Hawthorn

Difficult, isn't it. With my boy, even though I was aware of the risk of pancreatitis, I didn't worry too much about feeding him a very low fat diet. I just stuck to a reasonably low fat diet and avoided high-fat treats etc. We didn't have any issues, but each dog is different. If you feel that she's losing fat as well as muscle, you could try feeding her more to see if it helps, as it could be that she isn't getting enough calories from the low-fat food. Just watch that she doesn't start getting too much fat over her ribs, otherwise you'll end up with a fat dog with weak muscles, which is the worst of both worlds! I too was told by the specialist that dogs usually put on weight with pred, but it certainly wasn't true for us for the first few months. After that, he did start to get fat, but still with weak muscles. Her weight loss doesn't seem too extreme at the moment. You don't want to be in too much of a hurry to reduce the pred because if you do she might relapse. This happened to our boy. There are lots of different protocols for reducing pred, but I have generally followed Professor Day's protocol, which is here just for your information: http://cimda.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=368.0 If you add in another drug then you may be able to reduce the pred faster. I have no experience with this as we managed our boy just on pred. It's like walking a tightrope at times, weighing up the response of the disease to the drug against the side effects the dog is experiencing.

Do you think it's more muscle-wasting than actual weight (fat) loss? My boy has been on steroids for several years now due to an autoimmune condition. His dose has varied from 100mg per day to 7.5mg every other day, and is currently 25mg per day. The muscle loss has always been our biggest issue. What I have found is that once he gets down to 12.5mg per day, all side effects begin to reverse, including the muscle-wasting. He's a big boy though, so if your girl is small it might be that her side effects won't begin to reverse until she's on a smaller dose than that. If the weight loss is due to muscle-wasting from the steroids, giving extra calories probably won't help (assuming that she's already getting sufficient), and will probably just increase the amount of body fat, whilst doing nothing for the muscle loss. This is what I've found anyway. Is there any plan to reduce her steroids? If not, are they considering adding another immune-suppressing drug which may allow the steroids to be reduced? I haven't found anything so far that helps with the muscle wasting other than reducing the steroid dose, if possible. My boy has at times had a very worrying degree of muscle loss and weakness but this has always reversed, not completely but to some degree, as soon as the steroids are reduced.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Mango, and so soon after Mac too.

So sorry for your loss of Mercy.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Lulu.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Milo.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Mickey.

I'm so sorry you had to say goodbye to Andy.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Tigger.

He's lovely! I love the big boys. Have you measured him to see how tall he is to the point of his withers? How much does he weigh?

I'm so sorry for your loss of Raina.

I personally think it's best to see a specialist for autoimmune diseases as they have more experience. My boy had a different autoimmune disease and our GP vets gave him a much too low dose of steroids so he just continued to get worse. Have you put her on a gastro-protectant now - this is very important? Also, have a look at this forum for dogs with autoimmune diseases - lots of very knowledgeable people there: http://cimda.co.uk/smf/index.php

She's not doing anything wrong. She's just telling the other dogs, in the language that they understand, that she doesn't like what they're doing. It's not aggression and there's no need to correct it. As you've said, if dogs behave politely she's fine. If she were mine, I'd just try to protect her from dogs and situations I knew she didn't or wouldn't feel comfortable with. As she settles in she may develop more tolerance for rude or unwanted behaviour from other dogs, but if she doesn't, that would be fine in my book.

A damaged tendon/ligament perhaps? Swelling can persist for months with this type of injury. It's the body's way of stabilising the joint whilst it heals. Sometimes the joint will remain permanently swollen to some degree but this isn't usually anything to worry about, in my experience at least. Assuming that's what it is of course - could be something else.

So sorry for your loss of Sugar.

So sorry for your loss. He was a beautiful boy.

So sorry for the loss of your beautiful girl.

I'm so sorry you lost your best friend. Rest in peace, Nino.

I completely agree with this. I would not take anyone's advice, be they vet, doctor or other professional, unless their advice felt right to me. I wouldn't move him out of your bedroom and I wouldn't move his downstairs bed either if he's happy with it where it is, but you could maybe put another bed by the back door and give him kongs and treats on it to help him associate that area with good things.

I'm so sorry your very beautiful boy had to leave you.

I'm so sorry you lost your beautiful girl.

I'm so sorry you lost your beautiful boy, but what a wonderful journey you two had together.

Beautiful words and pictures for your beautiful girl who I know will be missed as much as she was loved.

Far too young ... I'm so sorry.

He's gorgeous - those eyes!