JaneW

Thank you everyone. I'm feeling really good about getting a new baby budgie. There will certainly be pics! I'll be getting him after the winter holidays so that I have plenty of quiet time for bonding and training. Plus, I still have to bird-proof the living room, which is a bit more complicated than making it dog-safe. Thank you again--it's been a rough couple years.

Greta has been gone for two years. I remember the goodbye as if it was yesterday, yet, now, two years later, I feel ready to move on. Not another dog. Don't know if I will ever have another dog. I am ready for another gregarious little bird, though. My last parakeet (budgie) died while I had Greta, and it broke my heart. To accept a life is to accept a death. I need a new life in my house, now, and am prepared to accept that it will not be for ever. Frankly, from all the preparations I'm making, one would think I'm getting a human baby, . It's good for me, anyway! I need to move on now. I'll love Greta forever, just as I've loved all the pets that came before and went before.

Scheduled for Oct 5 at home. She will never even know, which is my final gift for her.

Please--the tooth is not something to solve. The vet knows about it. Antibiotics are risky with her and we are not doing them. It is not yet painful, apparently (she has no problem biting down on her toothbrush) but it smells a bit. Her back, however, is so painful today that she is having difficulty lying down and that is with a full dose of the only pain med she can tolerate plus allergy meds which also seem to help. She is also on all sorts of supplements. They just are not enough anymore. I'm not going to address any more suggestions on how to solve her problems. She is old and worn out and tired and has been in pain just about long enough. Possibly more than long enough. I will not keep her here just because I don't want to let her go.

The tooth is just the final issue that sets the time. She is nearly 12 and I'm not going put her through major dental surgery again just to try to extend her life a little longer when she is in chronic pain from back and shoulder issues, has increasing digestive issues, is allergic to many medications and foods and environmental things, and is not responding to the pain meds she can tolerate. She wants to run and take long walks and her body just won't anymore. She is too lame to walk as much as she wants to, and she has fallen on the steps so many times that she is becoming afraid of them, and I cannot lift her. I have done as much as I can with my resources. She is not enjoying her life anymore. It is time. The vet will come to my house when we are ready. Thank you everyone for your support, it means a lot to me.

Thank you very much everyone.

Thank you everyone. I firmly believe that it is better to choose a day too soon than to wait a day too long. Yesterday I found the tooth cavity and had already decided not to put her through more dental work because she had difficulty the last time, and that was several years ago when she was still otherwise robust. Then I woke up late this morning, but she was not up pacing around wondering why I was still in bed as she usually does when I'm late. When I went to look for her, she was in her bed in the awkward splayed position that indicates considerable pain, and she still didn't move when she saw me. I have a horror of waiting too long and having her die in pain and fear. We will have a few more weeks, till her meds are running out.

Nearly time to say goodbye to my dog, Greta. All her little aging issues are merging into too much pain and debility for a dog whose only interest in life is movement. I've known this was coming for the last year or so, and now she has a cavity in a tooth that is likely infected. She is terrified of going to the vet, and the last time she had anesthesia she was very ill afterward. She also has digestive problems and chronic back and shoulder pain that is not responding to medication or supplements. I plan to have her euthanized at home while she is happy and unknowing, before she has a crisis that requires it be done in pain and fear at the vet's office.

It wasn't rapid! It was dramatic! It took about a week for my dog's behavior to change, but once it did, it was sustained change until I ran out of the stuff, then she got stiff again, so I got more for her.

I use glucosmine myself, and yes it work on specific problems. For me, it stops my right knee from grating and "catching" painfully when I straighten it while bearing weight on it. The glucsamine does not do anything for any of my other various joints with issues, but it improves that knee function substantially. If I stop taking it, the knee gradually gets bad again. When I first started my dog on it, the difference was dramatic! She acted years younger and clearly felt better. Now she is much older and it does not compensate as much for the joint problems.

Mine gets it (not from the vet!), plus "Comfort Tabs"--forget what's in those offhand, plus fish oil. I don't think she would be at all mobile anymore without them.

9 months... I had Greta for a year before I kissed her on the head, and then I took precautions! Her body language always indicated that hugs and kisses were not welcome and she had clamped down on my arm when I had been stupid and leaned over her head to scratch her. Now, after 8 years, I can hug and kiss her with impunity, but it took years for her to get used to it and not mind. Only 9 months, with, it appears, various other stress going on? I hope everyone is ok and feeling better now!

Greta walk sit down cat uh uh! steady move! leave it! settle down all done bath wait Wow, that's more than I realized, LOL!

Could be any number of things from minor to serious--Greta is always limping from one cause or another. As long as he is not showing signs of acute pain I suggest you just keep him quiet and still till the vet opens and you can get him there this morning. If there is a hot or swollen area, a cold compress will provide temporary relief while you wait. Never use heat on any injury without a vet's say-so. This is just my suggestion, I'm not a vet.

When I got Greta she wanted to fight every dog she saw--including the one in the side of a shiny black car parked at the curb! Luckily, she realized it wasn't real before I had to tackle her to stop her from leaping on her own reflection. Sometimes it seems like they will never get used to some things, but most do with time and training and patience. Best of luck!

Greta is so unfazed by thunder that I have to hide if a storm is crashing and booming at walk-time so that she doesn't nag me for her walk. Actually, now that she's old, she is willing to wait till the rain lets up a bit.

I've never seen any indication of it in Greta . Life is all about her. She is an "only" dog and doesn't interact with other Greys much at all. And there is a reason she is an only--she definitely prefers it.

When Greta was young she would leap around and stab at me with her nose when I got up and she thought it was time for a walk, and would try to lunge through the door as I opened it. A sharp reprimand and my sitting down every time she did it stopped the poking nose, and her lunging headfirst into a metal door she thought was open cured the lunging. I also required her to sit before I would open the door (she lunged from a sit), and that helped keep everyone safe, too. Now, she still gets excited, but she has developed a routine she goes through that includes making sure she doesn't push me or get in my way. It's the only time she will spontaneously heel (vibrating from nose to tail, )!

I wrote that last night and she's fine--in fact extra perky this morning after her morning dose. I don't see that the stuff is doing much good, yet. Yes, she is overall less tense, but her back is still clearly painful. But it's been only a week and I'm supposed to see how she is after 2 weeks.

I got mixed up and gave Greta a dose of muscle relaxant about 3 hours after the previous one instead of about 6-8 hours after. It apparently made her feel a bit funny--her eyes were a little glazed and she wanted constant petting. Other than that, she seems ok. Her coordination is fine and she still has some chronic muscle knots along her spine (darn, I'd have thought her muscles would give up with extra meds!). The earlier dose will be wearing off about now, so hopefully she's feeling better.

Greta's tail: Major tuck: "I am one unhappy pup!" or "That's the itch, don't stop!" Tucked a little: "You [meaning me] can be in charge here, thanks." Straight down: "I am totally mellow." Curved up a little: "This is good/I'm stimulated!" Curled over her back: "I am totally hyper now/watch out!"

I would suggest a physical therapist or possibly acupuncturist first to see if there are simple methods to help relieve/modify the movement problem. Xrays will not show muscle scarring or nerve damage that often results from injuries. I don't mean to say the vet didn't do a good job--the OP did not say other than Xrays what was done. To jump from "nothing on the xray" to suggestion of disease or neurological issue is a huge leap with many other injury possibilities to be ruled out first.

Barking when someone or something is on your property, yes--providing you immediately take over and deal with it so the dog stops (I'm not talking about playing situations). Barking at people and things minding their own business on their own or public property, no way. Edit: I should admit that Greta is allowed to bark at cats (a little) while we are on walks. This behavior is modified from her original instinctive response, which was to silently attack at 40 mph. I'm now working on extinguishing the barking response as well.

You don't have an option for what Greta does--she plays with toys when she gets excited while anticipating a walk or supper. She's not very interested in playing with them with people--if a person is there can we please get on with what she's waiting for !

Greta's urine doesn't harm our grass at all. Her dirt-eating habit does, though! Our yard is mined with 6" wide 8" deep pits where the soil is tasty.