help, inheriting a dog!!

[fiddlemethis]

Hello everyone, we have had a death in the family and there has been an old 13 year old spaniel left behind. We can't see her go into kennels but I havent got much of a clue about dogs. She seems to be pretty good with children but obviously we will be keeping both the children and the dog under watchful eye.
Mostly my question is what should we do when she arrives? She is overweight and I have no idea about how much we should be feeding her. Its all a bit daunting but I think we will all enjoy having her here once we figure it all out!!

Oh crap booboostoo, I was worried someone would say that....I'll go up to the vet on monday and see what they can tell me about how it works. On a plus side she has just been out playing in the garden with dd and I've never seen her so sprightly :) Hopefully a bit more of that and a bit less food should help her a bit

A wise vet once told me that most human things (within reason and using common sense obviously) are ok for dogs as they've usually been tested on animals anyway and are usually cheaper than special pet ones so I give my German shepherd human glucosamine/chrondroitin supplements they're often on offer in supermarkets so cheaper than most pet formulations and have worked wonders on her hips.

I have my dog registered with the PDSA, you have to go in their website and check if there is a ckinic near you first. Then I am pretty sure you have to be on housing benefit, council tax benefit or pension credit to qualify.
I had to take him in for a health check first, and he had to be up to date with vaccinations.
Then they ask for a minimum donation of £20 per visit.
My two dogs are both older (roughly over 9 not definite as they are rescue) and they happily eat the Wagg dog food (sometimes soaked in gravy, with the odd tin of meat chucked in) for £11 for a 15kg bag. They are v healthy. I know you can spend ten times that but I just don't have the money and they always seem happy.

I'd be wary of human supplements for a springer - just because of the dosage, it'll be way too much.

Well, I have booked her in for her first check up today, we shall see what the vet says. However, they did say the vet has to "ok" her to go on the PDSA scheme, so does that mean if she is too old and knackered and will cost a lot of money they won't cover her? Thinking about it in a clinical way, I guess they only want dogs on the scheme that arent going to take too much out of the pot?They did say they wouldnt cover her if she has pre existing conditions, I don't know of any but I wouldnt have a clue who the previous vet was to find out!

Our old dog has arthritis and is on anti-inflammatory pain killers. The vet supplies them for around £40 for 100 - he takes two per day. I've seen them online though for around £1 per 100 - you need to ask your vet for a prescription, then send it off to the company online so that they will sell them to you. We haven't done any more than look into this option, but it might be worth asking about it.

Here