[HAdams71]

Have a nine year old beagle, we got her when she was around 2 years old. Think she was possibly abused before we got her so not sure how badly. She has always been extremely afraid of thunderstorms and as soon you raise your hand to her even just trying to pet her she cringes or lays down in the submissive position, she has slowly gotten a little better with that over the years. In the last few weeks she seems to have severely degenerated healthwise, she has always become overweight in the winter but usually has started losing the weight by now. She seems to be gaining more weight now rather than losing it and i am not sure it is just weight she seems to look bloated all over even her legs except her face which has always had the sad droopy beagle looking face except now it looks almost like her face is droopy off of her and she looks extremely sad. Some other problems that have come up in the last month are that she suddenly has had extreme trouble climbing upstairs to go to bed in our room (probably 10 or so steps to climb) when she does come up to sleep upstairs i have to help her and it takes several minutes. Usually i have to kind of help push her back end up to get up the stairs and she climbs them in a zig zag rather than straight up. She seems constantly in pain and has become agressive towards the other dogs and cats in the house if they come near here while she is laying down (which is most of the time) she will bark, growl, and snap at them. She has also started growling and barking at anytime of sound she hears in the house now. She also sits up and kind of shuffles back and forth on her front legs while sitting in place.

One more odd thing is she usually keeps to herself even when people are over, but a couple weeks ago my mom stayed at our home to pet sit while we are out of town. She said whenever she was here that she followed her everywhere she went and slept on the ground right by her because she slept on the couch while she stayed here because she felt bad and didnt want to make her go up the stairs. We have a vet appt on the 12th but that is still a week away and i just want to get an idea of what to expect going into the appt. i already know we cant afford surgery or expensive treatments for her as i have been off work a few months and just started working again this week and if she is in severe pain i dont want to keep her alive for my own selfish reasons and have the end of her life be as painful as i suspect the beginning was so any info on what you think could be going on would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Mom2Beagles]

Poor baby, sounds like she might have a few things going on. 9 isn't old for a beagle, they tend to get more senior when they are 11/12 years old. My Molly is the same way with the fear issues, it took years for her to trust anyone but me.

I would just keep her comfortable and give her lots of love until the appt. If possible avoid having her climb stairs, maybe carry her up if you can.

If she is eating, drinking and going potty okay then that is a good sign.

 

[Mom2Beagles]

This site might have some helpful info http://www.gopetsamerica.com/dog-health/disease_signs.aspx

 

[helen]

Barney 11 year old beagle not too good

My Beagle Barney, is almost 11 (October 13). Up until last week he was super active dog, just like he was a puppy.
We started to notice that when he got up in the morning, he had some difficulty with his hind legs, wobbly for a few minutes but then was fine.
Last week, I went out in the morning to feed him and he cam running then started circling me and making the most god awful yelping sounds.
We took him to our vet and they advised us that it could be a broken vertebrae, put out his back, infection or tumour.
We brought him home and confined him. The following day he was shaking (a sign of pain) so we took him back to the vet.
He underwent X Rays and blood tests with no obvious signs of what the problem is.
The vet did advise us that he a degenerative hip problem which is common in Beagles.
He has been confined to a cage to stop movement although the cage is a good size, has a lambs wool underlay and he extremely well cared for.
He is on valium and today he starts anti inflammatories. Best case scenario, we bring him home where we can confine him and hope his issue will improve.
Worse case scenario….well, we have spoken about it at home. We dont want to put him through another operation at almost 11 years of age.
He had cancer at 5 and we were extremely fortunate that it was contained in a ball which they were able to cut out (he does not have cancer now by the way).
We understand that we should never humanise our pets and know that we will always outlast them.
So no doubt decisions have to be made and I have already cried buckets of tears.

I think your beagle is showing signs of having arthritis which I said is common in Beagles. A picture of my beautiful dog Barney