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We adopted Cookie many years ago. She was a hunting dog (we think) her whole life and never fully socialized with people. She has never been affectionate, very strong on leash etc. We were going to give her back to the shelter but thought they would euthanize her (I forgot about Penny's Angels Beagle Rescue. We have since found out that she would have been given over to them if we returned her).
We've lived with Cookie since 2005 and now she is 18 yrs. old. She has gotten a tiny bit affectionate in her old age. Although she has never growled or bitten, she isn't friendly either (think: Grumpy Cat). She is peeing all over the house and must be taken outside for long walks by my hubby, who is quite ill. She won't go with me any more. She also gets waves of senility--it comes and goes. Sleeps all day and is up almost all night, causing us to get very little sleep since she needs long walks around 2-3 am (not kidding).
The house smells of urine all the time. We use x-large pads on the porch but she also pees inside. She has ruined a wooden floor, the kitchen floor and the carpet. Tried the diapers and she refuses to wear them, tearing them off.
Our last vet visit was last year sometime when everything came back "normal"-yeah, right. Now we not only have no car but also our finances are in the dumps. Even so, we put her needs (food, pads etc.) before our necessities. We just can't afford a vet and tests.
I have had cancer and my hubby has heart disease, kidney problems and an arthritic knee. Cookie is getting worse and worse with the peeing. Although she is blind in one eye, has an enlarged spleen and possible heart problems, she still enjoys life. With old age she has become more needy and thus more affectionate towards us. She sleeps with me all the time (hubby has to sleep elsewhere for various health reasons). She is totally deaf.
Yet I cannot bring myself to have her euthanized. Though she has those conditions, she still enjoys life. Trots around outside, eats well and looks up at me with those big brown eyes. I do love her, though at times it has been hard. But our health is suffering badly with this peeing problem, up all night and needing long walks. I'm almost sure it is part of senility. Hubby is always exhausted and I fear it is really making him much worse. Yet Cookie is not all that sick, at least not yet. I could not "put her down" yet I also have to worry about my husband.
If only there were a nursing home for dogs! But we could never forgive ourselves if we had her euthanized now. It would feel like murder.
Guess this is more like a "getting it out" type of post. No one will take her in her present condition. Would like to know if anyone has been through this situation. So many say "put her down" but she isn't that sick (despite what I wrote above)! Perhaps someone may have some idea, or at least has gone through something like this. She is loudly snoring by my feet as I write this; not in any pain and dreaming of chasing turkeys, I'm sure. Thanks for reading this overly long post. Hubby and I are totally exhausted all the time because of her but so far we have survived in this awful situation. Just writing this has been somewhat of a relief for me.
What is your schedule like with her?
She may be incontinent. Do you see her urinating in the house or does she do it when you are in another room? Is she loose in the house and if so, are you able to confine her to a certain area like a kitchen, crate, or an x-pen when you can't watch her?
If you took her out for her last nightly walk at 10 pm how long would she be able to hold it? Have you tried taking her for a long walk about 9:30-10 to tire her out and give her a chance to thoroughly potty?
Are you able to crate her after her last nightly potty break so that she wouldn't wake you up for the 2 a.m. walk?
Why do you think she needs the long mid-night walks- is she restless, wanders around the house, barks, etc? What is the context for her wanting the mid-night walk?
What would happen if you crated or confined her at night with a pad? It wouldn't be ideal, but it would give you and your husband a chance to get some much-needed rest.
Are you using an odor neutralizer? I use Anti-Icky-Poo (buy it online). It works on old odors as well as new. There are other similar brands. I use it in my water when I wash the floor and also spray it into my carpet to keep my house from smelling too doggy.
There aren't any easy answers. I know funds are tight, but if possible I would want a urinalysis and some X-rays of the abdomen- may shed some light on the bladder issue. Have you been using the same vet for awhile- maybe they would let you pay for her tests over a couple of months?
Urinary incontinence sometimes responds to medication.
Perhaps your vet would be willing to let you collect a urine specimen at home to be checked for infection and then try the med without any other exam or testing.
Hint: use a plastic Frisbee to collect the urine. It's easy to slide under the dog and muffles the sound of the urine hitting something and scaring the dog.
DH and I are running a small one. Each son has placed an elderly dog with us due to various problems. One came to us because she was going blind and could not be trusted to see their toddler coming. She also had difficulty with a long flight of stairs from their deck to get outside. Godiva crossed the rainbow bridge a few weeks ago. We now have a grumpy Jack Russell Terrier who accidentally nipped another toddler. He was startled awake and just grazed her with a tooth. He may go back to them when she is a bit older.
Last edited by suzy_q2010; 12-06-2014 at 08:31 PM..
I feel for you. When our poodle began peeing in her sleep, the vet gave us a blood pressure medication for her, and she stopped the urinating while asleep.
My mother's elderly poodle also gets her up sometimes 2-3 times a night, and sometimes not at all. She has the diapers with a fabric waterproof panty over it, so she is unable to remove the diaper.
Deaf, arthritic, poor eyesight,with episodes of dementia, yet she also enjoys life. My Mom also gets worn out, but adores the dog, and it would also feel like murder to euthenize her.
Perhaps you can ask the vet about hormone treatment for the incontinence, or look on eBay for the pants. I have a male who wears a "belly band" if left alone for a few hours, he can't be trusted.
Hope you find a solution!
We adopted Cookie many years ago. She was a hunting dog (we think) her whole life and never fully socialized with people. She has never been affectionate, very strong on leash etc. We were going to give her back to the shelter but thought they would euthanize her (I forgot about Penny's Angels Beagle Rescue. We have since found out that she would have been given over to them if we returned her).
We've lived with Cookie since 2005 and now she is 18 yrs. old. She has gotten a tiny bit affectionate in her old age. Although she has never growled or bitten, she isn't friendly either (think: Grumpy Cat). She is peeing all over the house and must be taken outside for long walks by my hubby, who is quite ill. She won't go with me any more. She also gets waves of senility--it comes and goes. Sleeps all day and is up almost all night, causing us to get very little sleep since she needs long walks around 2-3 am (not kidding).
The house smells of urine all the time. We use x-large pads on the porch but she also pees inside. She has ruined a wooden floor, the kitchen floor and the carpet. Tried the diapers and she refuses to wear them, tearing them off.
Our last vet visit was last year sometime when everything came back "normal"-yeah, right. Now we not only have no car but also our finances are in the dumps. Even so, we put her needs (food, pads etc.) before our necessities. We just can't afford a vet and tests.
I have had cancer and my hubby has heart disease, kidney problems and an arthritic knee. Cookie is getting worse and worse with the peeing. Although she is blind in one eye, has an enlarged spleen and possible heart problems, she still enjoys life. With old age she has become more needy and thus more affectionate towards us. She sleeps with me all the time (hubby has to sleep elsewhere for various health reasons). She is totally deaf.
Yet I cannot bring myself to have her euthanized. Though she has those conditions, she still enjoys life. Trots around outside, eats well and looks up at me with those big brown eyes. I do love her, though at times it has been hard. But our health is suffering badly with this peeing problem, up all night and needing long walks. I'm almost sure it is part of senility. Hubby is always exhausted and I fear it is really making him much worse. Yet Cookie is not all that sick, at least not yet. I could not "put her down" yet I also have to worry about my husband.
If only there were a nursing home for dogs! But we could never forgive ourselves if we had her euthanized now. It would feel like murder.
Guess this is more like a "getting it out" type of post. No one will take her in her present condition. Would like to know if anyone has been through this situation. So many say "put her down" but she isn't that sick (despite what I wrote above)! Perhaps someone may have some idea, or at least has gone through something like this. She is loudly snoring by my feet as I write this; not in any pain and dreaming of chasing turkeys, I'm sure. Thanks for reading this overly long post. Hubby and I are totally exhausted all the time because of her but so far we have survived in this awful situation. Just writing this has been somewhat of a relief for me.
Sorry to hear of your troubles, sounds like a country song. Good luck, don't take the easy way out with the dog. None of this is her fault either.
Could be simple old age incontinence or easier to treat spay incontinence or the dog's kidneys could be failing rapidly. Or it could be a kidney or bladder infection.
Without testing you won't know.
Up thread someone suggested bringing a urine sample to the vet . This is a good idea. You want to bring the first urine of the morning. This is a bit more concentrated which is better to analyze.
If you can't have her tested and treated, then you'll never know. Try using baby gates or whatever else you have on hand to make barricades to confine her to areas of the house. Obviously she can't have the run of the house anymore.
Perhaps you can find a cheap, large crate on Craigslist. Put a doggy bed in one end, paper throughout and let the dog sleep in there at night if she will. Maybe she would use the papered end and not wake you during the night.
I have been through this many times with old dogs. DH & I just muddle through the best we can. Eighteen is very old for a dog, even a Beagle. The end is not that far off.
Wow, I am so pleased with the responses, especially since when I ask around where we live it is always "put her to sleep". (People here are not animal lovers at all. We think there might be a movement going to get rid of the dogs. So we dog lovers have banded together and are ready to take them on.) If she were not eating, if she were in pain (she gives no signs of pain) etc. it would be a different matter. Sometimes it seems like she reverses in age--perky ears, bright eyes.
The problem with Cookie is that if we try to confine her, if we don't take her outside when she wants one of her marathons, she starts that famous beagle baying. She will do it for hours. It doesn't matter how often we take her out at a reasonable time, she will be up in a few hours. Last night in the rain and wind my husband took her out for 3 times--the last for 1 1/2 hours. She doesn't even seem to get tired.
She doesn't care where she pees and will be standing in front of us and suddenly squat and let it rip. Even in front of visitors--very embarrassing! At least so far (fingers crossed) no #2 in the house. That doesn't seem to present a problem. Don't know anyone who would take her. My brother used to babysit her during our hospital stays but now the urine problem rules it out completely.
So, Cookie won't crate, won't be confined and has to be able to roam around at will or sleep with me or it's baying time. Anything like a diaper put on her will end up to be a mess. She'll tear anything off. Some of this I think comes from the fact that it was decided by the shelter that she was a hunting dog that probably got lost from the pack and was never claimed by anyone. Pack Beagles are usually kept in outside kennels which could explain her being confused when adopted and brought into a home. Someone had cared for her at one time. She wasn't spayed, but surprisingly no signs of having had a litter either. The end vertebra is missing from her tail, though there is still about an inch of that white flag hair still remaining. In addition, at some point she must have been attacked as one of her ear flaps had been stitched back on. It must have literally been torn and hanging by just a small bit of tissue. So someone, somewhere, once thought her valuable enough to do all this. Cookie sounds like she has been through a lot of struggles. Maybe that's why we have a bond with a dog that really doesn't seem to care that much about us. About sleeping with me--it started suddenly. That's how we realized she had gone totally deaf and was using me as her ears, so to speak.
When we get a car the vet is our first stop. Will collect urine (and feces) to take with us. I remember the vet had asked us if she "dribbles urine". She doesn't and so she said that the bladder control medication would not work with her. It has to be a different reason why it's happening.
With the dementia has come the reversal of day and night with her. The same thing happened with my mother, who passed away earlier this year. She would call me at 3 am and think it was 3 in the afternoon. Becoming disoriented with time is common when dementia is setting in, whether animals or humans. Cookie wakes up between 5-7 pm and then her "day" starts.
(Our adventures trying to meet up with a "seller" of a car on Craigslist left us stranded in a lonely marina during a Nor'Easter with not a soul or car (only boats) in sight. It became creepy. Even the taxi driver was heavily encouraging us to go back home, waited until he convinced us and then reduced the fare because he felt so bad! But that's another topic. Maybe the reality show people should follow us around.
Will try out the odor killing stuff, but the fact remains that urine seeps downward and remains like, almost forever. Before we sell our unit no doubt money will have to be put into trying to make it at least decent. Also, our breathing the ammonia on a daily basis cannot be good for anyone's health.
The fact is that many of us will end up with most of the same issues. And if dementia sets in, it will be much the same. That is something that I always keep in mind. Sometimes we are living longer, but not better. P.S. Will be checking out the links so kindly provided.
Oh boy, does Cookie have dementia. She is doing in what in people is called " sundowning". That is, as darkness comes on, she gets active and excited. She sounds pretty far gone in that regard, but if started earlier, there is medication for that. It works to a greater or lesser degree in my experience.
I can tell you what happened to her tail. Beagles, when hunting in heavy cover, sometimes bang the tips of their tails around so much that they start to bleed. That type of injury never really heals. It just keeps continually opening up.
What happens then is that the owner will band the tail ( put a heavy rubber band tightly near the end of it). In a couple of weeks time, the end of the tail dies from lack of blood and falls off. Some Beaglers do it as a matter of course to any Beagle they plan on hunting as a preventative.
Oh boy, does Cookie have dementia. She is doing in what in people is called " sundowning". That is, as darkness comes on, she gets active and excited. She sounds pretty far gone in that regard, but if started earlier, there is medication for that. It works to a greater or lesser degree in my experience.
I can tell you what happened to her tail. Beagles, when hunting in heavy cover, sometimes bang the tips of their tails around so much that they start to bleed. That type of injury never really heals. It just keeps continually opening up.
What happens then is that the owner will band the tail ( put a heavy rubber band tightly near the end of it). In a couple of weeks time, the end of the tail dies from lack of blood and falls off. Some Beaglers do it as a matter of course to any Beagle they plan on hunting as a preventative.
Thank you, I did not know about the tail thing. It makes sense since when on the prowl their tails are constantly waving. It doesn't sound like a cruel solution, either, but rather it prevents more damage. Interesting.
However, the ear seems to have been the result of maybe another dog attacking her. When we first got her, she seemed frightened when another dog approached. One dumb lady, whose dog obviously (to me) wanted to tear Cookie apart, jumped on her back and was trying to bite her neck. Cookie just stood there. She has never fought back or threatened another dog. Almost seems like she just gives up or goes into shock. Which makes me think another dog almost tore her ear off.
What a rough and tumble life she must have had. Guess that's why we can relate to her, and why it's so hard to even consider euthanasia at this point.
Oh boy, does Cookie have dementia. She is doing in what in people is called " sundowning". That is, as darkness comes on, she gets active and excited. She sounds pretty far gone in that regard, but if started earlier, there is medication for that. It works to a greater or lesser degree in my experience.
Interesting- I hadn't heard the term sundowning before to describe this behavior. Thank you!
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