Have you begun to notice your pet is aging?

I have begun to see the changes in Hibbs. He turned ten years old in May. He is much slower than he used to be and he has more gray through his fur. He takes longer naps and does not always want to go for our daily walk. I know it could be a couple of years from now that aging will really begin to take a toll on my little buddy. Unfortunatly that is the way it is. Pets do not live as long as people and that is a fact of life we must accept. If I had not accepted that long ago I would not keep getting pets.


We did have one female cat named Charlie that lived to be eighteen years old. We had to have her euthanized because she had begun to suffer and was unable to eat anymore. It was extremely difficult for myself and my family but it was the best thing for her.


Anyone who has pets will come to a point in time when a decision must be made about your pets quality of life. Each person deals with this issue in their own way. We love our pets as part of our family and it is one of the hardest decision we have to make in our lives. When we had to have another one our cats, Fizzy, put to sleep at the age of seventeen my daughter and myself stayed with him as he was given the shots and it was one of the most difficult things I have had to go through in my life. My daughter and I cried together in the parking lot of the Vets office for a while after it was done. We both knew it was the best thing for Fizzy as he was suffering like Charlie had but it was still a very hard thing to do nevertheless.


I came across this article from the Middletown Journal in Ohio titled "Aging pets: ‘Gray area’ tough to negotiate." It is about the subject and offered some interesting insights into this issue. If you would like to read the article you can find it at Middletown Journal.
I think that when you get a pet you have to keep an awareness that they do not live as long as we do and you need to enjoy and make the best of the time you have together. Any thoughts?