u/Sharp-Cantaloupe-918

I'm looking for some honest advice from people who've been through this with very elderly dogs.

My little Yorkshire Terrier is around 16–17 years old. She was recently diagnosed with a grade 4 heart murmur. Over the last week or so, she's started coughing more frequently (a few times an hour at its worst), often ending in a little gag. Other than that, she's honestly still doing really well. She's bright, eating normally, gets excited for her walks, still enjoys long walks, and generally seems happy and like herself.

I took her to the vet today. They said they don't think she's in obvious congestive heart failure, and they couldn't hear fluid in her lungs, but they also said they can't tell exactly what's causing the murmur or the cough without a £500 chest X-ray. They mentioned it could be heart-related, but they can't be sure.

In the meantime, they've prescribed Libeo (furosemide) as a trial. They explained that if it helps, she'd then need regular blood tests (around £250) to monitor her kidneys because of the medication. They also warned she'll likely drink more, wee more, and there's a risk of dehydration.

This is where I'm really struggling.

My dog absolutely hates the vets. She gets incredibly distressed by visits, and at nearly 17 years old I don't know whether putting her through repeated appointments, blood tests and potentially more medication is really in her best interests.

Financially, it's also a significant amount of money, but my biggest concern isn't actually the cost. It's whether I'm doing all of this for her, or because I feel like I should.

I know heart disease is progressive, and I know no treatment is going to make her young again. Part of me wonders whether starting this cycle of:

• medication,
• monitoring,
• blood tests,
• adjusting medications,
• managing side effects,

is genuinely likely to improve her quality of life, or whether it's just prolonging the inevitable for a dog who has already lived an incredibly long and happy life.

I'm not anti-vet or anti-medication. If I thought something was likely to make her feel noticeably more comfortable, I'd absolutely consider it. I just don't know where the line is between treating symptoms to improve quality of life and putting a very elderly dog through increasingly intensive medical management.

Has anyone been in a similar situation with a dog of this age? If you chose treatment, do you feel it genuinely improved your dog's quality of life? Or if you chose to focus on comfort and monitor them instead, do you feel that was the right decision?

I'm not looking for someone to tell me what I want to hear—I genuinely want honest experiences from people who've been in this position.

Hi all as the title suggests, after moving out of a two bed rental which we lived in for one year (rent was 1350pcm), the LL is suggesting we owe £490.
The property is undamaged. The things he is trying to claim for are:

* Rust on the log burner - £75. We literally had a few fires in the winter, didn't ever have anything on top of the log burner, or spill water on it. In fact, the property was quite a damp house and we had to buy a dehumidifier to remedy this at our own cost. I don't see how we could have caused rust through 'neglecting the log burner'.

* Weeding and garden tidy up - £75. Ok so when we first got the property, there were already a few small weeds which have admittedly grown. However, the claim is £75 for literally a little 10ft long maybe 1ft wide strip of earth that runs alongside the path up to the doorway. The back garden is paved over so no weeds there.

* Saying a privacy blind is broken on the front door - £50. It's not, it was fully functioning when we left.

* Scuffs on the wall and a few holes from wall plugs - £100. When we moved in there were already nails and wall plugs, but eitherway, aren't scuffs on the wall consistent with fair wear and tear?

* Oven clean - £190. The oven probably was slightly dirtier upon return, but not awfully so. I scrubbed the oven door down myself. Surely this charge is a bit OTT, would accept some liability for it but not almost £200?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. The property really was looked after, and cleaned well on a regular basis. I know the LL was already peeved because he wanted long term tenants and we left after 1 year due to relocating.

We're looking to dispute this through our rental holding deposit agency, but wanted to ask if anyone else has had any experience with things like this. I mean, come on, rust on a log burner?!