Since molly died 6 week ago tilly hasnt been the same even though henry is here she is tilly but isnt if that makes sense she seems less happy and keeps abit more distance from me not sure if i should take her vets for depression can they do anything? thanks
The vet thought Riley was depressed at one point. I can't even remember why it was so long ago and certainly not something obviously distressing like losing Molly will have been for Tilly. We were prescribed something but I never gave it to him. I know from other forum members that dogs do grieve. Hopefully someone with more experience will be along to offer some thoughts. It must be terribly confusing for them and I really feel for Tilly and you, both for your loss and trying to help Tilly through it all.
Hi @laurenxo so sorry to hear you lost Molly a short while ago. Ive no experience at all to share but I'd take Tilly to the vets for a check up and explain your worries and see what they say.
My dog grieved terribly and turned her face to the wall, so we went and bought a puppy and within days she was back to her happy self. You can get pills for depression for dogs, but I would prefer not to use them.
I've never had more than one dog at a time but I believe dogs absolutely can suffer from depression. When a previous dog had stitches in his pad in the middle of winter and basically had to be housebound for about 6 weeks near the end he was retreating under our bed and not even I could get him out from under it. Once he got outside and back in his regular routine he was right as rain. Time is a great healer. As long as Tilly is eating and drinking properly I would just monitor her, but if you don't see her coming round in a reasonable amount of time I would have a chat with the vet.
we've just working through this too. Midge was withdrawn but we pulled her back in by basically spoiling her and not letting her withdraw . She got her favourite foods walks toys snuggles grooming just as before but more of them I was more attentive got her playing more. Rory was very stressed as in loosing Doug we lost the solid base to the pack. I encouraged Rory to feel more secure and that everything was fine and he is improving. Its taken a while but we are getting there as a smaller slightly different pack. I haven't needed to get them to the vet about it as I red around the subject and decided which approach I would try first as i knew Doug would be gone soon. Some books tell you to just ignore them and treat them as nothing has happened which i rejected because it seemed unkind, because something huge had. I found that not ignoring them but redirecting them to positive enjoyable activities has helped. Also that extra bit of understanding and just giving Midge and Rory more of my time has helped. I also stuck to well established routines. They do grieve its hard to watch because we are feeling it too. I put all my energy into making things fun and if Midge seemed uninterested found a way to get her interested again. She seemed to become very old all of a sudden (she's 13) but is starting to get back to her old silly self. Doug was her husband they had been together all their lives no wonder she felt so sad, but having her toy boy has helped I'm so glad I found Rory. He gets her to play and makes her want to compete with him. Hope she does start to feel better and that you do too its so hard on us all when we loose such an important member of our family. I just kept at it eventhough it was hard there was no way I was going to let Midge give up. I'd maybe get her a health check at the vets incase anything else is going on. Love and best wishes for you and Tilly.
Dogs do get depressed. Our previous Labrador had an infection under her claw, which made walking painful while it healed. The antibiotics upset her stomach so she was on a restricted diet. After a few days she became listless, indifferent and lost all interest in play, interaction and food. She just lay in her bed. For several days she seemed to have given up on life. It was terrible. We changed the antibiotics to stabilise her stomach, gave her lots of attention and fuss, and regained her interest through very high value titbits. We got her back to her old self, but it took a while.
Yeah its hard enough for us dealing with the loss of dear Molly, and it still hurts but i suppose time is best healer she still plays etc but ive been taking her on extra long walks on her own and with henry so could be thats shes just tired we will see thanks for the advice it helps and means alot everyone xx
I really noticed how tired Midgey got too she seemed so exhausted even after a small walk. Its started to pass now her energy levels have once again near to what they were when Doug died. I think she felt old because she missed him. love and hugs from us all
