r/SeniorDogsHealth

Hi all - my 11 year old rescue has dementia and has had it since he has been 8 ( so quite young).

He is really mixed. Sometimes he seems ok and others he is getting stuck behind doors, in the shower, shaking and looking really panicked / try’s to dig anything like the sofa or bed.

He has had the odd pee in the house with it - but nothing major.

Today we were driving home - he was having a moment so I brought him in with me. He peed on me while he was lying down and seemed totally unaware.

When is the right time? He is happy when he is ok and scared when he isn’t 🙁

My sweet baby is already 11-12 years old, she’s been always healthy and loved, but lately she’s constantly restless at night. She keeps asking to go outside, but when I take her out, she doesn’t do anything. Then she comes back inside and only settles down when I let her into my bedroom to lie on my bed with me. During the day she’s normal, sleeps in her bed and stays calm. But at nights it’s the opposite. Recently we took her to the vet and her physical exam, blood/urine tests and even an ultrasound all came back completely normal. I know this can be a initial stage of canine cognitive dysfunction, I don’t know how to deal with this, I’ll be always there for her and I’m scared that her behaviour will change, like becoming aggressive.

Hey all, looking for some advice/feedback on whether this sounds worth pushing for a vet recheck.

My 10-year-old cavapoo has coughed/hacked her whole life. It used to be maybe 2–3 times in a 24-hour period, and now it’s up to around 5 times per night. It’s definitely worse at night and when she gets excited. Seems also to be getting higher-pitched.

I took her to her vet recently, but (of course) she did not cough at the appointment, so nothing really came of it. The vet sort of off-handed mentioned that it could be tracheal collapse, so it's been on my mind since the visit. She always uses a harness on walks and rarely wears a collar at all.

No chest x-ray has been done yet, but it was mentioned at her last vet visit as something to explore if things continue. Thinking that's probably the next step.

Does this sound like tracheal collapse and something I should go back in for sooner rather than later? And is there anything helpful/safe we can do at home in the meantime. Thanks to any and all!

Additional information:

--Female Cavapoo, spayed

--10 years old (will be 11 in Sept)

--Recent fluctuation in weight (has been roughly 17 lbs her adult life, but has gained weight due to diet change)

--Otherwise has been healthy her entire life

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.

We have a little teacup Yorkie, six years old, about 5 pounds. She’s a rescue from a family who all went their separate ways to college or moved. They said they free fed her “kibbles and bits” which looks like extruded plastic to me, and she turned her nose up at it, and I don’t blame her. We’ve given her a variety of soft foods from the store like Little Cesar’s, but we’re wondering if there’s something at Costco that is also soft (canned or frozen) food that we could feed her. Thanks for any help or input.

My cockapoo is 14, will be 15 in a few days. Generally healthy all his life, 2 months ago he stopped eating for about 2 days and became very lethargic. Took him to the vet where it was discovered he has severe anemia and impaired kidney and thyroid function. At around this time his stool became bloody (like very bright red). Vet prescribed appetite stimulate as well as a course of antibiotic/anti-inflammatory, thyroid meds, kidney supplements.

Over the next few weeks he made great improvement though we had to switch his dog food completely to high value human food (he refused dog food). His stool were still very blood and very frequent (like 10x a day), though half the time nothing came out or was very small. During a follow up vet visit his anemia had improved to almost borderline acceptable and his thyroid was close to normal. But he was still have issues with a weaker appetite and bloody frequent stool. For a few weeks he then seemed ok, with regular stool and energy level. Vet thinks he either has cancer or a severe gastro issue, in either case he would need further testing and aggressive treatments but at his age we figured we should not put him under further stress.

Last weekend he was great, super energetic and hungry, then he ate come corn which I think triggered a flare up. Stopped eating, looked to be in pain and had very bloody stools. Took back to the vet for more appetite stimulate and antibiotics/anti-inflammatory. Seems to work a little but not as well as before. Has refused almost all high value food and poops blood constantly. What is hard is despite all this he still has decent energy, loves his walks, drinks water, still is mobile and despite his frequent poops he will make his best effort to go outside each time (only has accidents at night when we are sleeping so he find a corner to go in). So he keeps himself clean.

I know he likely will need to be put to sleep soon, it is just hard as his mind and spark and body (except his digestive system) are still there. Yesterday was the best day he has had in a week, walked for almost 2 hours and he actually ate a good amount of meat and donuts. However for most of the week he only had a few nibbles here and there. Last night had an accident in the house with bloody stool again.

My family would like to put him to sleep today or tomorrow while his health is still "up" so he doesn't suffer. I don't disagree but also it hard when he is starting to act "normal". But I also don't want him to suffer another huge crash. I think I know the answer, just sucks when their mind and most of their body still seems ok.

17 yo terrier mix.

Spayed female

Hx of: dementia, teeth cleaning/extraction/orofistula repair 5 may, 2026/ recurrently UTI since january when steroid was stopped.

5.0kg. Was 5.5.

Weve had many antibiotics, and cultures. The last said crystals confirmed with ultrasound. She has been on hills urinary c/d for a month. She has ha the wet, the kibble, both. Soaked. Blended. Added some chicken. Pumpkin.

She hates it.

Last friday clear ultrasound of all organs...bladder and urinary normal. Blood good. Heart good. Urine was ok but no culture done 2 weeks ago.

Today is day 1 off enrox 15mg for vaginitis 10 day treatment.

She is eating less and less, losing weight. Excited to eat when its a small amount of a supplement or when i put the tinest bit of baby food on top

She will pick out chicken, she wont eat if kts blended and she cant find it

Is there an alternative? Would changing her to a normal food be detrimental? My vet is no help, i have switched vets due to the UTI recurrancr and no help besides 5 day tx. This one will only let me buy food through her and basically said i had to keep her on it and shell eat eventually.

My German shepherd is 10 or 11 years old (he’s a rescue so can’t be positive) in the last two weeks he’s started having very bad diarrhea, we’re working through all the things the vet is prescribing, but nothings working. He’s also leaking poop through the day. He has behavioural issues that also make cleaning him a challenge but we are somewhat managing. But also with how much incidents he’s having it’s becoming harder and harder to keep him comfortable. Does anyone have any tips for cleaning or making his areas more comfortable for him?

My dog Tilda, an 8.2 lbs toy fox terrier/chihuahua/??? Humane Society mix just turned 12 in March. She had seven teeth extracted after her yearly checkup, which was a shock to us all. We already brush her teeth so the vet recommended using healthy mouth water additive. This may be unrelated since she got picky around the time we started using it, but since we stopped using it the picky behavior continues.

We noticed she'd lost some weight, going from 8.6 to 8.2 in the last year. Asked the vet if she was concerned, she said she felt it was probably age related but we re-evaluated how much we were feeding her. Bumped up from 1/4c of food 2x a day to 1/3c 2x a day.

Since trying to feed her a little more, even slowly, her schedule is messed up. She won't eat breakfast. It's a miracle if she eats anything at all before 5pm. Then, maybe, she'll eat a little more around 8. Usually if we can get her to eat, it's around 11:30 at night. It's been a struggle to get 2/3c in her per day.

Kidneys checked, they were borderline a few months ago but low borderline and still holding steady. Just did a GI ultrasound and some GI bloodwork, everything looks great. No major red flags for why she's not eating.

We thought maybe kibble is bothering her gums where they took out teeth, adding healthy toppers like cooked carrot and soaking the kibble does sometimes help her eat a full meal but we still can't entice her to eat before 5pm even with those bonuses.

I'm offering her a change in kibble but she's always been very, very, very picky. She refuses new treats for days. She's turning her nose up at the new kibble but I did get her to at least put a piece in her mouth today so maybe I'll make more progress if I keep treating it like treats and a game, because she's still motivated by those. She's always hated wet food but we're going to give that a try too.

There's nothing physically wrong so just... Why isn't she eating breakfast and why won't she eat as much as she should? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm really, really worried and I think it's driving my husband, my friends, and probably even my vet a little nuts that I keep pushing this.

**Tldr: 12 year old small dog, recent tooth extraction, picky about kibble and food timing. Won't eat at normal times, won't eat what the vet says is enough, won't try new foods. Nothing physically coming up wrong. Any thoughts, suggestions, or reassurances would help me out big time.**

My pit is a 9 year old female. In the last 3 weeks, every single night around 11, she has started standing at our bedroom door whining, crying, and scratching to get in. When I open the door to check on her, she’s panting frantically. She’s perfectly fine throughout the day and then the second we go to bed, she starts this new routine. I’ve given her Benadryl, hydroxyzine, and trazodone with no avail. 100mg of traz didn’t touch her, so the vet recommended 200mg and it’s still not making a difference. Nothing has changed environmentally. I’m exhausted and desperate for any idea of what could be going on with her.

Please help me figure this out!

Hi everyone, I’m researching how people care for aging dogs and would love to learn from senior pet parents.

If you have an older pet, how do you currently track small changes like appetite, mobility, energy, drinking, bathroom habits, or pain signs?

I’m especially curious about the moments where you’re not sure whether something is “just aging” or worth calling the vet about.

A few questions:

1. Do you track symptoms anywhere, or mostly keep it in your head?
2. What changes make you worry the most?
3. Have you ever gone to the vet and felt like maybe it was too early, or waited and wished you had gone sooner?
4. Would a short daily check-in + weekly summary be useful, or would that feel like too much work?

Not looking for medical advice, just trying to understand the experience of caring for senior pets. Thank you.