Not to bring a sad note to the board but I recently lost my old boy just shy of his 15th birthday. I will not dwell on his passing but relate how he was in his last year. He was a fit boy – only seeing our vet once a year for a check up. I did not have pet insurance for him, preferring to put the equivalent of premiums into a cash ISA. He was a wealthy boy! He fed on dry kibble and had dried fish skins for a treat. He walked twice a day, in National Trust woodland for a minimum of 2 miles each walk. In his last months he had poor eye sight and hearing and had to walk on a short lead as, thinking he might be alone in the woods, he would often go home and wait for me at the back gate. He had lumps and bumps, none of which caused him pain and he became stiff legged. I gave him a supplement for this and that seemed to help. Before Christmas he was reluctant to eat his three (small) meals a day. I encouraged him to eat by steaming rice and chicken thighs and, for a treat, a spoon full of tinned rice pudding at bed time. He lost a third of his body weight. Both he and I knew he was at the end of days. I was more reluctant to accept it than he was. My point is – we all love our dogs. All the time they are happy and pain free live with the hope of more good times to come. Once they give up accept it and let them go. It is hard but fair to your dog.
I have two cockers, both girls. I have not moved up in the pecking order – in fact it seems I do not get a vote or a say in anything at the moment – a situation I am happy to live with!