Old miserable Charlie

[Kate H]

Even bad-tempered old humans usually have a reason for it! Is his own food biscuits and your leftovers softer? Have you had his teeth checked recently? Are his anal glands all right, or is it painful to do his business in the garden because they are infected (very common in Cavaliers)? Enjoying walks is normal Cavalier behaviour - even when they are ill or in pain, walks enable dogs to switch off from what troubles them, so enjoying walks doesn't mean that they can't also have an underlying physical problem. Being grumpy is very untypical of even the oldest Cavaliers and almost always does mean pain somewhere. It may only be a bit of arthritis that gives Charlie a twinge when he has to get up to go out in the garden, or a bad tooth that would be helped by having different food (one of mine stopped eating and just needed a smaller size biscuit because his teeth were bad) - something quite simple that a visit to the vet will be able to help, rather than just dismiss Charlie as a miserable old git!

Kate and Ruby (who can be growly - but then she is a rescue with syringomyelia, so I reckon she's got reason to be!)

[quoman]

Even bad-tempered old humans usually have a reason for it! Is his own food biscuits and your leftovers softer? Have you had his teeth checked recently? Are his anal glands all right, or is it painful to do his business in the garden because they are infected (very common in Cavaliers)? Enjoying walks is normal Cavalier behaviour - even when they are ill or in pain, walks enable dogs to switch off from what troubles them, so enjoying walks doesn't mean that they can't also have an underlying physical problem. Being grumpy is very untypical of even the oldest Cavaliers and almost always does mean pain somewhere. It may only be a bit of arthritis that gives Charlie a twinge when he has to get up to go out in the garden, or a bad tooth that would be helped by having different food (one of mine stopped eating and just needed a smaller size biscuit because his teeth were bad) - something quite simple that a visit to the vet will be able to help, rather than just dismiss Charlie as a miserable old git!

Kate and Ruby (who can be growly - but then she is a rescue with syringomyelia, so I reckon she's got reason to be!)

Hi just noticed your post. we water down his food as we know his teeth are not well, its almost like soup, his glands are fine as he is always rubbing his backside on the patio slabs (which they do apparently to keep them in check), yes his bones are a bit creaky and it takes him a while to get going, except when shown his lead then he is like a your whippet, so methinks a bit of selective arthritis, he's not daft, he flys around the house like a demented puppy when the grandkids arrive, in the knowledge that food will be dropped on the floor, once they're gone he slumps down again