Pets

[ShinbonerBaz]

Mate, he looks really happy. Does he cope by using his other senses? I know if I scatter dry dog food onto the ground my 2 find it with their noses. After they've finished I try to find with my eyes a piece they might have missed and it's extremely rare that I find one bit.

Best of luck with Marvin.

He seems happy enough, but he was never the smartest animal in the world. He struggles a bit, but gets there in the end. Archie, the Lab who is about 80% blind too, copes heaps better, but his blindness is becoming more obvious too.

 

[ShinbonerBaz]

Our 3 dogs are still chugging on [emoji6]. Archie the Lab is 11 and 90% blind, Marvin the Pug (we have discovered he may be older than Archie, we adopted him so it's a bit uncertain) is 100% blind and our daughter's Shitzu/Bischon cross is 3 and a real little character.

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[Twinkletoes]

Our cream lab Archer unfortunately had a massive seizure in the backyard on a 39C day in January, convulsing like crazy with his head slamming into the cement path and tongue flopping about, all in front of the kids. My daughter was screaming like a horror movie scene "NOOOO ARCHIEEEEEE" through tears. I sprinted over from the other end of the backyard and tried to cradle him, pouring cold water onto his face and into his mouth as well, yelling for Mrs Toes to bring out a towel and call the Animal Emergency Hospital. Unbelievably she, at that very moment, was inside with headphones on listening to music cranked right up while vacuuming.

My son ran inside to get her attention and Arch seemed to calm down a bit in my arms.

The Hospital said to bring him in immediately so I carried him out to the car wrapped in a towel and my daughter came along for support (to carry my wallet etc tbh) and for a very tough life lesson.

It was a horrendous arvo.

The vet surgeons were fantastic, greeting us in the foyer and whisking him away to see what was going on while we waited for what seemed like forever.

It turned out he'd suffered a burst benign tumour, previously undiagnosed, and that had caused the convulsions. They could investigate further but he'd need "multiple blood transfusions" at $800 each, then an investigative operation ($4k approx) and further transfusions, followed by an operation to do the repairs if any were possible ($6-$7k).

My daughter heard all of this and asked "what does that mean dad? When can we take him home?"

Uncomfortable silence followed as I came to grips with the whole thing, knowing full well what the surgeon was trying to say gently, then I replied "he won't be coming home honey!"

The surgeon said she'd ensure he remained as pain free as possible so I could collect the rest of the family to come back and say goodbye.

F*** it was awful.

So we've lost both of our dearly loved pooches in the past few years now and are dogless for the first time in 20 years.

 

[Dan]

It's horrible when dogs go.....they are like family members.

and vets are a financial rort. It's a 24-7 price gouging of people due to an emotional attachment to their animal/pet.

 

[Twinkletoes]

It's horrible when dogs go.....they are like family members.

and vets are a financial rort. It's a 24-7 price gouging of people due to an emotional attachment to their animal/pet.

Yep, and at the end of the day the little bloke's life was extended by 7 years after I forked out $10k to have a massive tumour removed (along with half his jaw) when aged 6. We'd been through so much with him. It's gut wrenching to lose them, as inevitable as it is.

 

[hotham]

Our cream lab Archer unfortunately had a massive seizure in the backyard on a 39C day in January, convulsing like crazy with his head slamming into the cement path and tongue flopping about, all in front of the kids. My daughter was screaming like a horror movie scene "NOOOO ARCHIEEEEEE" through tears. I sprinted over from the other end of the backyard and tried to cradle him, pouring cold water onto his face and into his mouth as well, yelling for Mrs Toes to bring out a towel and call the Animal Emergency Hospital. Unbelievably she, at that very moment, was inside with headphones on listening to music cranked right up while vacuuming.

My son ran inside to get her attention and Arch seemed to calm down a bit in my arms.

The Hospital said to bring him in immediately so I carried him out to the car wrapped in a towel and my daughter came along for support (to carry my wallet etc tbh) and for a very tough life lesson.

It was a horrendous arvo.

The vet surgeons were fantastic, greeting us in the foyer and whisking him away to see what was going on while we waited for what seemed like forever.

It turned out he'd suffered a burst benign tumour, previously undiagnosed, and that had caused the convulsions. They could investigate further but he'd need "multiple blood transfusions" at $800 each, then an investigative operation ($4k approx) and further transfusions, followed by an operation to do the repairs if any were possible ($6-$7k).

My daughter heard all of this and asked "what does that mean dad? When can we take him home?"

Uncomfortable silence followed as I came to grips with the whole thing, knowing full well what the surgeon was trying to say gently, then I replied "he won't be coming home honey!"

The surgeon said she'd ensure he remained as pain free as possible so I could collect the rest of the family to come back and say goodbye.

F*** it was awful.

So we've lost both of our dearly loved pooches in the past few years now and are dogless for the first time in 20 years.

We lost out 13 yr old Shihtzu on a cold Sunday night in May 2015, having rushed him to Animal Emergency hospital. We were absolutely devastated. Still miss him around the house.

 

[Twinkletoes]

We lost out 13 yr old Shihtzu on a cold Sunday night in May 2015, having rushed him to Animal Emergency hospital. We were absolutely devastated. Still miss him around the house.

Sorry to read that mate. It is a huge loss. Losing our two has left the place far emptier than it was with them a part of the family. I still arrive home from work and have to check myself from venturing straight to the back door where they'd always be, tails wagging eagerly anticipating my return.

 

[hotham]

Sorry to read that mate. It is a huge loss. Losing our two has left the place far emptier than it was with them a part of the family. I still arrive home from work and have to check myself from venturing straight to the back door where they'd always be, tails wagging eagerly anticipating my return.

It is the routines we had with our pets that we miss. When we watched the Kangas on TV he hated the yelling / swearing, he'd leave and go to another room. His picture is on the fridge where it will always stay. We have another dog now, he is almost 2 years old. He has a totally different personality. He is funny and runs the house. He doesn't mind the yelling and the swearing when we watch the footy.

 

[Twinkletoes]

It is the routines we had with our pets that we miss. When we watched the Kangas on TV he hated the yelling / swearing, he'd leave and go to another room. His picture is on the fridge where it will always stay. We have another dog now, he is almost 2 years old. He has a totally different personality. He is funny and runs the house. He doesn't mind the yelling and the swearing when we watch the footy.

Yeah, our place has their pics throughout. Both dogs are in urns in the house as well and the kids still talk to them. Dunno when we'll be ready for another. It actually feels weird having relative freedom to go away without needing to worry about what we'll do with the dogs. We have a 19yr old cat as well but she's easy to cater for if we travel. Living on a corner as we do I'm sure the need for a dog/s will arrive again at some stage, in this day and age of ice using scumbags crawling the streets late at night.

 

[hotham]

Yeah, our place has their pics throughout. Both dogs are in urns in the house as well and the kids still talk to them. Dunno when we'll be ready for another. It actually feels weird having relative freedom to go away without needing to worry about what we'll do with the dogs. We have a 19yr old cat as well but she's easy to cater for if we travel. Living on a corner as we do I'm sure the need for a dog/s will arrive again at some stage, in this day and age of ice using scumbags crawling the streets late at night.

We have the urn tooMy mum always brings flowers to place in vase beside his urn. We were thinking about getting a new dog and the chance come by out of the blue. I think it is a good life lesson for kids to have pets, to experience loss due to the cycle of life. My other half has retired now so new four legged kid is great company. Your place sounds like a pet palace they sure do reach a very good age.

 

[Nate7]

At what point would you consider removing photos of departed pets?

I ask as I was having this very conversation about how long I've kept onto pics from a dog of mine that passed in early 2012.

 

[blackshadow]

At what point would you consider removing photos of departed pets?

I ask as I was having this very conversation about how long I've kept onto pics from a dog of mine that passed in early 2012.

I'd always keep one or two good ones.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

 

[hotham]

At what point would you consider removing photos of departed pets?

I ask as I was having this very conversation about how long I've kept onto pics from a dog of mine that passed in early 2012.

There is no harm in keeping the photos.

 

[Nate7]

I'd always keep one or two good ones.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

There is no harm in keeping the photos.

To clarify, I have one on display.

 

[Twinkletoes]

At what point would you consider removing photos of departed pets?

I ask as I was having this very conversation about how long I've kept onto pics from a dog of mine that passed in early 2012.

I'm yet to remove any.

 

[hotham]

I'm yet to remove any.

I keep photos displayed if i like to revisit the connection with person, place or animal. I still have a picture in frame of my childhood dog that was 18yrs old when he died in 1987 . There are no rules, only personal preferences.

 

[Heaps of fun]

New light of my life! (Ellen) Ripley the groodle.

 

[naturally north]

We lost a trooper today, 15.5 year old Lab Harvey just like his name sake he had a long career. The self appointed river sheriff when the kids were toddlers, we'd spend our summers on the mighty Murray and Harvey would only allow the kids to enter the river up to their ankles. Of course we were within spitting distance. He'd pull them by the back of their life jackets if they wandered to far.

He lost the use of his back legs the last few days...... well until yesterday when Bruce our ' special' choc Lab went mental when a trade turned up with his dog, Harvey dragged his arse out of bed to settle the situation. Bruce will miss his leadership, well I mean I know Bruce will miss his leadership. I will miss Harvey dobbing on Bruce for stealing food of the bench eg- a whole ****en roast!!

He'd come out and just have a look on his face like," you'd best get in the kitchen and I had nothing to do with it".

Godspeed old fella.

 

[Grogg]

Our little beast has got some sort of arse infection going on at the moment and my God if it doesn't stink! She's looking a little worse for wear, what with walking around with half a bucket rammed over her head to stop the constant licking and chewing of the aforementioned festered orifice. Whenever I hear anybody say to me "It's a dog's life....." again, I'm gonna think of little Chloe...Scooting along with her arse glued to the ground like a suction cup, bucket on head and stinking like a polecat. I'm feeling pretty sorry for her at the moment and pretty chuffed with where my life is at compared to hers.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

We lost a trooper today, 15.5 year old Lab Harvey just like his name sake he had a long career. The self appointed river sheriff when the kids were toddlers, we'd spend our summers on the mighty Murray and Harvey would only allow the kids to enter the river up to their ankles. Of course we were within spitting distance. He'd pull them by the back of their life jackets if they wandered to far.

He lost the use of his back legs the last few days...... well until yesterday when Bruce our ' special' choc Lab went mental when a trade turned up with his dog, Harvey dragged his arse out of bed to settle the situation. Bruce will miss his leadership, well I mean I know Bruce will miss his leadership. I will miss Harvey dobbing on Bruce for stealing food of the bench eg- a whole ****en roast!!

He'd come out and just have a look on his face like," you'd best get in the kitchen and I had nothing to do with it".

Godspeed old fella.

Sorry to hear NN. Dogs have an innate ability to be able to protect kids from harm. It's something special in their DNA that's for sure.

 

[rocker_oz33]

At what point would you consider removing photos of departed pets?

I ask as I was having this very conversation about how long I've kept onto pics from a dog of mine that passed in early 2012.

There is no harm in keeping the photos.

I agree no harm on keeping the photos.

My current avi is Hank passed jan 2017.

 

[Twinkletoes]

We lost a trooper today, 15.5 year old Lab Harvey just like his name sake he had a long career. The self appointed river sheriff when the kids were toddlers, we'd spend our summers on the mighty Murray and Harvey would only allow the kids to enter the river up to their ankles. Of course we were within spitting distance. He'd pull them by the back of their life jackets if they wandered to far.

He lost the use of his back legs the last few days...... well until yesterday when Bruce our ' special' choc Lab went mental when a trade turned up with his dog, Harvey dragged his arse out of bed to settle the situation. Bruce will miss his leadership, well I mean I know Bruce will miss his leadership. I will miss Harvey dobbing on Bruce for stealing food of the bench eg- a whole ****en roast!!

He'd come out and just have a look on his face like," you'd best get in the kitchen and I had nothing to do with it".

Godspeed old fella.

Sorry for your loss mate. I'm sure all of us can empathise greatly. We still can't bring ourselves to replace our now dearly departed canines.

 

[rocker_oz33]

We lost a trooper today, 15.5 year old Lab Harvey just like his name sake he had a long career. The self appointed river sheriff when the kids were toddlers, we'd spend our summers on the mighty Murray and Harvey would only allow the kids to enter the river up to their ankles. Of course we were within spitting distance. He'd pull them by the back of their life jackets if they wandered to far.

He lost the use of his back legs the last few days...... well until yesterday when Bruce our ' special' choc Lab went mental when a trade turned up with his dog, Harvey dragged his arse out of bed to settle the situation. Bruce will miss his leadership, well I mean I know Bruce will miss his leadership. I will miss Harvey dobbing on Bruce for stealing food of the bench eg- a whole ****en roast!!

He'd come out and just have a look on his face like," you'd best get in the kitchen and I had nothing to do with it".

Godspeed old fella.

Sorry for your loss mate.

 

[Nate7]

So this morning I had to have my 16 year old Oscar put down.
For weeks he'd been progressively getting worse and not responding to Ketamine or any other meds.
Mostly deaf, vision worsening and most of the time had no idea where he was or what to do next.
At the start of the week the vet said he was fighting to stay alive and doing an awesome job at that, but it became too cruel to let him continue, so this morning at 11:50am he was put to sleep.
Unlike my last dog whose heart continued after the lethal injection, Oscar passed instantly! Below is a pic from a few years back.
RIP Oz!

 

[Twinkletoes]

I'm sure most of us can empathise greatly Nate7. It's an awful time. Sorry for your loss mate.