r/LabradorRetriever

Super cool guy

hi everybody! never posted on here before but i need some advice. my lab named max will be turning 13 in october and is starting to develop some health issues. he was diagnosed with laryngeal paralysis in february of this year, he coughs a lot and wheezes on occasion. yesterday he had a really bad coughing/wheezing episode so we took him to the vet. they told us about a surgery that could potentially help his throat and gave us examples of one dog who extended their life by 4 years, and another who’s life was cut short due to the surgery. we can’t decide what to do, we’re leaning towards only doing the medication that was prescribed to reduce inflammation, and not doing the surgery due to his age and declining health. overall he’s in good health, just slowed down and his back legs are getting weak. his biggest issue is this throat thing. of course they said they would do bloodwork before to confirm he’s eligible for the surgery and make sure there’s no underlying issues. i really need advice from other people who have had to make this decision. i need an outside perspective bc this is my childhood dog, we got him when i was 8, so im trying to make a decision that’s best for him and not me if that makes sense. this is the first big decision we’ve had to make based on his age. thanks in advance for any advice given.

Last week I made a late night post about whether pets should have pen pals.

I honestly expected everyone to tell me I was sleep deprived (I probably still am…) but one person said they’d actually use something like it. So I spent the last week building the first version! They also suggested we use this community to get feedback, so here I am!

It’s called MyTailMail!

The idea is:
• Dogs (or cats!) get matched with another dog/cat
• Owners send/receive letters, photos, postcards and little surprises (toys, treats, etc) while keeping addresses private (MyTailMail does the shipping)
• Pets collect custom digital stamps with their new pen pals over time

Right now it’s just a waitlist because I want to see if enough people actually want this before building the full platform.

https://mytailmail.com

I’d really appreciate honest feedback from other pet parents, even if you think it’s a terrible idea! What would make this something you’d actually use? Would anyone be interested in doing a beta test exchange??

Thanks all!

Kicking off summer the right way.