MattB

Charlie is 11 1/2 years old and over the last couple of years has had a recurring limp on his front leg which lasts a couple of weeks and then gets better. The vet suggested arthritis and we've treated as such with daily previcox. We've never x-rayed as it's always resolved. Over the past few days he's started limping again (I think it's his other leg now), worse when getting up, he's managed to walk as normal and it seems to ease a lot over the course of a 30 minute walk. He yelped when I stroked him at one point and that was his shoulder. I booked him in for a x-ray on Friday (last one) then rethought and cancelled as I wanted to give him a bit longer to see if he recovered. I'm taking him to the vet on Monday morning where I suspect they'll suggest some stronger pain medication and see how that goes. My question is, if we can't control the pain is there any point in having an x-ray? He's slowed right down in the past 6 months and I don't think he could undergo any major surgery/ treatment at his age. My fear is that we go for x-rays and it's bad news and in that situation I think it would be kinder not to wake him up and he'll have spent his last day somewhere unfamiliar and he's very nervous and shy. Would it be reasonable to say we try to treat as if it's an acute injury and if there's no improvement we say goodbye with me by his side (I don't even know how the procedure is working here now we're locked down again)? My heart is breaking and I want to give Charlie every chance to get better, but he's tired I don't want to put him through too much. At the moment he's reasonably comfortable, he's been out on a walk today and we're currently cuddled up in his bed. Would really appreciate any thoughts.

Good point re UTI we will check this out but also re going out, this winter Daisy has slowed right down - she used to go outside at any opportunity but now we have to persuade her to get out of bed!

Thank you very much. I'm in the UK and it looks like this product will be difficult to get hold of but I'll definitely try to find something similar of it exists. Much appreciated.

We've got a 12 yo girl who is constantly licking and I think she has maybe had a few different issues which have made it difficult for us and the very to work out what is going on. Daisy has had ongoing difficulties with her anal glands which, despite trying different foods, she needs to have expressed every 3 months when she needs this done a usual sign is lots of licking. However about 12 months ago she started licking and biting her back legs too, the vet suggested Apoquel which completely stopped it, this seemed to wear off progressively and the itching returned - we then stopped the medication tried using 'sensitive' dried food which seemed to fix the itching. In the past 2 or 3 months we have had a lot of licking and some big wet patches which we assumed was from the licking itself but I've realised that she seems to be exclusively licking her vulva and I've looked with a torch and can see small droplets of urine coming out. We've had old girls with 'leakage' before but not with the licking but I'm thinking this could be her either being irritated by the sensation or trying hard to keep clean - does this sound plausible? I'm going to suggest this idea to the vet as I know there's some medication that can be effective. Has anyone else experienced similar?

Thank you all for your kind words. Today Sparky had his x-ray, it was very bad: a large bone tumour. Given Sparky's arthritis the vet thought that amputation wasn't an option at all and my mum agreed with this, she knew him best. We didn't wake him up. We had a lovely morning before this, for an unknown reason Sparky and me bonded like I've never bonded with any other dog, he got so excited to see me, then we took a very slow walk around my mum's garden, I hugged him for a wonderful hour before we went to the vet's and they sedated him straight away so he wasn't waiting around for long. Sparky is buried with all the other dogs we have loved and lost; we are heartbroken.

Thank you. We will keep an open mind. Although the thought of amputation horrifies my mum. Did your hound receive chemo as well? I worry that there aren't as many options where we live (UK).

Thank you. Can I ask, before the amputation, how was your 12yo's pain, and general health, Sparky seems so sick it's hard to imagine recovering? What was life like after recovery from the surgery?

I know there isn't an easy answer but I was hoping for other's thoughts on our situation: My mum's 11 year old boy, Sparky, has slowed down a lot in the past 12 months. In the last couple of months has been having some stiffness in his rear right leg after exercising, my mum asked their vet (who was visiting the house to treat one of her sheep) to examine him and he suspected arthritis and prescribed paracetamol, Tramadol (and a 3rd, one-per day med that I can't remember now, I'm sorry). However after the examination Sparky became completely lame in the rear leg, hopping on the other leg, my mum took him back to the vet's and they upped his meds and suggested it might take a couple of weeks to get the pain under control, however over the past 10 days he's gone downhill, he's fallen a couple of times and screamed. He won't put his rear leg down at all. I spoke to the vet this morning who suggested an x-ray to see if there's something else going on, though did say that with this level of pain it will be hard to envisage coming back from it. Obviously without seeing the x-ray she won't know but she said it could be osteo, or a tumour elsewhere. She suggested if nothing was found then we could look at changing/ adding steroids to his medication to try to control the pain, but poor Sparky is exhausted, we're dreading the logistics of the car-ride tomorrow and though we want to remain positive, we are worried that we could be facing a choice of not waking him up. Given the rate that Sparky has declined, it feels like time isn't on his side in terms of getting more opinions. I just wondered if anyone has any thoughts or advice, what questions we should ask, and is there anything we/they might be missing - it's really difficult to think clearly when our hearts are breaking. Matt

Thanks all, sorry I didn't respond for a while, lots going on. Charlie isn't on any meds at all - We're in the UK and my understanding is that we're a bit behind in terms of how vets approach long term anxiety conditions. Greysmom, what type of supplements have you used?

I didn't know whether to post in the behaviour or medical... I've posted before about my now 9yo male grey Charlie. He's very sensitive and after a couple of dog attacks became very reactive. After firework season he takes a long time to calm down and remains really sensitive to similar noises which can last for months eg fizzy drinks bottles or cans hissing. His thundershirt helped a great deal with his recovery after last November. However his/our problem seems to have changed - obviously I've no idea what he's thinking but he appears to get very anxious when he's expecting something, he starts crying and pacing hours before I get home from work (my wife is home nearly all the time), then after that he wants his walk, he used to hate going out at night but now he paces and pants, getting himself into quite a state, this can start 3 hrs before his walk. Then home and waiting for his dental stick. He follows me around crying a lot, wakes me in the night most nights. When I say he's pacing and panting, this isn't the behaviour of an excited dog, it's like when there's fireworks and he's stressed. The other thing is if we give him something, for example a piece of cheese while we're cooking in the kitchen, he'll get obsessed, waiting on the kitchen every time we go in there. I've seen several vets who can't suggest anything long term and seen a behaviourist who suggested general being quite strict with him. I'd be grateful of any perspectives, we're really struggling. Charlie is a lovely dog, we've got a small baby and he's so patient with him, it just feels like he's fading away into this nervous, neurotic, obsessive dog and it's breaking my heart.

I've been giving our 10yo girl Apoquel for about 6 days and it's bad a profound effect on her night time itching. However I've come across some info on the internet about Apoquel and cancer. Given it's more anecdotal than anything but it's got me worried. Does anyone have more info or a perspective on this?

Thank you for all your suggestions

Thank you. That's a sad thought, it does seem obsessive but hadn't thought of demential. The glands have been checked for infection but hadn't checked for UTI.

Thank you. That's a sad thought, it does seem obsessive but hadn't thought of demential. The glands have been checked for infection but hadn't checked for UTI.

Thank you I will ask my vet if we can give it a try. Sorry about my spelling I don't know how they slipped past me. I meant incessant bottom licking!

Our 10yo girl Daisy has always had to have her anal glands expressed, she starts to lick her bottom, we take her to the vet, sorted for another couple of months. However this last time she hasn't stopped licking, it mainly seems to be her anus but sometimes it's her lady parts and also all around the tops of her thighs. She licks much more at night and gets really stressed by it but doesn't seem as bothered during the day. She has just been wormed. The vet doesn't know what's going on and just wondered if anyone had any suggestions? I've ordered some virbac epi soothe shampoo which I thought would be worth a try. Any thoughts much appreciate.

What became of Mr and Mrs slug?

It's the premolars - there wasn't any plaque to see before the dental - dental was primarily to remove a molar with lots of recession. As his last dental was only 3 months ago I'm not too keen for him to have another if he's not having any problems with it at the moment. Just wondering if there's anything I can do to try to minimise progression other than what I'm already doing (brushing, mouthwash, dental sticks, plaque off). I'm quite frustrated as think that this should really have come out during his recent treatment but imho the vet was quite conversative.

Charlie recently had a dental. The vet said his teeth were really clean but he had lots of recession and loose teeth at the front. Some of the teeth where the gums were receeded were removed. However about 3 were left, the vet said that for some teeth, once you've cleaned it the gum falls back into place. The issue now is that the gums never really 'fell back' and several teeth have a degree of recession where you can see some of the roots and there's a gap where you can see nearly right through the tooth. I'm a bit disappointed that these teeth weren't removed but the vet presumably had his reasons. I've always brushed daily - very gently - and also use chlorohexadine rinse - just dabbed on a toothbrush. I'm just wondering if there is anything else I can be doing to look after Charlie's gums - it's only been about 3 months since his dental so I don't want to be taking him back any time soon. thank you.

Beautiful pic. I've got a lovely one somewhere of my sister's one year old holding one of ours on the lead.

Thank everyone that's really helpful stuff. Very interesting re: carrying things around. I'm guessing the hounds will be very happy with their new routine, my wife will be home all day for the foreseeable future and while they're not affectionate hounds by any means they love it when we're home all day. Thanks again, Matt

Hi, We've a few months left but me and my wife are expecting a new baby. We've got two hounds and I've had the benefit of seeing them both interact with my sister's 2 kids, from birth to small running-around boys and I've never had any reason to worry although my sister didn't really let them near the children when they were very young. However this doesn't stop me wanting to be as careful as possible. Obviously I'll be taking all the usual advice of not leaving the baby unsupervised with the dogs (well not leaving the baby unsupervised at all for a while!). One of the hounds in particular is very prey driven, I guess my thought is how will she know the difference between a baby and a small fluffy. This might be a ridiculous question put in my head by friends and midwives! Both hounds are quite shy, though they seem to be less wary of children than adults and more tolerant to them running around being noisy, particularly if they think there's going to be food dropped on the floor. So just wondering how people went about introducing hounds to babies, and helping hounds adjust to a new arrival. all thoughts appreciated - M

Thanks for your replies everyone. The vet reckons it's trauma from the scale and polish still and thinks it will settle down. He said brush gently and suggested the chlorohexadine mouthwash I've got is a good thing to use. Cleptogrey sorry you've had gum issues. I'm actually just waiting to see a specialist to see if I need a gum/ bone graft. Thanks again, Matt

Charlie had a dental last week, 8 teeth removed, very little plaque but some recession and all the small front bottom teeth were crowded together and were loose and removed. However, upon looking at his teeth one week later, one of the teeth I pointed out to the vet as having slightly exposed roots is still there, the gum is red and it bleeds as soon as I touch it with a brush - surely this tooth should have come out as well? At the moment I'm really sad as to me it seems like we still have a dental problem, be it fairly mild, but Charlie has been through a general anaesthetic and we've spent a lot of money. I'm taking him back for a follow up and will see what they say - any thoughts? Am I being neurotic?

Thank you all. Much appreciated. Of course we'll get them done!