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seeh2o

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  1. One of my dogs has SARDS (sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome) and went blind from it. I've learned that even after they have aclimated to being blind they can sometimes become disoriented. There is a supplement that many people on the yahoo group, Owners of Blind Dogs, use with some success. Humans also use it to help lessen "forgetting". I think it's time for me to start taking it. I think it's also time for my dog with SARDS to start taking it. Now we'll both be taking the same supplements!

     

    Anyway, here is a link to a website where vet discusses it and an excerpt from it which discusses it - Phosphatidylserine.

     

    Link

     

     

    "Dear Dr. Shawn:

    ”I was wondering if pets get Alzheimer’s disease like people? I know this is a common problem in older people and I’m worried about my older dog becoming senile as she gets older.”

     

    Answer:

    ” While pets don’t actually develop Alzheimer’s disease, both dogs and cats develop a condition called cognitive disorder. While the condition appears new, it is not and has been recognized by veterinarians for many years. There are a number of clinical signs in pets with cognitive disorder. These signs are often accepted by owners as normal signs of aging, when in fact they are signs of a (usually) treatable condition. Owners must be taught that any of these signs warrants a full evaluation. Education must begin before the first geriatric visit. Regular geriatric examination, ideally every 6-12 months, will facilitate communication and allow for early diagnosis of cognitive disorder and other conditions often seen in geriatric dogs.

     

    Common signs in dogs and cats with cognitive disorder include wandering aimlessly, vocalizing for no reason, getting stuck in a corner, increased daytime sleeping, seeking less attention, loss of house training, and seeking less attention. Because these signs can mimic other conditions (cancer, hypothyroidism), these pets should receive a full workup prior to the diagnosis of cognitive disorder.

     

    The drug AniprylR is approved for treating cognitive disorder in dogs. It must be given daily for the life of the dog once the diagnosis is made. Side effects are rare in dogs and included restlessness, disorientation, vomiting, anorexia, weakness, anemia, stiffness, and polydipsia. The major concern among owners is the cost: a one month supply for a 30 pound dog costs about $125.

     

    There are other more natural alternatives, including herbal preparations (gingko, lycopodium, salvia,) thyroid supplement (when hypothyroidism is the cause), nutritional supplementation using whole food preparations of vitamins such as inositol and lecithin, and a specific product which combines choline and several other nutrients (choline, phosphatidylcholine, methionine, inositol, and various B vitamins.)

     

    Acetylcholine is a widely distributed neurotransmitter in the body. Choline loading using choline provides additional choline which can be used to make acetylcholine. Phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) is part of the plasma membrane of mammalian cells and provides additional choline for acetylcholine synthesis. Methionine and inositol also are involved in neurotransmitter metabolism. It has been suggested that aging people and pets begin to lose cholinergic nerve receptors, and certainly diseases such as human dementia and senility and cognitive disorder are most common in aged patients. Since oral choline administration increases plasma choline levels, and since brain levels of acetylcholine increase as plasma choline levels increase, using choline loading/supplementation has the ability to improve neurological disorders that result from decreased acetylcholine.

     

    Natural therapies have proven extremely effective in most pets in my practice, without the expense or side effects of drug therapy. Therapy is given for 2 months to assess efficacy (as is true with any nutritional therapy,) although results may occur more quickly."

  2. Raw beef knuckle bones are best to feed as they can tear off the meat chunks and tendons but just chew chew chew on the bone and not digest something manmade.

     

    If this were my dog, I would start with the pumpkin addition, removing the Greenie and raw hides from the diet entirely for now and see how his poops are after 1-2 weeks (leaning more towards 2 weeks). I think all the numerous things in his diet may be throwing him off. You'll need to take things out of his diet and watch his poop. If it gets better, then start adding the rawhide chewing back in, if you see runny poops, then its likely its the rawhides. a lot of this is trial and error.

     

    I agree. Right now I'd try to make his diet as simple as possible. Once you figure out what works for him you can start adding things. You can get raw bones from your local butcher shop and just keep them in the freezer. Some dogs don't like frozen bones, others don't care...you'll just have to experiement.

     

    As for the couch...Carl jumped on the couch within 30 seconds of entering the house for the first time...on the other hand, it took him a month to take a treat from my hand, 4 months to jump on the bed, 5 months to sleep on the bed and just last night for the first time his tail helicoptered! Each week he reveals a new part of himself/learns something new about himself and gains new confidence in the new forever domestic world he now finds himself living in. It's an amazing process. I've had all my dogs from puppies, so adopting a 4.5 year old dog who had a career and did not learn how to be a domestic dog until now is really an amazing experience.

     

    Don't get me wrong...it has not all been flowers and puffy sleeves...if you read my past posts there were times I wasn't sure I would be able to keep him because of some really bad separation anxiety. Ultimately, he is an adult dog with puppy-like domestic-world experience. The good thing about that is that he is an adult so, developmentally he catches on quick, it doesn't seem like it is going to take him the 1 - 2 years it takes a young to dog to learn and "figure it out". He is teaching me that each dog finds his/her how pace, it's amazing to watch each layer of the onion reveal itself as it is ready.

     

    Hmmm...sounds sort of zen-like!

  3. I don't know where you live, but where I live, 78-80 is a hot summer day! My guy would be panting for sure. Maybe he's not used to the temp of your house yet.

     

    I was thinking the same thing. Carl's body runs very hot, he's not a dog that needs a coat when going outside (granted it only gets down to the low 40's here in SoCal) and if I cover him with something as light as a sheet when he's sleeping he wakes up panting like mad. Even on a cool day, Carl gets hot in the car (a cool-to-me-car), I either have to open a window for him or turn on the a/c. It may just be too hot in your house for him.

     

  4. Here are some other foods high in potassium, you may have some of these in your kitchen:

     

    Food, measurement, # of mg

    Apricots, dried 10 halves 407

    Avocados, raw 1 ounce 180

    Bananas, raw 1 cup 594

    Beets, cooked 1 cup 519

    Brussel sprouts, cooked 1 cup 504

    Cantaloupe 1 cup 494

    Dates, dry 5 dates 271

    Figs, dry 2 figs 271

    Kiwi fruit, raw 1 medium 252

    Lima beans 1 cup 955

    Melons, honeydew 1 cup 461

    Milk, fat free or skim 1 cup 407

    Nectarines 1 nectarine 288

    Orange juice 1 cup 496

    Oranges 1 orange 237

    Pears (fresh) 1 pear 208

    Peanuts dry roasted, unsalted 1 ounce 187

    Potatoes, baked, 1 potato 1081

    Prune juice 1 cup 707

    Prunes, dried 1 cup 828

    Raisins 1 cup 1089

    Spinach, cooked 1 cup 839

    Tomato products, canned sauce 1 cup 909

    Winter squash 1 cup 896

    Yogurt plain, skim milk 8 ounces 579

     

     

    I don't think a charley horse would cause a buldge. Someone else on GT JUST went through this ( is currently going through it, Freddygirl) with Molly. For Molly it started out as a lump on the side of her face. Vet thought it was a bite rom a spider.

     

    Here is the link. http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showtopic=194479

     

    I would bring her to the vet tomorrow if no better.

     

    It made me think of Molly, too, that's why I thought it might be an instect bite or sting.

  5. Congratulations on your first dog...and your first greyhound!

     

    I've had Carl since mid August, he gets a drippy nose when he's excited and sometimes when he is really really happy/content.

     

    I agree with the panting as a nervous gesture, it will probably disapate.

     

    As for the loose poops, try about 2 big tablespoons of pumpkin pulp, the canned stuff you buy for pies, but without spices. Pumpkin is very helpful for loose poop. Try mixing it in with his dog food for a few days. It will probably help, it sure can't hurt.

     

     

  6. Those naughty dogs! My b/f's dog (a senior rott/lab mix) ate an entire 8 x 8 pyrex pan of brownies....pyrex pan and all. He took him to the vet and they gave him lots and lots of bread, water and put him on antibiotics to prevent infection. He still has the x-ray showing the glass inside of Ralph...dog intestines are spriral shaped...who knew?! He only threw up a little bit, they could hear the glass gurgling inside of him. He mostly pooped it out.

     

    Ask the vet about antibiotics for them to prevent infection if there are any cuts in the digestive tract as it passes. And more bread!

     

    Please keep us posted, it sounds like they are doing well.

  7. I got this cordless Dremel from Home Depot. Nothing fancy about it, but it works great! I would highly recommend getting a cordless - much easier to go to the dogs than to get them to come to you when it comes to nails!

     

    That's what I have, too. It is good for at least 32 tough nails on one charge, I only have 2 dogs. It might go longer on one charge than that, it seems like it has enough juice to do it. The battery fully recharges in about 3 hours.

  8. I found this on another board where someone's senior pugs are having a problem:

    "Proin" is the medication for incontinence and "Phyto B" (made by Bezwecken) is the natural supplement. Phyto B is actually a natural horomone supplement made for women but apparently is used for animals as well, in case anyone googles it make sure to include "dogs"...anyway, those are two things prescribed by both a western and eastern practicing vet that have been successful...."

  9. The other thing you could do is go to Target or Big Lots, buy a memory foam bed pad, cut it up into dog-bed sized pieces (I do that for my dog's beds), slip it in a trash bag, put the vet's bed on top of it or with the vet fleece someone mentioned above. That way it would give him a gentle and padded place to sleep and still allow the vet's office a cleanable surface.

     

    It makes a lot of sense to not catheter him, he could get an infection from that which is fairly common, and he needs his body to focus on fighting the strychnine.

     

    Good healing thoughts to both of you. Please continue to keep us posted.

  10. My non-grey senior, Sheila, started having accidents in the house. At first blush the vet thought she had Cushings, it turned out to be SARDS (sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome) which initially mimics the symptoms of Cushings. With SARDS, the dogs suddenly lose their sight and slowly, very slowly, the Cushings symptoms dissipate. Wetting in the house and weight gain are hallmark symptoms of SARDS. A year later Sheila's wetting in the house happens only very occasionally. There is no prevention or treatment for SARDS, but Sheila is on an adrenal supplement because it can cause adrenal collapse.

     

    Head to the vet and best to you and your pooch.

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