I know it's late, but, Don't want to read and run.

I don't know you and can't see your dog but, from what you have posted I feel that maybe, deep down, you know the answer. Please see your vet, remember you are only young and will have many holidays in your life so you don't need to go. At this point Thunderbolt must be the most important thing in your life, he is 11 and you are 18 so you have grown up with him so this must be so hard for you.
Please Please see a vet, don't let him suffer - -

Thinking of You and Thunderbolt xx

Chel and Juice xx 🐾🐾

 

Please forgive another short and unfairly terse reply due to the late hour.

Bluish cloudy eyes sound like they could be cateracts. The poor chap will be spooked if his eye sight is going. Although given time, dogs can adapt surprisingly well to vision problems as they map their worlds through scent, not vision. Perhaps you could do a few tests with him with any hand signals that he knows, see if his pupils can motion track food in your hand or toys being waved around etc.

Arthritis is very common in older Labradors, so he may be struggling on his legs due to joint problems hence the slipping around and struggle with position changes.

It always breaks my heart to acknowledge that the average life expectancy of a Labrador is 11-12yrs. But that's just an average, for every one lost at 12, there's another lost at 9, and another that makes it to 15. The inevitability that we will out live our dogs is something that every dog owner has to come to terms with at some point.

I feel awful to be so blunt, but it all sounds like old age is catching up with him. Just as it will with all of us one day. I agree with Chel, pass on the holiday if you can and make every day count.

I feel for you and offer the very best of hope that he's not going anywhere anytime soon. But you really need to speak to a vet. Even just some pain killers might help him with any joint pain etc.

Our resident forum expert and Labrador legend JohnW should be along in the morning to offer a greater voice of experience.

 

Cloudy eyes with a blue tinge could be cataracts as others have said, but again, it could be a normal sign of ageing as it was in the case of my Beth. I showed her to a friend, Professor Peter Bedford, who is a professor of canine ophthalmology at the Potters Bar Vet College, and his comment was, "Nothing to worry about John, some go like that in old age." He put a name to it, but for the life of me I cant remember it now. (Pity I did not see this yesterday because I was with him last night so could have asked.) But even if it is cataracts it is not a problem. Their noses take over from their eyes. The problem on stairs could be several things. Dog's eye sight can deteriorate just like humans, the muscles in the eye go a bit slack and the eye does not focus so well. We correct this by wearing glasses, but obviously dogs cannot do that!!! Then again, it might be due to a little arthritis in the joints.

But the lumps are more worrying, particularly as you say there are two different kinds. Possibly some are simply fatty tissue lumps, something Labradors are prone to and are nothing to worry about. They can safely be left until they start to get too big, which at that age they probably never will. These lumps are not attached to anything, are simple in the flesh and although hard have clearly defined edges and can move with the flesh. But it would pay to get them checked out by your vet.

As with stairs, the difficulty on the kitchen floor could well be stiffness in the joints. I got some cheap rugs for the kitchen floor when Anna got shaky on her legs and it made all the difference. OK, it did not look smart, and they did get dirty, but they did the job, and that was the important thing as far as I was concerned. When she finally died they went in the bin.

Something I don't like saying, but I think I need to be brutally honest. He appears to be in some distress. Not all lumps are visible from the outside, some grow inwards and can cause pain with no visible cause. An exray would show it, but could it be operated on. In the case of my Beth the answer was no, and I would not have put her through it anyway and at the age of Thunderbolt, and my old Beth it's likely they would not survive the operation, so would it be fair?

I feel very sorry for you, I understand exactly how you feel having been through it myself. I guess taking his age and yours, you cannot really remember a time when he was not around. But the day is fast approaching when you will need to put his need for peace in front of your desire to keep him by your side. Such a hard decision for us to make. All any of us can do it to try to ensure our dogs do not suffer.

My thoughts are with you, John

 

I agree with everything said above, but would just like to add that panting and drooling can both be signs of being in pain or discomfort. He may have pulled/strained something when he bolted from the kitchen which may be why he seems to have gone downhill.

Whatever the reason for his discomfort, I would look into taking him to a vet (not necassarily the one you always use, a second opinion can be invaluable) and potentially looking into some sort of pain relief, a lot of labradors are on things such as Yumove or Metacam daily just to take the edge of any arthritic joints.

12 is a very good age for a Labrador as you probably know, and his age will be starting to show naturally. Things can go downhill very swiftly, it's just knowing when's the right time to take his pain away and let him go gracefully.

 

Your dog may very well NOT be dying but need help to manage pain and other issues. What you describe could be symptoms of any number of things recoverable from or managed with proper meds. I agree he sounds like he has cataracts. I'd also suspect hearing loss. As owners these creep up on us as we develop a "language" with our dog and tend not to notice these infirmities till they get quite pronounced.

ARthritis, yes at his age, probably. Perhaps a small seizure or stroke? A muscle injury from trying to do what he did as a young dog but now he can't? Tweaked his back and broke off some extra calcium from spinal spondylosis like my girl did when she was 12.5? Could be, you won't know without Vetting. Many Vets will arrange a payment plan for you. I guess cancellation insurance on your trip won't apply on a sick dog, should if you ask me, he is a family member. Good luck, hope you find a way to help him.