Milo’s Last Miles – Coming out of his shell

In animal sanctuaries there are dogs of all shapes and sizes… and some of them are very old. Milo was, until recently, one such dog. It’s hard for sanctuaries to find homes for dogs like Milo; they are often ill or needy and require a lot of attention and patience. Additionally, many people worry that it will be too sad to befriend an animal who has only a few months left to live. At Ethical Pets, we have cared for a dog like this before, called Beth: we found living with her a wonderful and fulfilling experience, so we have decided to do it again! This time, we are keeping a blog in the hope that maybe others will consider adopting their own little Beth or Milo one day. So, here it is: our record of Milo’s Last Miles.


It’s been a few weeks since our first blog about Milo, our new but ancient rescue dog who has come to live with us for his “retirement.”

One of the reasons we haven’t written is that things have got into a quiet rhythm very quickly with him – and most of our attention is spent on getting him to eat. The more he eats, the happier he is, so its really quite important that we pay attention to his food needs 🙂

There are several conflicting forces with food and old doggies like Milo – finding things that they like is important, but then often, they will binge and either get sick or get bored and stop eating completely. Sometimes he gets so addicted to one particular food that will do almost anything to get at it! So, we have to give him just enough of the food he is obsessed with that he doesn’t go off it within days: but enough of it that he is well fed.

Sometimes this is quite a fine line, and it’s difficult to stop the other doggies getting fat on Milo’s leftovers! We also have to keep our minds open about what he might eat – he loves fruit, peaches, bananas and cherry tomatoes much more than he likes meat or fish. That said, if we give him too much fruit he won’t eat any meat at all and then he starts to look a little thin. It’s really just a long slow series of trial and error 🙂

We have to give him just enough of the food he is obsessed with that he doesn’t go off it within days: but enough of it that he is eating well enough to keep strong.

As for his mood, we said we wanted him to cheer up and he really has done – he is quite quiet and keeps himself to himself. He likes his own space away from the other dogs, but that said, when people come over for the evening, or when we go to friends houses and take him with us, he really enjoys exploring and stealing crisps and begging with his big brown cataracted eyes!

He really enjoys exploring and stealing crisps and begging with his big brown cataracted eyes!

Also, if the gate is left open he will wander off in a very slow bid for freedom – inside his quiet, solitary exterior there is a mischievous little monster stowed away we think!

In terms of his health, there is very little change. His fluid filled lump fills up and drains, sometimes it gets really full and other days it’s almost empty – there is no discernible pattern though. His moles and tumors are getting slowly bigger but they don’t seem to bother him much.

 

Inside is quiet, solitary exterior there is a mischievous little monster stowed away

Really, looking after a dog like Milo is not so hard – but the next problem will be the winter time, as he likes to sleep in the kitchen and soon that will be too cold! We will keep you updated!

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.