Our dog Catie is a 11.5 yr. old Border Collie. This past year she's had a number of strange symptoms arise. In July we had a full Sr. Wellness panel run on her including ultrasounds, blood work, etc. She started having problems urinating; we thought it was a UTI or incontinence so the Vet put her on the 'pee pill'. She has been urinating on her bed at night and on the floor. The pills weren't working. Also, she's become pretty thin. I took her back to the Vet on Sunday and she's lost 13 pounds since July! Her bladder wall felt thick and the Vet suspected some sort of cancer and Kushings Disease. Also, her heart didn't sound right. I had him run a another full blood panel (I'll get results tomorrow). Here's the thing, she now won't eat & barely drinks. She stares off into space and is having trouble walking. I had to carry her this morning. When she stands up she tilts from side to side like she's going to fall over. I think she's giving up! I don't know what to do! This is such a dramatic difference for her from a week ago. We have 2 little girls at home and we lost our son earlier this year. I'm afraid if the Vet thinks we should put her down, how our girls will react with a 2nd loss in the family. :( Any suggestions? I've tried her favorite treats, food, etc. - nothing is working!

Sound like she may be stroking. Take her to an emergency vet now

Austy I understand your concern about your children's reaction. Please accept my condolences on the loss of your son. I know this isn't easy for you but you need to get your dog into the vet's office, or an emergency vet as danielnoahsmommy suggested, immediately. The vet needs to assess the situation and give you guidance on what to do. Explaining to your children is secondary to making sure your dog isn't in any pain or distress at the moment. Please post back when you have an opportunity and let us know what the situation is. At that point, we can talk about how best for you to deal with your children.

The vet may or may not be able to do anything. It is your only chance.

You really need to get your dog to d vets so that you know what's wrong and what your options are. I had a golden lab and she was about 12yrs old. She had similar problems and sadly it was cancer. She was in pain and so we had her put to sleep.