What is the oldest basset hound you have ever known or heard about?
Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and hoping for the oldest basset hound ever…I have heard of some telling tails of really old bassets but there was never ever proof!
Recently, I saw a post on a basset forum regarding this topic and I thought I would share it with the residents…
Here is the post…
“I thought I would ask this group what is the oldest basset hound you’re aware of? I have a 19 year old basset hound named Norma. She recently had surgery to remove an infected lymphatic tumor that was benign but causing her some range of motion issues. The vet who did the surgery asked me if she was in fact 19 because if she is, she’s in fantastic shape! She had never heard of a basset hound being that old. I told her to look back in her records because I’ve had her since I was a sophomore in high school and I’m in my 30’s now, plus she’s been a patient at the clinic her entire life. She was born in 1995.
I was terribly nervous electing to do surgery on Norma, but her bloodwork came back all within normal range and the vet was extremely meticulous about being prepared in the operating room to keep her under anesthesia for the shortest amount of time possible. She had the staff prep for all possible scenarios so she didn’t have to wait for supplies to be found and brought in if they were needed. For that, I’m very appreciative. Norma’s recovery has been uneventful and she’s back to her silly hound self. She spends her days napping on the couch, eating and barking at the chickens in the yard. She even still makes it out every once in a while to do therapy dog visits to the local nursing home. She made me laugh the other day when she bounded across the yard and caught one of the chickens. She didn’t hurt it but sure did make it angry. LOL! Clearly she’s feeling a lot better now that the tumor is off her shoulder. The only old age issue we’re really facing is hearing loss. Either that or her hearing has become even more selective in her old age! There are times that I think she hears but there are times where it’s clear she doesn’t.
I love my old girl and hope for nothing more than the joy of being able to celebrate her 20th birthday. So tell me about the oldest bassets you know of!
She is by far the best dog I’ve ever had. Always just so laid back and loves people. Some of my fondest memories are of her at her therapy visits. At Children’s Hospital, I remember one visit in the play room with a little girl who was there for heart surgery. She had Down Syndrome and had a hard time communicating with the other kids. Norma sat with her for hours and the girl dressed her up, held crayons in her paws and made her color in coloring books, she had a tea party with her and Norma just sat there loving all the attention she was getting. She LOVES kids and just perks up when she’s around them.
She has her moments of naughtiness though. We call her the butter ninja. If you leave a stick of butter out on the cupboard, she will take it. She’s even been so quick that I put a stick of butter in the mixer and walked into the pantry to get my dry ingredients to make cookies and when I came back with the sugar and flour, the butter was GONE with no sound and no dog in sight! She’s even so determined that she pushes a dining chair over to the cupboard to climb up and hop over the baby gate to get into the bedrooms when she wants to sleep in the bed instead of the on the couch. That’s about as bad as she gets and even when she does that, you can’t be mad at her.”
“I will be devastated to lose her when that time comes and I really feared that it was going to be a few weeks ago when that infection took hold and we either needed to operate or put her down because she was in so much pain. I didn’t think the vet would consent to taking her in for surgery but she has surprised us all and is really thriving. We’ve been saying for years that Norma only has a short time left because we were always told bassets live to be 12-14 years old. But, at 19, Norma is proving everyone wrong and doing it in style!”
END OF POST…
More loving Norma later…Cat, Daisy Lynn, (Chaps and Emma ATB loving Norma and old hounds forever…)
PS – So, what is the oldest basset you have ever heard of?
Comments(17)
What a sweet story. Norma has touched so many lives, and brought so much happiness to so many.
I was at PetsMart once years ago, and I had taken Slinky from the Banfield Vet (she had an examination), on the way out I met a 19 year Basset Hound named Andy. I stopped and petted him and Slinky and he kissed. I do remember saying that I didn’t think Bassets lived to that age, the women said “Oh! he’s still a spry young thing and devil in the dark” I thought, just another typical Basset.
That is amazing! I tend to believe her age being accurate. I don’t see it impossible if a hound is lucky enough to have good health all their life and good slaves that take care of them. And I think the owner being able to notice issues and get them taken care of is the key. I’ve been lucky with that a few times with Jethro and I hope he lives to be 19.
I have had dogs live to be 16 yrs but they were not bassets.
Marilyn’s Samantha lived to 19+…
I had a Beagle/doxie live to 17+ (I physically had Sasha 16 years). Basset Cleo lived to 16 (12 when I got her) I had her paper work with birth date. others were 12, 14 and 15 (Bassets and a Beagle).
Hi! I’m Katie, Norma’s owner. Norma is still alive and kicking though we’ve been facing some health struggles as of late. She has an aggressive oral tumor that we’ve been treating and I’ve been trying to delay having to put her under anesthesia again but we’re really getting to a point of having to make a decision one way or another – either go through with surgery or put her down because her quality of life is declining. I take her back in on Wednesday morning (October 15th) for a recheck and chest x-ray. If the chest x-ray and bloodwork are good, we’ll go ahead and remove that oral tumor and do a dentistry while we’re in there. If not, then we’ll try to make her as comfortable as possible until she lets me know it’s time. She’s still alert, responsive and happy. She’s eating well and seems to be her typical self but that tumor is growing rapidly and I know she won’t be comfortable much longer. Please keep her in your thoughts and hopefully all goes well and she’ll turn 20 in a few short months!
We love Norma in bassethoundtown and wish her only the best. Thank you so much for giving up this update! Please keep us posted on this wonderful elder!
Our Bassett Ally dog will be 16 in July. She is still kicken
Wow – thanks for posting Stephen! Would love to see a picture of your Ally dog! I adore the elders…
My Quincey is 15 reading about your doggies makes me smile, I always say that I want Quincey to make it in the guinness world record book for the oldest living Basset Hound. He is my soulmate 🙂
I have a female basset hound named Lushious and she will be 18 yrs old next February. Her sight and smell are completely gone and hearing is almost gone. She makes it outside 80 to 90% of the time. She still eats and drinks when shes able to make it to the dog bowl. She runs into our furniture and gets lost walking around the house. When she does make it outside she just walks around barking in the air not at anything at all. She sleeps most of the time but every once in a while she trys to play with our other bassets that are lots younger. Other than those issues she does pretty good.
Thank you for this comment. I loved reading it. Will you please give Lushious a kiss from me. What a blessing she is. I love that she still plays a little bit with your other bassets. So cute…Thank u
My Toby is 15 yrs old, and overall doing very well. He’s lost some hearing, some teeth, and has glaucoma. He has fatty cysts that we are ignoring, but had a sebaceous gland cyst that burst and just won’t heal. His personality is still just as stubborn and loveable as ever though. He is spoiled rotten. I’m thinking that has something to do with how long he’s living, he knows how good he had it in this life!
OH, I would love to see a picture of your Toby. He sounds like a delicious old man. I love the old men. What a joy. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, So glad to find these comments shared among Bassethound lovers. My dog Chester is a 16.5 y.o.Bassethound who is in great shape. As long as he gets good homemade food,nutritionally balanced, and regular short trips outside along with lots of TLC, he seems to be very content. We got him in June of ’99 and he is soooo lovable. He does have accidents in the house but we set out to keep him as long as he is in good health. It is so rewarding for our family to have him in our lives!A few lumps, {benign}, some hearing loss and we think he may be blind on one eye, otherwise absolutely AMAZING! Tone{ Chester’s Mom}
Wow thanks so much for sharing Tone – I would love to see a picture of Chester. What a blessing to have him so long and it all sounds like he is loving life! What a way to start the new year with such a great comment! Thank you so much!!! Cat
How’s Norma today?