One of Dexter’s maintenance drugs have cancer as a possible side effect. So we already had that conversation. I think it’s responsible to have these conversations before animals develop end of life diseases, not be on so surprised by them.

Also if one adopts a breed that tends to develop certain conditions more often than other dogs. We also should have talk of the damage the fancy has done to dogs due to inbreeding to maintain breed standards.

My childhood blackie lived to seventeen. He was a small poodle. He went blind at fourteen, he still had three more good years. We kids were not consulted, of course. But my mom decided it was time when he lost bladder and poop control. He was an old man by any objective standard.



I don’t expect my special needs dog to make it that far. And 17 is not common.


For the moment he has lost a lot of teeth because in his previous life he was not taken care off…today he is resting his weary head. He lost six more on Thursday. But tomorrow we need to restart his walks, because of his back.