{"id":1423,"date":"2012-12-11T17:30:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T17:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.net\/blog\/?p=1423"},"modified":"2012-12-11T17:30:27","modified_gmt":"2012-12-11T17:30:27","slug":"bittersweet-life-with-elderly-dogs-fills-tugs-at-owners-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.org\/blog\/2012\/12\/bittersweet-life-with-elderly-dogs-fills-tugs-at-owners-hearts\/","title":{"rendered":"Bittersweet life with elderly dogs fills, tugs at owners’ hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Dogs are living longer than ever thanks to better veterinary care, good nutrition and devoted owners who extend their hearts, homes and wallets to ensure comfort for their silvering canine friends. “People who are devoted to elderly animals are very special people,” said pain expert and veterinarian Lisa Moses. “They do the best they can to make their dogs’ lives better for however long they have<\/em><\/strong>.” The Boston Globe<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Life with Dempsey, a blonde Labrador retriever with a soft round head, has changed for Kevan and Sheila Cunningham. The trio once hiked on conservation land near their home in Southeastern Massachusetts. They relaxed in front of the TV as Dempsey curled up in his own chair. They took vacations as a family and slept together in a big bed.<\/p>\n

The Cunninghams got the dog when the Lab was 8 weeks old, and they still refer to Dempsey as their \u201cbaby.\u201d Fourteen years later the puppy is 98 in human years. Senior Dempsey, arthritic and failing, can\u2019t climb stairs anymore, jump up to the bed, or ride in the car. The beloved pooch has good days and bad.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s hanging in there,\u201d says Cunningham, a judge with the Taunton District Court. \u201cBut every day is a little bit different. He does like to get outside and watch the world and he barks occasionally. It\u2019s an elderly type of bark but he still manages to croak one out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Living with an elder of any species is heartbreaking, gratifying, uplifting, and patience-trying.\u00a0 Old dogs have an especially deep emotional pull when they peer up with their sweet, sad, trusting eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to live with an elderly dog because it\u2019s like a roller coaster, up and down all the time,\u201d says Dr. Lisa Moses, chief of the Pain Medicine Service at Angell Animal Medical Center. The subject is personal for Moses. She has a 16-year-old pit bull, Dora. \u201cWhat they used to be able to do, what their life used to be like, it\u2019s really hard to set that aside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singer Fiona Apple made headlines last week for postponing the South American leg of her tour so she can stay by the side of her ailing, nearly-14-year-old pit bull, Janet. In an eloquent and lengthy letter to her fans, Apple explained how important this time with her beloved pet is: \u201c. . . I know she is coming close to the time where she will stop being a dog, and start instead to be part of everything. She\u2019ll be in the wind, and in the soil, and the snow, and in me, wherever I go. I just can\u2019t leave her now, please understand. If I go away again, I\u2019m afraid she\u2019ll die and I won\u2019t have the honor of singing her to sleep, of escorting her out. . .\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Globe\u2019s Brian McGrory wrote a 2004 column<\/a>, \u201cThe Brown Eyes of Wisdom,\u201d an elegy to his golden retriever Harry in the final act. The lead sentence is a weeper: \u201cThey should come with a warning label, these creatures. They should come with a label that says you\u2019re going to fall hopelessly in love, only to have your heart shattered before you could ever possibly prepare.\u201d Kevan Cunningham keeps a clipping of the column close.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Old dogs touch a nerve \u2014 and the pocketbook. With an eye on burgeoning market possibilities of the senior set, canine product purveyors sell specially formulated kibble, beds, bowls, ramps to get up into the car, harnesses, diapers for incontinence, as well as various supplements, herbs and holistic remedies designed to cosset a senior dog through its last years. Doting owners find it difficult to resist the pitch for anything to help their four-legged family member.<\/p>\n

The Cunninghams bought a large therapeutic bed for Dempsey. They changed to a food for senior dogs. On days he shuns the kibble, Sheila makes chicken soup. The Cunninghams lined the tile floor of their kitchen with rubber mats so Dempsey doesn\u2019t slip. They give him fish oil, glucosamine and chondroitin, supplements thought to assuage arthritis. Their veterinarian prescribed a pain medication, which seems to help. Yet, as with every dog, Dempsey has a simple go-to obsession having nothing to do with fancy or expensive: \u201cBread,\u201d says Kevan Cunningham. \u201cAny kind of bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jon Comeau, product development specialist for dogs at Vermont\u2019s Orvis Company, says his company\u2019s market expands with the aging dog population.<\/p>\n

\"Dempsey,<\/p>\n
\n

Kayana Szymczak for the Boston Globe<\/p>\n

Dempsey, a 14-year old blonde labrador retriever, rests on his special soft egg crate bed, located at the bottom of the stairs in his home. The bed is situated there because he can no longer climb the stairs, and he likes to hear his owners when they are upstairs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe see it in the sales figures that come through,\u201d he says. \u201cTen years ago, we were selling products to keep dogs off the couch. Now we\u2019re selling products to keep them on the couch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beds are big sellers for elderly dogs with creaky joints. \u201cWe have several versions of Tempur-Pedic and regular memory-foam beds,\u201d says Comeau, who touts the advantages of rectangular beds for stiff dogs who won\u2019t curl up because of the pain. Orvis, which claims to have sold the first dog bed in 1976, also sells absorbent covers for incontinence.<\/p>\n

According to the latest statistics from a survey of pet owners by the American Pet Products Association (APPA), there are 78.2 million dogs in US households. The numbers give no breakout figures for how many senior dogs are out there but veterinarians and other experts anecdotally agree canines are living longer because of advances in veterinary care, better food, and heightened owner awareness about how to keep a dog healthier longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a real change in the overall life span,\u201d says Dr. Moses.<\/p>\n

What is considered geriatric in a dog? The actuarial table depends on size. For small dogs, old age begin after 10. For bigger dogs, after age \u201c8 or 9,\u201d according to Moses, and for \u201cgiant breeds (Great Dane, St. Bernard) at 5 or 6.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anne Shuhler of Watertown got a jolt when her veterinarian made an offhand remark while examining her \u201cgenuine mutt\u201d Sawyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Sawyer was 8, the vet said something like, \u2018Oh well, he\u2019s a senior now.\u2019\u2009\u201d Shuhler wasn\u2019t ready for the reckoning. \u201cAt the age of 8 I hadn\u2019t really thought of him that way. I thought dogs were old at 12 to 15. I know they don\u2019t live forever but I hadn\u2019t moved him into that mental place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Shuhler has made her peace and now refers to Sawyer, a 10\u00bd-year-old with shades of German shepherd and collie, as her \u201cold man.\u201d The two hiked in the White Mountains of New Hampshire not long ago.<\/p>\n

Admitting age is a human denial trigger, which owners can extend to un-self-conscious dogs. Cristen Underwood, director of marketing for the Quaker Pet Group, says the company\u2019s \u201cSilver Tails\u201d products for senior dogs didn\u2019t sell well at Petco, the pet store chain, because \u201cpeople don\u2019t want to admit their dog is getting older. It\u2019s hard to make that change into buying senior pet products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Underwood says the Silver Tails line, which includes mats with bamboo charcoal inserts to warm furry bodies and infrared massagers, will now go into \u201cboutique\u201d stores where dog keepers have more of a connection to the sales staff.<\/p>\n

Yet, Rob Van Sickle, co-owner of the Polka Dog Bakery in Boston\u2019s South End and Jamaica Plain, says any marketing pitch for dogs through their owners can be foolhardy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just at a trade show in Las Vegas and people were walking around with white poodles that had been tie-dyed,\u201d he says. \u201cThere always seems to be a new marketing pitch.\u201d Van Sickle calls the pet industry a \u201cgiant marketing engine and everybody\u2019s always trying to build a better mousetrap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, no product will make an old dog live forever. And the owner of a senior dog ultimately confronts the grief of loss. Dr. Moses of Angell empathizes. \u201cPeople who are devoted to elderly animals are very special people,\u201d she says. \u201cThey do the best they can to make their dogs\u2019 lives better for however long they have.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Kevan Cunningham, it\u2019s simple. He wants to do anything for Dempsey because the old dog gives everything back. \u201cHe is so mellow and peaceful and just wants to please us,\u201d says Cunningham. \u201cHe\u2019s still there to greet us with a tail wag.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dogs are living longer than ever thanks to better veterinary care, good nutrition and devoted owners who extend their hearts, homes and wallets to ensure comfort for their silvering canine friends. “People who are devoted to elderly animals are very special people,” said pain expert and veterinarian Lisa Moses. “They do the best they can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,29,33,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dogs","category-healthy-pets","category-human-animal-bond","category-medical-issues"],"yoast_head":"\nBittersweet life with elderly dogs fills, tugs at owners' hearts | The Animal Health Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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