vet and asked what I should do since none of the medicines were helping. She said she is struggling for every breath she is no longer enjoying life. So while most vets don't like to come out and tell you it's time they usually can guide you in to the right decision. I hope you can find some solutions that will help Buddy in his senior years. It is so hard to see them age. |