Elderly dog

[Stamford]

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Our girl is going to be 13 in February. She's doing fairly well although she's up in the night two or three
Times. I think she has cognitive/dementia problems. She had a cancer in her mouth which was successfully removed. So she's doing ok. But I need some advice on how to prepare for the inevitable. More so for my daughter. She won't discuss it. But I feel we should start to prepare ourselves a bit. It's going to devastate us when we lose her. But I don't want it to be a massive shock for my kid. Any advice would be great.

 

[JoanneF]

How old is your daughter? I know this will be awful, regardless, but it might help to know.

 

[JudyN]

Hi Stamford, and welcome to the forum. I've no advice, I'm afraid, buy my dog is coming up to 12 and his hips are getting increasingly dodgy, so I'll be following this thread with interest.

 

[Stamford]

How old is your daughter? I know this will be awful, regardless, but it might help to know.

She's in her teens. But we got our girl when she was a young girl.

 

[JoanneF]

Your daughter is old enough to understand what is happening then. If I were in your situation, I wouldn't force the issue of discussing it - it just means she is experiencing some of the the pain over and over. It's going to be bad enough when she loses your dog, but talking about it before it happens isn't going to soften that. Just my opinion, other people may disagree.

 

[Finsky]

Your daughter is old enough to understand what is happening then. If I were in your situation, I wouldn't force the issue of discussing it - it just means she is experiencing some of the the pain over and over. It's going to be bad enough when she loses your dog, but talking about it before it happens isn't going to soften that. Just my opinion, other people may disagree.

Agree and as she is already refusing to discuss of the sad eventuality, it sounds like she is fully aware of the situation. Even when we know what is on its way for all of our loved dogs, but when it actually happens...there is no real mental preparation for it to ease it. It is tough situation but each one of us have to find a way to deal with all the emotions of the loss afterwards.

 

[Stamford]

Yes I thought your suggestions would be correct. It's so tough as they get older.