I have the most fantastic 14 yo standard poodle. He is very elderly - have always had SPs and they usually go at 11 or 12.
he has a bit of arthritis and a bit of a wheeze but otherwise ok. However since Christmas he really seems to have gone downhill. He is very skinny, and it is difficult to tempt him to eat. For example I cooked him some chicken thighs today and cut them into little chunks and he ate very little. He loves chicken. For the last few weeks he has been asking to go in and out into the garden literally every 20 mins or so if I am in the kitchen, and when he gets out there he looks confused, like he doesn’t know why he is there. We were thinking that he had forgotten that he had just been out. He stands just looking at the walls sometimes, again looking confused. He has been sort of groaning a bit.
Today however he seems to have become incontinent. He marked the playroom with urine in four places, and when I put him in the kitchen to clean up, and then sat near him with my supper, he made two wet patches in the bed and then urinated on the floor. We have kept walks pretty short for a few months as he gets tired, but today he really didn’t even to walk around the (2acre) garden.
I will take him to the vet tomorrow but should I be expecting to be asked about end of life, and if so should I do it? I really really don’t want him to be in any pain and I just get the feeling he is finding life tiring and confusing at the moment.
my younger SP will be devastated as will we all.