How an Indian woman's love for her ill senior dog in Dubai sparked hope for fellow caregivers

A year ago, I heard the story of Mr Popo.

At the time, Rupkatha Bhowmick, who had been with him for 12 years, was learning how to cope with her dog’s weekly seizures. She changed her job timings to be with him, and she and her husband structured their entire lives around caring for him unconditionally.

It has been several lifetimes since then for Bhowmick, as she unraveled the chronic, progressive and neurodegenerative disease called Canine Lafora. Each painful realisation led to another, followed by a cascade of conditions impacting different organs, including Cushing’s Disease, laryngeal paralysis and Canine Cognitive Dysfunction.

Nevertheless, Bhowmick and her husband grew more steel-willed and determined to be with him, making sure that he had the best comfort in his old age. Bhowmick’s voice doesn’t falter as she quietly relates the past few years of learning how to love her dog even more.

The extent they would go to, to look after him.

 It’s what love does, perhaps, pushing you to see parts of yourself that you never knew.

And what does this commitment entail: It means knowing the smallest of needs. It means staying up at certain times of the night, carefully cooking his food, formulating it all so that they can make him comfortable in any way possible. It also meant reaching out to vets across the world, including a vet in Australia. Furthermore, Bhowmick changed the course of her life and career as Popo’s primary caregiver. “Alongside acceptance and gratitude for the time we have with Popo, I decided to educate myself on canine caregiving, particularly focusing on senior dog care,” explains Bhowmick.

As she says, she had to begin with a layered medication approach, as his body was constantly under fight-or-flight.  Popo has been on anti-seizure medication since 2022 and Cushing’s treatment since mid-2024. Integrative care involving personalized nutrition, herbal remedies, and strategic supplementation has helped him stay seizure-free for 1.5 years. As his mobility declined, at-home massages became part of his daily routine to maintain comfort and movement.

So in the past year, she studied, and pored over research. Her certifications list was almost endless, iincluding Integrative Hospice and Palliative Care for Dogs, TCVM Food Therapy 101, TCVM Food Therapy 201, Understanding and Interpreting Lab Values and Holistic Canine Herbalism Level 1. Moreover, she also studied to specialise in holistic grief and loss counselling to bridge the gap that exists between animal care and humans, while their pets are with him and beyond.

What none of the textbooks prepared her for was the loneliness that came with it.

People shut down when they lose their pets. They lose themselves in their grief, because they’re not quite sure if the world around them quite gets it. Everyone is sympathetic for sure, but in time, you’re silently expected to move on. And many aren’t aware about the language of animal grief. “People say, ‘at least you had him for so long…’ And that I find so counter-intuitive,” explains Bhowmick.

Slowly, she realised that there are many such caregivers around her, isolated in their own exhaustion of taking care of their dog. And so, she decided to start her own community for them on November 1, 2025, on Popo’s 13th birthday, to offer fellow caregivers resources, tools, and emotional support. “Alongside this, I continue to run Wiser Woofs, a platform I’ve built over the years for caregivers of senior dogs,” she explains. The members span the UAE, the US, India and one person from Portugal.

The community is growing gradually, with over 13 members, a space where people are just there for each other for support as life gets all too overwhelming when you’re watching out for your senior dog constantly.

The learnings aren’t linear, but one of them being: Love is just the beginning of becoming an aware and compassionate caregiver. “The practical realities matter just as much. Veterinary care, medication, specialised nutrition, supplements, and everyday essentials like reusable diapers, orthopaedic beds, and making a home senior-friendly all add up quickly, making a pet care budget essential,” explains Bhowmick.

Beyond the logistics, there’s also the need to build knowledge around canine care, while giving ourselves permission to practise self-care too. This journey teaches that caregivers don’t have to be perfect. “Some days we are strong; on others, we are vulnerable, and both are okay. What matters most is having a community to lean on, because the physical and emotional toll of caregiving, especially when it comes to dogs, is still not well understood,” she says.

Accepting that she has borrowed time with Popo, she just says, “We're incredibly grateful for every single day we have with him without trying to control what we can't. Its oddly liberating, you know.”