Help me care for my elderly dog

[hotcoconuts82]

I'm starting a go fund me account





kidding! !!!



But seriously, what kind of things can I do to help my 12 year old lab with his golden years? He's started to show some dementia signs over the past month and today he peed (alot) on the carpet. Any supplements to help is mental state? Best cleaning supplies for pee?

I waited my whole childhood to get a dog and finally got him when I was 24. It breaks my heart to see him slide into old age. So any tips would be appreciated.

[flyinghorses6]

Idk what can help with actual medical issues but my dogs end of life was the best year of his life. We let him eat chicken, steak, burgers, etc. We brought him to all his favorite places as much as possible. And basically just spoiled the crap out of him. Hopefully your dog has years ahead of him, but spoil him just the same. 12 years is a long long time to love something so much.

[CatLady]

Resolve for pee accidents.
And I'm sorry. It's so hard to watch pets age and it's hard to make the decision of how much money to spend on helping with medical issues.

[honda13]

I don't really have any advice, but I want to say I'm sorry. It sucks to see them get older.

[obi]

12 years! What a healthy life he has lived!
My childhood yellow lab passed at 9yrs old. We believe there was some form of cancer involved but never truly knew for sure. She had suffered too much to keep testing. It has been a long time but I will share what I remember. Hopefully something is useful to you

She had pretty bad hips, like many labs, and Medicam really helped. However, I heard that this can cause issues because it thins the blood or something. We had to take her off of it and would just give her plenty of massages and get her in water as much as possible. We carried her around a lot as well (luckily she was a British lab so on the smaller side).
I definitely agree with spoiling. Lots of special foods that were safe, lots of cuddling, massages, and laying down wherever she wanted. Unfortunately we did have to crate her at night because she would have accidents. We also didn't want her jumping off the bed or furniture and hurting herself.

Resolve spray worked well for pee. I got a product called Urine Off (we called it Piss Off) from Pet Value that also worked.

There's not much else I can think of... Just lots of love and special treats and letting her break all the rules while still keeping her safe from harm.

Hopefully your pup still has lots of time left with you and Im sure he will have some awesome golden years!

[hotcoconuts82]

@obi, thank you for the great advice. Thankfully his hips are in pretty darn good shape.

[animaldoctor]

If he doesn't normally have accidents and seems to be slowing down, my good vet answer is to take him to the vet! I see dogs like him daily and people think that they are near the end but if you can ID the cause of the problem, you can treat them and give them a longer period of good quality time. Maybe it is a uti which is 100% treatable!
And I use nature's miracle for pet stains.

[hotcoconuts82]

Jan 12, 2017 8:40:57 GMT -5 animaldoctor said:

If he doesn't normally have accidents and seems to be slowing down, my good vet answer is to take him to the vet! I see dogs like him daily and people think that they are near the end but if you can ID the cause of the problem, you can treat them and give them a longer period of good quality time. Maybe it is a uti which is 100% treatable!
And I use nature's miracle for pet stains.

That makes sense. This was the first time in 10 years that he peed in the house. I think I will make him an appointment.