Help for an Aging Sheepie
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| Allow me to refer you to this article...
http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?p=680 ...and WELCOME to the forum!!! |
I'm so sorry about Maggie. We had the same thing with Flash and finally had to let him go. Talk to your vet about pain control, I don't think much can be done for cataracts. It's heartbreaking to see your faithful companion unable to walk or take the stairs.  I have often wondered why there aren't any specialists to help treat dogs during the aging process, maybe there is. We have elder care doctors for people, why not dogs? |
| Thanks, Ron, for the reference material and the warm welcome. I appreciate the concern from everyone. At this point Maggie's problem isn't quite as serious as it may sound. (maybe I relate better with my own aches and pains of growing older...) We saw the same signs with "Mr. Winston" and it is hard to imagine going through that same level of grief again.
Maggie still does a good job of running around the yard when there is something worth chasing and only needs a little help climbing into the SUV. The cataracts don't seem to cause much problem except when trying to negotiate the stairs, which she avoids as much as possible (because it usually means a trip to the basement for a bath). Other than that, she's in good shape for a senior. We just want her to be as comfortable as possible in her "golden years". |
| Something you may want to consider is a ramp. I use one for all my dogs because I can't lift them. They can go right up the ramp and into my SUV.
It is 4' wide, carpeted and has side rails. These do not need to be attached, the ramp telescopes and goes on your bumper. |
If it isn't too bad yet, simple buffered aspirin can work wonders. My mom had a 200+ pound Bouvier (coincidentally, also a Winston  ) with pretty bad arthritis and a couple a day kept him moving well. My older dog, Lucy, recently started developing arthritis so I took her to the vet and she recommended the same thing-- Bufferin. She's been much better since we started giving the Bufferin to her too. I'd still talk to your vet first since he or she may recommend a specific dosage fo your dog's size. |
| One of our dogs will turn 12 this month and he is on straight Glucosamine. We also keep him active with swimming, it's low impact so we don't affect his joints with the excercise. We also keep his weight down and keep him warm. He likes to lay on the cool tile or to stay outside in the snow but the colder it is, the stiffer he gets.
Make sure that you continually monitor her condition. Glucosamine or aspirin may work for a while but after a bit she could start to build a tolerance and need a change or an added med. |
| Nice to have you aboard.
I can't stress enough how important pain management is. If Maggie is like a lot of sheepdogs, she won't show any pain unless it's really quite bad, and like ButtersStotch suggests, a little bit of pain relief goes a long long way to restoring your dog's vitality! |
| Ron, I'm sending my sheepdog to you. A bigger woosie I've never met when it comes to pain. She's young (6) now and already I'm dreading the senior years.
Other sheepies have also varied in pain acceptance......most not well. OTOH, my Pyrs are stoic beyond belief. I've seen them endure severe pain with nary a whimper, just a sigh. Right now I've got a boy with bone cancer of the front leg.......for all the bad press on Rimadyl, it is allowing this boy to walk....let's face it, he's a short timer now anyway......sigh. As far as glucosamine et al, begin at the first signs of discomfort. It takes awhile to work. |
| I am sorry about your boy with cancer. My Beau has synovi sarcoma on his front leg and limps terribly. He takes one Dermaxx each day for pain, some days it works better than others. Have you thought about amputation? We've been debating about it and considered getting him some wheels. Sorry if I appear nosy but it does help to be informed by people going through the same thing. Good luck to your boy. |
| No amputation.......he's about 7-8 (rescue) and carrys his weight over his shoulders. We've put this poor, but WONDERFUL creature thru a PTLO.......really ugly leg and knee surgery about 2-3 years ago, I couldn't do that again. This is not our first time with this horrible disease.......I'm not letting this boy go until the lumps look like baseballs....
I wish you peace in what ever decision you make. |
| Thanks for the reply. I suspect that we will not put Beau through more either, he has had radiation and surgery. All that really matters to me is that he is happy and comfortable. |
| Thanks to everyone for the great advice. We'll be seeing the vet before starting any meds, otc or 'script for the stiff joints. A co-worker just had to put his six-year old boxer down and I realize how lucky we are to even have Maggie around at 12+ yrs. My thoughts are certainly with all of you who have babes with limited time in this world. Who knows? They still may outlive us...
.....finally got the avatar to work! Not an easy dog to photograph! |
| Love your avatar !!
Maggie is just beautiful !!! Best of luck at the vets appointment, please keep us posted... Sheepie hugs to Maggie... |
Maggie is a beautiful girl  |
| Hi,
I too love Maggie's avatar pic. She reminds me of my beloved Shaggy whom passed away at age 15 last spring. (The same look in the eyes) . I am a HUGE fan of glucosimine as within 3 wks (takes about that time to be effective) Shaggy once again was able to master stairs and would have the occasional bouts of energy. (She was also fighing something similar to cancer as well). My breeder also recommended glucosamine when Merlin was a pup for his growing bones. It can be found at any health food counter or pharmacy over the counter. I believe it's a natural remedy and not a traditional "medicine" so no side effects that I can recall. I also have Blue my 15 year old Blueheeler/Lab on it as well as 4 year old Panda whom appears to have some trouble with his hips if he's done a lot of running. The last six months of her life, the vet put Shaggy on Medicam which also worked miracles when the glucosamine was no longer effective. It made such a difference that I highly recommend it. It comes in liquid form. Glucosamine comes in capsules which you can hide in cheese, or other food or can break open and spray the powder in their food. Best of luck to you and give Maggie a belly rub for me. Marianne and the boys |
| Maggie truly appreciates the admiration and attention. All Sheepdogs are beautiful!!! Our previous OES had Cushings disease, so having a full mop of hair was a big change for us. Our Mr. Winston was an olympic swimmer (with a buzz cut), Maggie doesn't go near any body of water larger than her water dish. So alike but so different! |
| Maggie is beautiful! Gorgeous eye...I'm sure there's another JUST like the one that's showing under there! : )
I, too, have a 12 year old. He does well, but when it's very cold, he gets a little stiff. I give him aspirin and Sea Jerky. Something all of my seniors enjoy? A warm, gentle shower massage followed by a blow dry. Best wishes and welcome to you and Maggie! Cathy |
| Hi:
I agree with providing Maggie with Glucosamine. In addition, have you considered getting her acupuncture or chiropractic treatments? I have our 13 year old American Eskimo going to a chiropractor for his arthritis and he is now easily able to keep up with the two sheepies in the family. By the way - he also has cataracts and it doesn't seem to slow him down at all. Just so you know, the holistic practice that I take my dogs to has a doctor that specializes in acupuncture and one that specializes in chiropractic medicine. After Sharkey was examined, the two doctors consulted and decided that he would do best with chiropractic treatments. The only bad thing is that he feels SO good that he joins in the play with the Baxter and Cassiopia causing even more pandemonium than usual. Jennifer, Baxter, Cassiopia & Sharkey |
| Hi Everyone,
I thought I would give my experience of Rumadyl to any who may want to hear. My 1st OES was Meg'n. She started slowing down around 7 1/2 and the vet suggested Rumadyl. Although he suggested 2 tabs in the morning and 2 at night I gave 1/2 tablet maybe every 3 or 4 days and it did wonders. About 4 years ago I had her fixed when she just turned 9 and was very healthy. I had her shaved down for heat comfort but it was a cold December here in Atlanta. She healed well from the surgery fairly quickly but a few later she seemed sore and stiff from the cold even though she was inside. I up the dosage to 1 pill every other day. It didn't seem to help and actually she seemed to be worse so I then up the dosage to 1 pill a day for three straight days. She went into an auto immune reaction but I didn't understand what was really happening. The vets convinced me that it was probably from the surgery, couldn't be from the medication. They had never seen it. I was beginning to suspect Rumadyl. Her blood count dropped and she was rushed to Georgia University for a blood transfusion but the vet there decided not to and believed she had some form of cancer. She insisted on exploratory surgery but I refused and told her I believed it was the Rumadyl. I finally agreed after actually arguing with her to allow a quick bone marrow and a small mouth cyst to be tested because they would be quick and she wouldn’t be under very long at all. Well she decided on her own to do about 2 hours of testing on almost every organ she had but all came up negative. She developed a blood clot 1 ½ days later and died one day after that. That vet is very lucky to be walking this earth today! Her son Noodles had injured his right angle twisting it while running as a young pup of around 8 weeks old. It was treated by a vet and appeared to have healed well. But earlier this same year at around 5 years old he started being a little slow getting up so we had him x-rayed for problems. The vet couldn’t find anything wrong but suggested Rumadyl to help if there was any swelling possibly in his back. We used it for a few months but again just ½ pill every few days or less. I didn’t see any real change. Noodles hated being clipped and really stressed out when I made him stay still from clipping. Well one day while clipping by his nose he sneezed and began shaking all over. I thought he caught hair up his nose but soon found out that wasn’t the case. His temperature spiked to over 105. We rushed him to the vet where the vet gave him more Rumadyl. When that didn’t change anything he added steroids to the mix even though I warned him that the bottle says it shouldn’t be mixed. He stated that they needed to get the fever down however they can. His fever began to lower but his rear right leg began swelling from his ankle up. We tried treating this for 3 days including draining his leg several times. Finally this vet gave up and sent us to the same university to try and save his life. When we got there the swelling had reached all the way to his testicles and they burst open in the examining room. After around 10 days they managed to save his life and he is still with us today 5 years later but he’s been on permanent steroids for auto-immune disorders and breathing disorders as well as severe nerve and muscle damage to his leg. We have picked him up for 5 years unless it’s a real good textured carpet where he can usually managed to get up on his own with some major painful effort. He walks 3 legged but once up does ok. Total costs for both of these dog's medical treatment and research? Around $7000. Answers? Zero! Death of one and lameness of the other? Major heartbreak and guilt! Looking back it is obvious it was the Rumadyl but the vets were convinced it was allergies, fertilizers, vaccinations and surgery as possible causes. At the time we couldn’t find stories on Rumadyl. Now we see they are both classic cases. |
| Having older dogs with arthritis I found some wonderful supplements which work wonders. I purchase Yucca root from Solid Gold dog food, or you can purchase human grade at your local vitamin store. I also give my dogs Glucosamine Sulfate, Chondroiton, MSM. A really wonderful supplement for joint problems is called syn-flex
http://www.easysource.com/synflex/?id= Syn-flex includes Includes liquid glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine HCL, chondroitin, omega 3 and 6, boswellin, yucca, vitamins A, E, and C, manganese as their ingredients. If you can't get Syn-flex then try and get a supplement which contains Glucosamine Sulfate and Glucosamine HCL, Chondroition, MSM and manganese...these are very important and work very well together...and in order for glucosamine to be absorbed into the blood stream you need either Vitamin C or Manganese. MSM is very good for arthritis. Give it a few months before you expect to see any improvement. The Yucca is great to use as a natural anti inflammatory. I have a dog with severe Hip Dysplasia, it was so bad she couldn't get up out of bed without crying out in pain. After about 3 months on the above supplements (especially the Yucca) she is pain free and moves like a puppy. The Vets have been pretty well shocked at her improvement. Her hip joints have wonderful flexability. Other supplements which work well are ginger, Sea Cucumber and always make sure that your dog is getting lots of Omega 3 fatty acids...try to ensure that the Omega 3,6 and 9 are balanced. I found hemp seed oil a perfect balance. Also try to get more cold water fish into your dog, I like giving canned sardines and wild pacific salmon (canned or fresh steamed, never give your dog raw fish) in my dogs food. I myself steer clear of NSAID's from the vet, they are very unhealthy to the dogs liver. They also mask the dogs pain and can cause the dog to further strain or hurt him/herself. Good luck to you.  |
| I meant to mention you can get great deal on Glucosamine liquid supplements at tack shops for horses. I find the liquid forms easier to slip into food even for the most fussy of pill/supplement taker |
| My three dogs get glucosamine chrondroitin. It works great keeping the bones healthy.
How much exercise does she get and what kind of surface(s) is it on? You may want to exercise her on soft surfaces like grass if you don't already. And if don't already have an orthopedic bed, I suggest trying one. I don't have one but they look pretty comfy and nice. |
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