Heartwarming Stories of Senior Dogs

There are many things that occur during my work day that are heartwarming, but perhaps one that tugs the most is the adoption of older pets.  All of us know how fast the lifetime of our beloved companions races by, and how difficult it is to say goodbye.  It is for this reason, I am so touched when my clients chose to open their hearts and homes to senior dogs and cats.  We have a few clients that have chosen to do this repeatedly, often times with senior pets that have many medical issues.

 Chewy & the Hobson family

Chewy is a 10+ year old pug that my clients and friends Jan and Karen Hobson adopted in the past few weeks.  His medical history is relatively unknown.  We are unsure of how and why he lost an eye, but are somewhat concerned it could be from glaucoma, which means we have to watch his remaining eye closely.  He had a type of skin tumor that can be very aggressive when they adopted him, as well as some significant dental disease.  An x-ray to rule out bladder stones showed a severe trauma to his right hip.

He is also about one of the sweetest little guys you will ever meet.

Jan and Karen sat while I explained to them the treatments that Chewy was going to need, and the potential issues he may face down the road.  When I was done, they looked knowingly at each other and lovingly at Chewy, and Karen said “Well, we better get started.  He is ours now, and he isn’t going anywhere.”  Chewy had his tumor removed, his teeth cared for, and is being monitored for glaucoma and hip discomfort. He is fitting in with their other dog Josie and has his place on the bed.

Bo & Beau with the Ramirez family

Shana and Mark Ramirez had middle aged dogs when I met them, and they cared for them into very old age.  When their 2 dogs passed, through friends they heard about a patient of mine that needed a forever home.  Bojangles was a just under 13 year old lab whose owners had passed away unexpectedly.  He had some significant health issues that needed to be monitored closely.  He had cancer that has the potential for recurrence and some orthopedic issues.

Mark and Shana adopted him, and he is now almost 14 years old and going strong.  Since then, they have adopted a healer mix that unfortunately sucumbed to cancer shortly after they adopted her. Although their hearts were broken, they arrived a my clinic with Beauregard, an almost 11 year old lab mix with a fractured tooth and significantly impaired vision.  And a heart of gold.  Bojangles and Beauregard have become fast friends, and Mark and Shana beam when they bring in these very loved boys.

The capacity for love that these and many of my other clients show for these dogs and cats is humbling.  They look past their own concerns for sustaining loss, and are content to love these friends as long as they can.  They take great solace in bringing these companions back to health physically and spiritually.

It is beautiful to watch.

~~Dr. Lisa

Want to start a heartwarming story of your own?

Visit the website for Old Dog Haven, a local non-profit dedicated to helping senior pets.  Old Dog Haven is one of the current beneficiaries of our referral rewards program to support their efforts to shelter and care for elderly dogs in need.