Getting older
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| Sorry to hear about your PoohBear getting older. It is always so difficult to watch them age when the young spirit in their eyes is still there. I have recently gone through it, and many others here as well have either gone through it or are going through it. Have you tried any Osteoarthritis medicine like Rimadyl? I know it can cause liver enzymes to rise, but, it sometimes can help and be the lesser of 2 evils. This helped my Lucy for about 3 years from 12 until she passed at 15. At 12, she woke up lame. I had rushed her to the vet and they did XRAYS to find out she had arthritis down her back and legs and hip displaysia. They put her on Rimadyl and a few weeks later, she was running around again. Eventually, she slowed down to a gallop/fast walk.... but, it did give her an extra 3 years at life. At about 13 or 14, I did have to guide her up stairs and help her into the car and on the couch. I also put my bed on the floor so she could still sleep with us. She had slowed down, but, she was still moving around. Perhaps, you need to talk to your vet about some meds to help him be more comfortable. |
| Have and currently experiencing it. First talk with your vet and see if there are supplements that might aid.......I'm not sold on the glucosamine pills or injections, but others have found them to be beneficial. Also inquire about pain relief. All four dogs here are on Rimadyl now, no, let's not talk cost. I have tile floors in many rooms, creating a big hazard for the 2 that have the most serious problems. I put floor mats or dog mats around to provide traction or comfort......if they guys would use them. With warmer temps coming they will want to be on the tile only and then we have the problem of falling dogs or lifting them up. Lifting is becoming a serious problem since DH can't do it and I probably shouldn't. There are various harnesses you can attach to the back half to help lift the dog. Dog boots give traction, but our guys don't like to wear shoes. The shoes that look like tennis shoes don't come in giant feet sizes. |
| I really have no answers but we are going thru this with Tripper (basset) right now. We have him on tramadol only for pain and glucosamine. Tried Duramax and that gave him such diarrhea that we had to stop. Right now he's getting around but can see him getting slower. He will be 12 in July. |
| Pooh has been taking Deramaxx....have run out since it is $130.00 for 30 pills...need to refill. I really don't know if he is in pain. How do you tell? Our vet prescribed the Deramaxx since the other meds affect the liver more and don't want to chance that with his liver tumor. Is this common in older dogs? When he had his ACL surgery 4 years ago, did x-rays of his hips and they looked good no dysplasia. I feel I need to build up the muscle tone in his back legs since his illnesses and the walks have been few in the past couple of years. Does anyone think this may help? |
| Yes, water therapy would help tone or even build muscle back there. Remember ast 12 they could have arthritis in other areas, along the spine, in the shoulders, paws, etc. Water therapy would allow all areas to be exercised without undue weight or pressure. Only way to know about pain is to discontinue the pain meds. Perhaps using acupuncture instead would give relief. |
| What are signs of pain? Wish they could talk. He doesn't whimper or whine. The vet had tried to get him to do water therapy when he was recovering from his ACL surgery. He got as far as his chest and wouldn't budge since he thought he was getting a bath!!! So, that sure didn't work! We did a little "petting" from our human chiroprator. I think our vet does provide the accupunture at his facility. |
| Rimadyl is also expensive, however, I think there might be a generic version available so it would be cheaper. We had tried Deramaxx and it really didn't work to the same degree as Rimadyl. We were much more succesful with Rimadyl. The other thing to try as someone mentioned is Tramadol. It is very inexpensive and is a pain medicine. My dog had a reaction and couldn't handle tramadol so we didn't give it to her, but, I know this works well with other dogs. You would need to get a prescription from your vet. |
| yeah, haven't tried the generic. Dermaxx didn't do the trick for us. Dog pain: varies with the dog and pain type: acute or chronic. Sometimes the posture is wrong as they don't want to put weight or use a certain area. The back may be hunched, "Oh, my belly hurts." Or they may walk funny, their gait is off. (MO will hold her paw in front of her) They may pant excessively. They may moan or cry out. They may refuse to move unless absolutely necessary. Most dogs can mask pain fairly well, but chronic pain wears them down, their expression becomes tired. That's why is it important to know your dog's various "states"....when happy, sad, excited, etc so when something new comes along you will recognize it. For example in the case of bloat, you have a very short window to get life saving medical help. |
| I know Pooh pants alot, but I sometimes blame it on the fact I haven't given him his "summer do" yet. His coat is quite thick right now and I know he gets warm. (would just lie on the snow this winter and it would melt under him) That seems to be the only thing I'm picking up on. He just looks sad whenever he can't get up right away, just has that "I'm so sorry" look on his face. I gues I'm just worried about starting him on a different medication that will cause his liver enzymes to go up with his liver tumor issue now, but I just may try it to see if there is a difference if my vet will go along with it. He still has his appetite. He is on Hill's L/D formula and the past month have mixed in canned food to get him some protein into his body, since that formula limits the protein for dogs. Am I thinking wrong that since he has this liver tumor and the vet said to try to limit his protein intake because of it, wouldn't the lack of enough protein affect the muscle mass being produced? |
| At our house, we are going through the same with 2 senior bassets, ages 12 and 13. They have symptoms (between the 2 ) of slowing down, slow to rise after laying in one spot, yelping when laying down, and a sad look (OK, that is more difficult in a basset!) in the eyes. One is on deramaxx, the other on metacam. Different drugs work better or worse on individuals, so it's best to try one, and then move to another if no relief. There are plenty of choices out there to try. I also have been using a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement for years with 1 (Simon), the other is a more recent addition (a foster dog). I have had very good luck with that one. In fact Simon, the one on metacam, has just been on it since he was very ill last year and nearly died. He had done great on the supplements alone up to that point, at age 11. At this point it really is pointless to worry overmuch about liver damage, as the quality of life without them would be not so great. It becomes a matter of quality of life, not quantity. They are great boys, and I want the remaining time they have to be as comfortable as possible, even if it does have the risk of shortening their life. |
| I know I have been fighting the liver tumor issue in my mind over and over and should I or shouldn't I try a different medication. He has done so well since the diagnosis. Besides the Hills l/d dry food, I supplement him with milk thistle everyday which I am convinced has helped. He also get glucosamine, vitamin C and Omega 3 everyday. I agree with wanting them around for a long time. I always wanted an OES ever since I was little and my son and daughter in law suprised me with one 12 years ago. He was supposed to be my dog, but Pooh has gotten more attached to my husband since we got him. I'm the groomer, dog food buyer, dog treat buyer, vet appointment maker, and the one who says "no" to husband giving table scraps!! |
So sorry about your baby  My Wilby also had a liver tumor and was on L/D for the 8 years we had him he always had liver issues  On top of the other supplements and pain meds we were also giving Cholodin. I do believe it helped a lot!! IMHO Just something you may want to run by your vet.. Good Luck to you and Pooh |
| We all go thru this in 1 way or another. I have a 13 year old now that has arthritis in his lower spine. He's a real trouper & still gets around pretty well & mentally is "with it". Occasionally needs help getting up but very rarely. He hasn't done stairs for close to a year now but I am lucky in that my kennel area is in the part of a finished walk-put basement. So he can go in & out of the house having to only go up or down 1 step. And there is a slope if we need to get him around to the van. This past winter was hard on him with all our ice & snow. As my vet says, anything past 10 years is a blessing in a larger dog. I questioned the use of some meds too............side effects. But as my vet told me "You have 2 choices here if you want to call them choices. You can give him the meds & have a mobile 90# dog, knowing that in the very long run it is probably going to affect him. Or you can opt for no meds & have an immobile dog. Now, let's talk quality of life, not quantity". That's what it boiled down to with me. And quality has always won out over quantity with me. |
| "You can give him the meds & have a mobile 90# dog, knowing that in the very long run it is probably going to affect him. Or you can opt for no meds & have an immobile dog. Now, let's talk quality of life, not quantity". I like this theory! I was reading some of the symptoms of osteoarthritis in dogs and sounds like Pooh has a lot of the symptoms. Not easy to get older whether its canine or humans! It's the "mentally with it" that is hard to watch and see the difficulties in their bodies. I know with Pooh being 12, every day is a blessing that he is still with us. |
| as far as slippery floors go, i placed various throw rugs around the house so even if the dog was on the tile for coolness, he could reach the rug for traction to get up. |
| We've been trying to do that wherever we can, too. Most of the floors are hardwood. Have 2 bigger throw rugs in our bedroom, (where he sleeps on the floor....never could get him to sleep on a pet bed, tried and tried) We usually brace our feet against his legs to give him some leverage to get up. I actually bought him some human socks that have some traction sticky things on the bottom, that I put on him every once in a while. (cute yellow color!) My husband is building a ramp. We have 3 stairs out the front door and he hasn't done well with those lately. Pooh hasn't gone down the stairs into the basement in months. He usually goes out the front door and then around to the basement door. I wasn't ready for his older age to hit already...just seemed to happen so suddenly. |
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