Caring for a Geriatric Pet in Vet School

[tvo21]

Even though my dog is not yet considered a geriatric pet, I think in 4 years he will definitely be going through some changes (that is, if I get into school next fall - could be longer). I was wondering how you guys cope with caring for an older pet or how you would hypothetically deal with it. I take care of a close friend's 17 year old maltese and for the most part he sleeps all day but he cries all night --- so I tend to lack sleep. He has been adjusting to losing his vision, so it's just a roller coaster of things going on. I want to be there for my dog when/if he goes through these changes. Is it feasible to provide the care you want for your pet and also focus on school?

This might be a more sensitive topic to share, but I was also wondering how you would cope with euthanizing/losing your pet while in vet school. I'm sure we all love our beloved pets and I am very attached to mine. I couldn't imagine the emotional stress that you would have to set aside to focus on school.

Hope I don't sound like a morbid person planning my dog's death or anything, but I'm sure we all are going into/already in vet school with pets of various ages. I want to hear from those on the older end.

[sorry if this is a repeat topic]

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[sumstorm]

I suggest your friend consult a vet; there are some treatments that might improve the dog's night restlessness.

I have some old guys and we are dealing with illness, surgery, etc. it's stressful at times, but I would take my old guys over a puppy any day in terms of what they need from me.

 

[hai1983]

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[orca2011]

This is something I'm worrying about right now. I have a 12 year old Corgi (well, not me personally, he's a family dog) who stays at home with my parents, who is in the early stages of kidney disease as well possible degenerative myelopathy. I'm kind of okay when I'm at school because I don't see him everyday but right now I'm at home and it just breaks my heart seeing him want to run around and play and not being able to physically. I actually just started crying when I was out walking him since this will likely be our last Christmas with him and I feel like he's gotten a bit worse since I saw him about a month ago.

As for how I'm going to deal with school when we put him down, I'm sure it'll be rough those first few days. Possibly longer. But usually when I'm sad or upset about something, I tend to focus on school work as a distraction. And I guess I'll kind of use his memory as motivation. I'm also hoping that since I'm only 1.5 hours away from home, that maybe I'll be able to go home for the euthanasia, which I think will make things a bit easier on me if it needs to happen during the school year. I'd be even more heartbroken if I couldn't be there.

 

[that redhead]

I adopted my dog from a shelter ~5 years ago, and brought her 1200miles to school with me. I don't know for sure how old she is, only that she IS old- I estimate anywhere between 12 to 15.

There many days where I am so thankful that I have an older dog- she sleeps all day while I'm gone, she's housetrained and because her hips are so bad, she can't take daily walks. She prefers to sit on the porch in the sun. Fortunately, her health is also decent. We've been to the vet a few times while up here, but they've all be for relatively minor things (knock on wood!) When I head home this winter break, I need to look into lump removals and a dentistry, but nothing too bad. The only hard part for her is the travel from up here at school to back home- it's a two day ride and she gets antsy at the hotels before she settles down to sleep. But that may be more her than just an older dog thing. Overall, low maintenance and perfect for a student.


Euthanasia is definitely something that crops up in my head- how I will decide when it's time and what will I do when she's gone. I always assumed she wouldn't make it the full four years, and I'm still only half way through, but so far so good. I know I'll be really sad when she's gone, but honestly, I'm pretty sure I won't get another dog- or even another pet- while in school. I do worry about the emotional toll but I would hope that deciding to euth wouldn't be an emergency situation and maybe I could "plan" it for when I'm home on break so I could be with my family/SO for emotional support. Yeah, it's a tough thing to think about but we with the old folks need to be conscious of it.

 

[lailanni]

The *only* 2 good things about having a sick animal during vet school is the student discount and a high end referral center minutes from your house 😉

If something is going to happen to your pet, pray that it doesn't happen during 4th year. You have absolutely no spare time to deal with it. Put it this way: my best friend's grandpa died during her surgical rotation 4th year. She could not get time to go to his funeral.

Life might be easier if you have a significant other to take care of things for you, but if you're by yourself it'll be difficult. We had a grand total of 3 personal days for the entire year.

My rabbit was diagnosed with a Thymoma during 4th year. He became acutely dyspneic - I brought him in (during the day on my overnight shift = no sleep) for an x-ray which confirmed the thymoma and pleural effusion. Then an US to aspirate the mass and thoracentesis to relieve the effusion. I consulted with the oncology team for his radiation options. He'd need one treatment a week for 4 weeks, then we'd reevaluate.

Turns out that getting 1 hour a week for 4 weeks just to take him to radiation was the hardest, most horrendously asinine process I have ever encountered in my life. I had to talk to the Dean, who argued with me about taking time to get my rabbit treated. He was basically as ungracious as possible - showing absolutely no thought or value for the human-animal connection. (Turns out our dean isn't even a DVM, he's a nematode researcher).

The only way I got things straightened out was with the help of our schedule lady, who had rabbits growing up. On my actual rotations the clinicians were fairly understanding. However, it did take a substantial effort on my part to make things work. (Juggling my case load and appointments around that 1 hour)

Happy ending: My rabbit is doing well! And a recent paper was published showing that radiation treatment for thymomas is very effective and nearly restores a normal lifespan 🙂

 

[sumstorm]

The discount....well, it was $40 cheaper to walk into the local emergency practice with my snake bit shepherd than to head to the vet school, even with a 20% discount. Having said that, most of our clinicians have been awesome about providing recommendations off the books.

 

[lailanni]

The discount....well, it was $40 cheaper to walk into the local emergency practice with my snake bit shepherd than to head to the vet school, even with a 20% discount. Having said that, most of our clinicians have been awesome about providing recommendations off the books.

Definitely agree that the discount is only sometimes useful.

The VTH tends to be pretty expensive for some procedures, so it's not really much of a discount at times.

One of my patients needed a splenectomy - it was around $2k at the vet school and $800 at her regular clinic.

Just depends on what you're getting done. I have a few friends who had animals included in case studies/papers and they got diagnostics for a big discount or free. Sometimes if an animal stumped the clinician with a great case and the client didn't have enough funds we'd get permission to run a test anyway just for learning.

My own rabbit was included in a case study paper/presentation and he got 2 free echocardios 🙂 No way I could have afforded that!

 

[Tonkamoo]

I'm in my second year right now, with a 12 yo lab with many chronic problems. There are a few perks to having an older dog during school. As someone already mentioned - mine tends to sleep all day, and just wants a few short walks, which makes it much easier to make enough time for him, and I don't feel guilty studying all evening. In his younger years he required much more time (ie daily runs or long walks).

I think it helps during the first few years to be able to come home to a living animal, especially during the first year, where we spend a lot of time with cadavers. One big perk for me is that when I do have to go out of town, its easy usually easy to find a fellow vet student to watch him - and I know he's in good knowledgeable hands.

Its also nice being surrounded by specialists in every field - I found many of our lecturers willing to give advice and discuss things when I have questions. We get a 30% discount at the school, which is not bad. While some things may be cheaper at a local vet, its nice having a hospital full of specialist in case they are needed, and many of our lecturers are willing to give some advice or even see our pets off the record, as they know we are on student budgets.

I am here with a SO though, so I think that definitely makes it a little easier, and will help a lot in our final year. When I moved here with my dog (we're in the UK), I assumed that he would not make it through the 4 years. He's doing well now, but we'll see. If he is still going strong in a few years, I may be staying in the UK longer than planned to spare him a long flight home.
I haven't had to deal with the euthanasia yet. I think that is hard to deal with wherever you are in life, at least in vet school you're surrounded by many students and teachers who understand how important pets are in our lives.

 

[that redhead]

If something is going to happen to your pet, pray that it doesn't happen during 4th year. You have absolutely no spare time to deal with it.

I've been thinking that if my dog makes it through to fourth year, I'll probably send her to live with my parents. I think consistency is important to her, and as much as she wants to be only with me, I'd rather her be with my parents for a year than with various pet sitters over the year. It's scary when they're old but even if she had be be euthed that year, I'd feel better knowing she had that consistency. We'll see though!

 

[orcagirl]

I'm dealing with a geriatric dog. She's 13 years old. There was no doubt in my mind she was going to school with me. It's tough to deal with sometimes, but I love having her here. My professors are awesome about it. I had to take her to an appointment during anatomy lab of all things, and my professor counted it as an excused absence.

I dealt with having to euthanize a 9 year old dog last December. This occurred a week before my finals and just 5 days before my interview at Ohio State. It was tough, but I am glad I was there for him and you learn that though it's sad to lose a pet, it's a blessing we can take away their pain.

 

[tvo21]

Wow, it's great to hear how supportive the faculty is...thanks for sharing everyone! Really touching to hear how everyone is toughing it out.

On a sort of off topic note. Fiona Apple recently postponed her tour dates due to her Pit becoming seriously ill. Her note to her fans is really touching and I feel like pet owners of all ages could really understand what she's going through. She puts everything so poetically just like her lyrics. Here's the link if you're interested.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f....195751057125282.46346.191278307572557&type=1

 

[orca2011]

Wow, it's great to hear how supportive the faculty is...thanks for sharing everyone! Really touching to hear how everyone is toughing it out.

On a sort of off topic note. Fiona Apple recently postponed her tour dates due to her Pit becoming seriously ill. Her note to her fans is really touching and I feel like pet owners of all ages could really understand what she's going through. She puts everything so poetically just like her lyrics. Here's the link if you're interested.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f....195751057125282.46346.191278307572557&type=1

A classmate of mine shared/liked that on FB. Totally teared up while reading it.

 

[devyn]

I have 2 old dogs with me at vet school. Roc is 12 yrs old with many health issues and Rain is 11 yrs old. They flew over with me from the states last year when I started in August 2011. They have adjusted quite well to my schedule in vet school and tend to sleep most of the day, so it really hasn't been much of an issue. I made sure I live within walking distance of the college, so I can come home on breaks to let them out if need be and to study. My older boy does have accidents every once in awhile, but that is life with an older dog and I have laminate floors so it is no bother really. I had to get them warm fleeces for the winter since they are not used to a cold climate and I think that has been the biggest adjustment for them coming from SoCal to Ireland.

I take them to the Vet Hospital on campus where I get a 20% discount. Roc is a regular at the vet hospital and the staff know him pretty well now. He is in and out with health issues - he has epilepsy and also had another pancreatitis scare last spring here. He is a special case as he cannot be without me. They also do things differently here, so that has been a bit of a work around.

I brought my dogs to Ireland knowing that if I decided to move back to the states (that is not my plan as of now) after I graduated that they would most likely not be alive at that time. But they are my family and I was not going to leave them to go to vet school. They seem happy enough here with me and want for nothing really.

My heart will be broken when they pass.... and I know the time might be soon for the older one. Not sure how I will focus on school when that happens, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

[Cypress]

I have a 23 year old cat that I am currently caring for in my first year of vet school. It is definitely difficult but I wouldn't change it for anything. He actually came down with a pretty serious bug the first couple weeks of school and I thought for sure I was going to lose him but he's bounced back and seems to be enjoying the vet school life with me. He has been with me since he was a kitten and is my oldest friend. When he dies it won't matter what I'm doing in my life - its going to be very difficult to cope with that loss - so I take every day as a gift and am enjoying him keeping me company on this chapter of my life (we've been through alot together).

There are some difficult parts - he has very special food needs, and sometimes he has litter box issues that are stressful for me. I am constantly keeping a close eye on his health and weight gain/loss. But again, being if vet school doesn't make this any more difficult than everyday life would.

A cat is definitely easier than a dog because I don't have to worry about taking him out and that kind of stuff. But having the opportunity to care for and spend time with your geriatric pets I think is a great gift. So my best advice is - don't spend too much time worrying about it - sadly we will outlive most of our beloved pets - so enjoy each day, don't spend them worrying about the inevitable end, plan for the harder stuff but don't let it weigh you down.

Good luck with everything!