Multiple health issues
 

Our little 15 year old Lottie is having multiple health issues.
It started with her eye , which vet diagnosed as a tear in her cornea and gave us antibiotics drops and repair gel.
Then she had issues eating ,, then being sick and could not even keep down water so off to the emergency vet and they diagnosed gastric upset ,
Then she has been drinking lots and having problems wetting herself , back to the vet and they then give antibiotics for UTi , blood test s have been done and they say for her age her results are remarkable only slightly high of normal kidney result but ast her age that would be expected . She is feeling a bit better but her eye is not healing great she is eating , but still drinking a lot and up through the night very thirsty and needing out at least once or twice through the night .
We also have a 16 and 1/2 year old Alfie who has epilepsy and now losing his sight and hearing has gone , he seems to have developed a cough so between them both we are constantly at the vet . I’m just so worried as you can’t go in with them and have to wait outside I feel it’s more stressful for the dogs as well because your not there.
Sorry for the long post just looking for advice or ideas to ,are them as comfortable as possible in their old age.

I'm so sorry. It is very hard when they get older and they start having health issues. I do think for some dogs its is more stressful that you can't go in with them. I have to take my new puppy Dixie to the vet Tuesday and I got a carrier for her because I don't want her all over the place picking things up and getting sick but I'm terrified they are going to leave her alone and that she might put her collar in her mouth or her harness and no one will see it. Its soooo stressful. They should at least let one person in and leave the curbside option open for people who don't want to go in. I will keep you and your pups in my prayers. Sorry I don't have an advise.

Good news is the wetting seems to have stopped. Looking for advice about best way to bathe her as usually gets a bath once a fortnight but scared to get any soap in her eye ,plus the gel for her eye seems to Matt her fur around the eye dried bathing it a little but she is not happy with that.

That eye is probably very painful. Is she still on med for pain? If so, I would clean her face about an hour after giving her the pain med. Use a washcloth or sponge dipped in warm water for her face. No shampoo! If there is caked in drainage, you can lightly remove with a flea comb when it is wet.

I'm so sorry you are going through this with both your babies. Unfortunately, age brings on issues that are very upsetting to us. Wish I could help you but don't have any answers or suggestions.

Thank you for the replies , the antibiotics are finished for both the eye drops and the UTi now , just getting the repair gel in now , but she absolutely hates her face being cleaned now .
She is only on a mild painkiller as the vet did not want to give her anything stronger due to the problems with her stomach as she was very poorly, in fact I thought we might lose her !
But I will give it a try with a warm face cloth an hour after I give them ,hopefully I she will be ok with that .
She is a diva even trying to give her the pain meds in a syringe get wriggles so much as try to spit them out .

I have been using a warm face cloth and trying to bathe Lottie’s little face ,thank you Lady Jane for that advice , we are still using mild pain killers and the eye repair gel , I’m just very worried that they won’t do anymore with her eye due to her age and other health issues.

I am glad it is helping. They will do more if they have to....but will take it slow because of her age. Certainly they won't let her be in pain.

I am so sorry...it is so hard. My Teddy Bear is having issues with his other eye now and I am sick over it. He is on borrowed time as it is.

I know it’s such a worry , I just hate to think of her having issues. I also hate not being able to go in to the vets with them at the moment it’s drop off and pick up at the vets here and I find it very frustrating as I want to be with them when they are at the vets .

To be honest, I kind of like it. My pups are well known at my vet and go in willingly. My vet is very patient on the phone which helps. I treat my car like an office, making calls and bank deposits, etc. LOL
I do understand though as some people need to be there during the exam to think of questions, etc......and, some pups are more clingy than others.

My little Lottie is very clingy, Alfie not so much but even he does not like just being taken off us at the door. Mind you not sure the vet likes it either she said she had a hard time getting a cannula into Lottie, and she said even though she was very poorly she still had a lot of fight in her ,even though she is small lol .

LOL she's a yorkie!! :D

Hi been back at the vets again , this time with Alfie who is almost 17 . He has been coughing a lot lately but it has continued to get worse and was up all last night, vet says that his little heart is still strong but the collapsing trachea is deteriorating, so we are going to try a drug to see if it helps , we are limited to certain medications since he has epilepsy, so fingers crossed we get through this .

Keeping lil Alfie in my thoughts and prayers :love:

Oh my, you do have a full plate. I will keep your Alfie in my thoughts and prayers.

My prayers continue to be with you.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and support. The vet said they are running out of options but we will give this treatment a chance and depending upon the success of the medication we will re reassess his quality of life and put his comfort before ours.

Prayers for him and for you.

Hi just an update of our two little ones.
Alfie seems to managing a bit better with the new medication and we have purchased an air filter that we leave on a night , it also has a little night light as he tends to sometimes wander through the night now and his eyesight is almost gone now.
Lottie’s eye seems to be eventually healing and we are still using the repair gel and her other issues seem to have abated for now ,. So we seem to have reached a plateau where we are stable at present so fingers crossed this remains the same for some time .
I thought I would just post a wee update today .

Thank you for updating! So happy to hear things are going well!

Unfortunately we lost our precious Alfie , just shy of his 17th birthday . We were blessed to have him in our lives for so long .
Lottie is missing him .

So sorry for your loss :(.

I am so sorry for your loss.

:love:

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Thank you so much,for all your kind thoughts.

I’m sorry for your loss. Their lives are never long enough.

So sorry for your loss. Yes the remaining pups go grieve the loss of their BFF. I had a girl grieve for 7 months when she lost two BFF 6 months apart. She was the baby and my little clown, now she was withdrawn,not the same pup she was. I had to buy her a buddy, when I did I got my lil clown back. She bonded with the new puppy the minute I bought her home and set her on the floor. When she saw that puppy she ran and greeted her like she was a long lost friend, it made me cry to see how happy my little girl was.

We don't realize how the loss of a BFF affects the ones left behind :love:

Thank you for all your kind words , it helps when other people understand.

Oh, I’m sorry you lost Alfie. I’m pretty much in the same boat.
I have one little fourteen year old who has multiple health issues & is on meds for a heart condition & IBD, the latter she’s had most of her life, & then just last week she was at the vet again as I suspected ear mites. No ear mites but the vet found a small tumour in one ear. She’s on drops to try to shrink it & back at the end of the week to check on progress. I hate the regime of not being able to go in with her even though I’ve known the vet for years.
I lost my other Yorkie last year, liver cancer, still miss him like mad.
Up till three weeks ago I had another fourteen year old, a Skye Terrier, but she became very ill, very suddenly & found it was an aggressive cancer that had already caused septicaemia so within two days I had to let her go. At least the young vet who was on call, it was late at night, let me go into their garage with her where she’d put a mattress for her to lie on while I was able to cuddle her so she wasn’t alone with the vet.
I can’t understand why when my husband has been able to attend an eye clinic for injections in his eye, just masks worn, we can’t be with our little ones at the vet’s.

Meggie , I’m so sorry that your in the same boat with your little ones. I was lucky that the vet did allow me in so I was with him to the end. We never have long enough with our precious little ones.