rascalsmom

Great news!!

I did make him a scrambled egg one day. He wouldn't even touch it. Can you buy nutrional yeast at stores like GNC?

As you may know, Buddy has LS. He's been on a roller-coaster for the past five weeks or so, since his acute attack. He'll feel better for a while, then he seems to backslide. He is on tramadol and gabapentin. He has lost a good bit of weight (from 75 lbs. to 66 lbs.), so he NEEDS to eat. His appetite, however, is a shadow of its former self. He was the founding member of the Clean Bowl Club here at our house, but now he's let his membership lapse. So I could use ideas on how to stimulate his appetite. Here's what I've tried, with varying success: -cooked ground beef and rice -chicken and rice -chicken and Cheerios -Ensure with Cheerios -various sample packs of different dog foods (dry) -various canned food -tuna -sardines -green tripe [just let me say, this stuff is HORRIBLE! ] -chicken liver brownies -raw hamburger Of course we've also resorted to giving him stuff we're eating, anything from peanut butter sandwiches to pork chop bits, to get food into him. The tripe worked for a couple of days...the first day he ate an entire can at lunchtime [while DH and I stood by, ready to toss our cookies ]....but he's not shown much interest in that since. Any ideas? Pretty please?

That was at Moraine Grove Veterinary Clinic (Dr. Love), it's on 422 right outside of Butler.

2/08: ---about $172 for Ruby, with extraction (no charge). That price INCLUDED the pre-op bloodwork. 5/08: --a bit under $200 for Rascal, and she had one extraction (no charge for that). Again, includes bloodwork. --$120 for Buddy. He had the bloodwork previously, so that's not included in this price. Our base price for a dental is $120. Of course these prices don't account for any medication (for pain, etc.), just the dental with or without bloodwork.

I really, really hope Polli doesn't have LS!! It's bad enough on a dog who has all four legs....it has been such an incredibly frustrating roller coaster ride with Buddy....I would not wish LS on ANY dog.....I hope she just has a pulled muscle or something! BTW, Robin, I bought some green tripe, and Buddy initially LOVED it. Today, however, he's not feeling great and wouldn't eat it. And boy, is that stuff ever NASTY!

Robin, I was told by the vet who is doing Buddy's acupuncture that chiropractic *may* be an option, but not until the acupuncture calms things down....manipulating the spine while the dog is in the throes of an LS "attack" could do more harm than good. I hope she improves.

Based on the price of the nail trim, I would say a *bit* expensive. I don't know that I would switch for our routine care, but for this, I will spring for the added expense. Our regular vet is very reasonable in her prices. This isn't intended to be a hijack, but I wanted to chime in on this because Dr. Doug is our regular vet. Zoe's latest hospital expedition in November was around $3000 with $200 of that being Dr. Doug's part. We're going to see him for a 15 minute consult tomorrow so I'll let y'all know how much that is afterwards. He's going to let us know how to proceed with her kidney failure issues. We saw specialists at Northview on Tuesday night and that bill was $550. Dr. Doug ran the exact same tests one month ago and it was $247 - the only difference Tuesday was a $47 antibiotic prescription for Zoe's elbow which is giving her trouble again. I think once you're a long time established patient with some vets, they give you discounts. For instance, we get "good dog" discounts all the time with all of our vets. A few visits back, Northview didn't even charge us - LOVED that one! OK - hijack over. Sorry about that! Buddy got a "good dog discount" yesterday. He was such a good boy!!!

Based on the price of the nail trim, I would say a *bit* expensive. I don't know that I would switch for our routine care, but for this, I will spring for the added expense. Our regular vet is very reasonable in her prices.

Yes, they can. If your dog is pretty fresh off the track, it could just be from the hormones they give them to keep them from coming into heat. That it what I was told after we got Ruby, and her girlie parts looked very red.

Robin, they didn't ask me to pay up front or anything; he just wanted me to know that it wasn't going to necessarily produce "instant" results. I was OK with that, and I scheduled the other five appointments. He says we'll know for sure by then if it's helping. If not, we can discontinue; if it helps we can maybe go to every two weeks.... What amazes me through this whole thing is my DH's willingness to do all this. He's always one to keep an eye on the funds, but he hasn't said too much about all the recent expenses with Buddy. Just one more reason he's a keeper, if I needed another reason (which I didn't ). Paula, yes, Dr. Doug is very nice. Before he did the acupuncture he spent a few minutes just petting Buddy (or maybe he was checking for spots to put the needles??--I prefer to think he was just petting him. ). He seems very kind, and genuinely concerned.

I've been so caught up in my Buddy's problems, I am just now reading about Canyon (another gorgeous red and white boy, like my Buddy!). Buddy is on gabapentin as well, for his LS...he is allowed to have up to 600 mg DAILY...they are 600 mg.tablets that are quartered; we can give him up to four a day. It sounds like your vet has prescribed a much higher dose! I hope you get some answers soon, for BOTH of your pups!

Sorry - didn't mean to guilt you out! No vet I've spoken to has ever given the shot either, but I've haven't pushed it because I don't think we're there yet. They always seem a little frightened of it yet all the reading I've done says it's not a big deal. Anyway, I hope the acupuncture helps Buddy a lot. Don't worry, you didn't make me feel guilty. I know I should do it more often (dremel), it's just tough to get into the habit.

I just talked to the tech from the neurologist's office. Buddy is indeed at the max for the tramadol. I can give him as many as four of the gabapentin each day (each dose is 1/4 tablet, so I guess four would equal one whole tablet). So other than that, we are hoping and praying that the acupuncture helps. Oh, and get this. I got his tramadol filled at Walgreen's yesterday: 12 pills for $11.99 (just to tide us over till I talked to the neurologist). So I ask the vet tech about filling it, how much would it be? For a month's supply (which is 6 per day/180 tablets) it would be $41.00 through them! $.17 per pill, versus Walgreen's $1 a pill! Talk about a no-brainer!!

I haven't been able to find anyone who does the depo-medrol shot. This guy was the first one who was willing to read the article and do the physical manipulation to see if it truly is LS...the neurologist claimed the "only" way to be sure was an MRI. Sorry, not going to spring for an MRI when I'm pretty sure that's what it is....he didn't push it though, to be fair to him. I do have a dremel, and I have used it. I am just lax. I know I need to just commit to doing a little bit a few times a week to keep them in check. You'd think if I can discipline myself to brush their teeth DAILY, I could dremel, wouldn't you?

Buddy has numerous lumps, too...we call him our lumpy old man. His are not attached to anything underneath, so they are most likely just lipomas. It's the ones that seem to be attached that you have to be careful about...

Buddy is exhausted. He had his appointment today with the holistic vet who does acupuncture. The vet was very nice, examined Buddy pretty thoroughly, and talked with me about the questionairre I had filled out, what Buddy's been going through, etc.... I asked him about the physical exam for LS (the Suzanne Stack method) and he said he'd never heard of it...so I whipped out the article which I had printed. He read it, and then he did the "test" for LS, and Buddy's back end promptly sank. So, in my mind, that is definitive. The neurologist was "pretty sure" that's what we were dealing with, and now with this, I guess we can safely say that's what he's got. He did the acupuncture; put in twelve needles. Buddy lay on the floor, I was next to him (so he didn't get up) and only two of the needles ended up coming out before the vet came back in: the two behind his ears. No big deal, I suppose. The vet said he likes people to commit to six weekly treatments, and then evaluate how well it is working. (NOTE: IS THIS TYPICAL?) So I made the appointments for the next five sessions. He also suggested Grizzly Salmon Oil, as well as "Nutrigest" which contains probiotics...since his appetite isn't great and he's lost weight. Just a note here, if I continue with the Grizzly Salmon Oil, I won't be buying it from them!! They charged me $24.50 for 16 oz....I know GT's fritofeet sells it so I checked her website: $16.99!! Also, I asked them to trim his nails, since he hasn't been able to go to his monthly nail trimming (it's in the groomer's basement, and he's not allowed to do stairs). I about threw up when I saw how much I was charged for that. $19.00. Oh my heavens....I pay our groomer $20 to do all three dogs, and that is with a $5 tip!! Get this part: this vet actually ADVOCATES raw feeding. From what I've read on GT, most vets do not, for whatever reason. But he said that is what he feels is the best. The best part, for Buddy, was when we came out of the exam room. There was a GREYHOUND in the waiting room, so that made him happy; finally, a friendly face! She was an older-looking fawn girl, Suzie. So that is it. Now I wait for the neurologist to call me about his medications....I think we are at the maximum dosage (I asked the holistic vet and he said he thought those dosages were about maxed out)...so I really hope the acupuncture helps my old guy.

Tuna? Sardines? How about chicken liver brownies? Buddy will eat those things when he doesn't want anything else...he loves them! Let me know if you need the recipe. Easy to make.

WONDERFUL news, Robin!! Keep it up, Beau!!

Thanks for the input, everyone. It does lead to another question, though. (Couldn't expect me to stop at one question, could you? ) How often do you go for a treatment? (I realize each dog is different, just looking for an idea of how often.)

Susan, as you know, Buddy has been pretty definitely diagnosed with LS. The vet says only an MRI can tell for sure, but he is pretty sure that's what Buddy has. For a long time, Buddy showed the same signs you describe: weakness, difficulty coming up stairs, shuffling, etc. It got bad very suddenly at the end of January...the hind end was sagging, he couldn't get settled, he was obviously in pain. Now, despite the pain meds, he still isn't right. He had about a week when he seemed to be the old Buddy, but since we quit the rimadyl he's regressed. He's in pain again, and he seems depressed. It could be that Alan has LS, but it hasn't progressed to the really painful part yet. I hope I am wrong about that.

I'm so sorry, Deanna and Brian. She was a lucky girl to have you, and you to have her.

Buddy has an appointment Thursday to see a holistic/acupuncture vet. I was wondering if acupuncture provides fast relief, or if it takes awhile? Just wondering what to expect...

You just can't seem to get a break, Robin. With what I've gone through with Buddy in the past few weeks, I often wonder how you manage to hold on to your sanity with TWO pups who have problems. I really admire you.

The ride continues.... Yesterday Buddy seemed to go downhill again. I called the vet (specialist) and they instructed me to increase his gabapentin to three times a day, and the tramadol from 100 mg. twice daily to 150 mg. twice daily. And they also said we definitely did NOT want to go back to the rimadyl. Because it was upsetting his stomach, they are in fear of it causing stomach ulcers/bleeding....the vet told me last week that they had a dog that was on it and they found it dead in its cage because of a ruptured intestine...so they are understandably wary of it. Today I can tell Buddy is not feeling well. He is hanging his head, moving very slowly, and when he came in from outside his back end seemed to be sinking....and he was holding up one of his front paws--but that could've been due to the 6+inches of snow and the 4 degree temps . I did get him to eat some chicken liver brownies, and a sample packet of Fromm Salmon ala Veg. But he definitely doesn't feel well.