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darcie983

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Still wet behind the ears

Still wet behind the ears (3/9)

  1. Seeh2o: We live in the Upland area near Ontario Airport. I will definitely look into the HempRXForte. We are about half way done with the Innovet bottle. Anytime we go to a specialist we go to Southern California Vet Specialty in Irvine. I DO like that vets are looking into and are getting more familiar with the CBD oil. Galgomum: It is amazing to see the results you listed with your greys! It gives me hope. I will definitely look into the HempRXForte now. I have heard from quite a few people (grey or not) that have used HempRXForte now and I feel that it may be a great next step for our Ralph. He is a bit uncomfortable lately but what I HAVE noticed is that he is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY less gassy and he does want to play more. He also wants to eat more and will start yelling-I am talking SCREECH barking when he wants more food. Little turd lol. Thanks everyone for the advice and assistance!
  2. I forgot to mention that he is on Gaba as well. I just know that the Rimadyl can be hard on a dogs body and he's been on it for a year-just worried that it may be doing more harm than good now. Gaba worked wonders until our Lou passed away last May. It was amazing to see the changes in his neuro issues-had spinal meningits/myelitis. Ralph on the other hand is getting old-12 years and relatively healthy. Funny, I started on Innovet as well! It's nice to see that there are others out there who have tried it. I wanted to get VetCBD but they are sold out EVERYWHERE in my area here in Cali. So HempRx is stronger? I will check it out. Ralph is on the pain meds for his arthritis now. He turns his back right foot in while he walks and has started knuckling. We have had 2 vets (one at VCA and one who comes to our home-Ralph can't be at VCA for hours like all his appts are there) tell us its aging/arthritis and he may have slight LS but it's not enough for us to worry about right now. He has sore hips due to the arthritis. He is an oversized grey with a giant heart of gold lol. We just want to make his life as quality as possible.
  3. Okay, I was trying to do a search on this forum about CBD or Cannabidiol for dogs. Our boy Ralph is on some pretty high doses of Rimadyl, Tramadol, and his normal Levothyroxine (for hypothyroid). Have any of ya'll used this or come across any info? I know of some Greys who are using it with good results, but I wanted ya'lls opinion as well... Thoughts?
  4. You are amazing. I think deep down we know that its possible this was his last Christmas (hard not to think about) and that quality is most important. But it helps when people like you and groups like this have had much more experience and can lend reassuring thoughts and suggestions for us. And we are taking him next week to the vet. I may look at one vet who does house calls as our VCA in Upland can take up to 2 hours for an appointment, sometimes longer. Our wait time tends to be no shorter than 1 hour and that's with no cars in the parking lot. His poor shaky legs can't take that much time standing.
  5. Oh holy moly dog-a-luiah! He ate two meals without problems today, no stopping, except to breathe and got his pills without troubles! I must have the only dog I've ever known to NOT like marshmallows. But, he DOES like Chex Mix, blueberry to be exact. We are able to hide his levox in a piece and he takes it no problem! Finally... As for his two successful meals (I hope I don't jinx it), I put frozen mixed veggies, riced cauliflower/sweet potato and canned spinach in my blender. Almost fully pureed it, added a cup of quick cooking oatmeal to it (dry), scrambled an egg plus a white in the microwave. I mixed 2/3 cup of the veggies and the scrambled egg together and added the secret ingredient....SPAM at the end. Lite spam-half the fat and sodium-and he SCARFED EVERY BITE! He ate pretty quick this morning but tonight, he ate so quick I could barely blink! My heart swelled with joy to see him eat it all without hesitation! And he took his pain pills like normal without fighting too much too! We will continue tomorrow and hope he keeps it up. As for going to the vet, he is going in the next few weeks. He has to get his annual bloodwork/checkup for his comboguard prescription. I am going to make sure that if this food works, the vet will also get their opinion on it too! Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
  6. Greyaholic, it just so happens that I had some nutritional yeast at home! I went to the store and grabbed a few cans of various meats and some oatmeal. Made a scramble (feeling ambitious) of roast beef, kippers, egg, oatmeal, nutritional yeast, even tried some ice cream and his normal veggies. Did NOT like that. Threw it out because he flat out ran from it. Made fresh with one egg, tiny bit of oatmeal, ham, small amount of veggies, and some leftover steak (guess he wants to eat high on the hog now). He seemed to eat that but I couldn't put it all down at once in one dish. He had to eat small portions-brought it to him wherever he was laying/sitting. Took him three little plates full to eat it all, but he did. I still have some Lite Spam and sardines to try at some point. I'm just afraid he's not getting enough to eat.
  7. I have been stalking the forum lately, racking my brain as to what to do with my 11.5 year old big boy. Ralph is my beautiful boy in which age is starting to creep up on him, a little faster than not lately. He still tries to jump, do figure 8's, all the stuff he could do when he was younger but walks are starting to go from 1-2 miles to 1/4 and 1/8 of a mile. His hind is getting shaky and seems to have a harder time getting comfortable. But this is all beside the point. He has become quite the problem pup as of late when it comes to meals. He eats his treats just fine, but goes on hunger strikes for breakfast and dinner. After some experimentation, we have come across a few meals that he seems to tolerate...for now. My two concerns are that he has pills that must be taken within 12 hours of each other and must be with food. I have been able to slip a few pills into some whipped cream cheese and sprinkle some meat shavings around it (whatever meat I have on hand basically). As for his meals, I have been able to concoct a few scrambles so to speak of egg, mixed veggies, meats, cauliflower and sweet potatoes (riced from Green Giant). I tried many different slops before. He hates pasta, doesn't care for rice (and neither does my lawn...thought he had worms one time-rice looked like maggots-gross I know). He did okay with gizzards, hearts, livers and whatnot, but he got bored of it and will knock his bowl over in protest. It's hard to be mad a dog when that happens He has also mastered the art of fake swallowing his pills. The smart little boy he is forced me to pry his mouth open. Stood with him while he was trying not to take it. He swallowed several times, showed me an empty mouth and not even 5 seconds after I left his side, he coughed them up and grinned...little punk. As for cooking his food, he is 83lbs and is just starting to lose his muscle mass due to not being able to walk farther and without the playtime with his brother Lou (he misses him greatly). How much should he get when I cook him food? I don't want to do too much protein as that is not good, but I also don't want to short him either. I am able to throw in 1/4 cup of dry and he won't flip it, but too much and I am out of luck with a hungry hound. Stubborn might as well be his middle name...Ralph Stubborn Breeden Any suggestions?
  8. On Thursday, May 25, we said goodbye to our precious boy. He had a tough morning around 12:30am. Pacing, tail between the legs, ears down...it was a sad sight. He went back to sleep and then seemed to be a little better when I left for school-that was tough knowing that when I got home, we would be saying goodbye. My DH called the at-home vet again and asked him to come early that evening when he would be available. I guess Lou slept a lot while I was gone but my hubby gave him a sedative that our primary vet issued us for just in case. It did the opposite, he tried to hide the pain as he greeted me at the door but his eyes gave him away. The at-home vet was stuck in traffic but we knew it would be around 6. Dr. Lebovic is a very gentle, understanding man. We let Lou choose where he wanted to be. I had laid out several dog beds, blankets and towels for comfort. He actually laid on a thin bed and we knew it was time. It was a peaceful moment but awful at the same time. At 6:42pm, we carried him out to the vet's truck and said goodbye one more time. (So hard to type and cry at the same time-can't see what I'm typing). Our other boy Ralph, who just celebrated his 11th birthday today was in the room when it happened. But as soon as we saw Lou off, Ralph was anxious and wanted to go for a walk. Routinely, I reached for Lou's leash and absolutely fell to the ground in tears. We now take his leash/collar with us for every walk. I miss my little Lou dearly.
  9. Thank you everyone. This morning he was his normal bright eyed self, barking like a vicious rottweiler wanting breakfast (he's the loudest, meanest grey I have ever heard!). His limp is still pronounced. I do like the "better to go out on a good day" than a bad one. If we lived closer to the beach, we would take him for the day. It's where he is happiest. I just don't think he would take the drive to and from very well. TBHOUNDS- his latest xray didn't show anything that his PRIM vet was concerned with. I know that sounds bad on the vet's part, but she said that the swelling is a concern, as is his limp. She said she would test and prod as much as we and he would allow but I don't know if putting him through all of that is fair. Our friend came over last night who has known Lou as long as we have basically and Lou greeted him at the door. Our friend was floored expecting to see an immobile dog. Lou was having a good couple of hours but after a while, he started to wear down and our friend saw that he was growing weaker in the rear half of his body. GAAAAHHH he is such a strong stoic dog!
  10. Thank you for your response. He is on 10mg prednisone (been up and down with this one-we can't go any lower or he goes downhill quickly), 100mg gabapentin 2x daily, cyclosporine 2x daily, 100-150 mg tramadol 2-3 times daily. My poor pup is a walking pharmaceutical experiment it seems. The cyclosporine is our specialist's latest attempt at getting him off the pred as he has atrophied significantly in his legs. His left leg (the good one) is getting so overused that it's constantly tight and flexed. I fall under the same category with better a day early than a day late but he still thinks and acts like a pup. My DH is not taking this well at all and thinks that he could make it a few more days.
  11. Our boy Lou has had a rough couple of years. Arthritis was discovered when he was 4, spinal meningitis myelitis in Dec. 2015, and now he has a debilitating limp on his back right leg. He is now 9 years old. My husband works and I am a full time college student. We have a tall doggy door but he still needs to be able to lift his legs to get in and out. Getting to the point of this...the past week has been hard. Lou looks bright eyed, doesn't whimper or whine in pain, smiles, eats his dinner with more gusto than someone who just got out of prison...but his right patella/stifle is swollen, and luxating patella is suspected which I know is abnormal in greys. Due to his nerve/spine issues and age, he is unable to have surgery. From the specialist in Irvine he has a "5% chance of coming out of anesthesia." Bought a brace for him which he doesn't mind too much but he can't lay down comfortably. This morning was agonizing. He looked to be in pain, couldn't really pee properly, gazed dreamily out in the backyard, panting excessively but still no sound from him. His tail was between his legs and he was shaking a little. My husband and I decided that we are going to call a vet for an 'at home' goodbye as he would never lay down at the vet. Fast forward to now, I sit on my sofa after having just fed them and you would never know what kind of morning we had. My husband is questioning as to whether we should move forward with a goodbye. Is it too soon? Were we making a premature decision for Lou? I know they say you have to look at the good days vs bad days but what if they are in the same day? I don't want to say goodbye either but he doesn't make any sounds to indicate he is in pain. He is such a tough boy. Why does this have to be so hard?
  12. Thank you for your reply! Yeah our boy Lou takes so many medications. In fact, they took him OFF the Rimadyl because of the pred and gabapentin. I will look at maybe dosing him more along the lines of 6-8 rather than the 12. Reading through a lot of these threads, the timing is important due to these crazy dogs. Not only are they fast on the track, they are fast with metabolizing pills! Thanks again!
  13. I am curious as to how long it took for everyone's vet to truly diagnose osteo? My Lou has had so many health issues in the past year and ya'll helped me with suggestions when I posted about his leg in a different thread. Lou will be 9 (lord willing) November 19 and has been on Prednisone since December of last year when he was diagnosed through MRI at a specialty hospital in Irvine for spinal meningitis/myelitis. He has had ups and downs but we are coming up on his birthday in November which is about the time we notice something was severely wrong last year. The vet has since then placed him on gabapentin and we are dosing him twice daily with that, tramadol and we just increased his pred as well. It's suspected that his back right leg may have a tear in a muscle that we are unable to deal with other than rest and ice. Yes...ice! 90% of the time he lets us ice him for about 20 minutes, several times a day. He has been x-rayed 2 or 3 times since the onset of this limp that he has had. There is a lump on the inside just above his knee but the vet assures us that it is not cancer and that it is likely a tear. Our local vet (not the specialist) did detect some calcification but that has been about it. He does have arthritis that was diagnosed almost 4 years ago. Due to his diagnosis last year, we can't put him under anesthesia due to a high risk of not waking up from it. His specialist's words "you will not have a dog to take home if he is put under." As un-sensitive as that may sound, he was trying to reiterate the fact that Lou is a special case dog. I just wonder if anyone else was given the run-around about diagnosis. He limps terribly but does not act like he is in pain otherwise-he's a very stoic and strong old man. We have a doggy door but he struggles coming through it so if we are home, the screen and sliding door are wide open-influx of bugs is not fun but its worth it for him. Our neighbor comes over three days a week and lets them (I have two greys- Lou and Ralph) out for 20 or so minutes a day but she was panicked the other day when Lou was having a rough one. He still eats all his food, sleeps with me and the hubby in our bed that has been lowered to nothing but the mattress itself-no box spring, no bed frame. Only the mattress so our boys can get up easier. He limps mainly on the right but with so much pressure being put on the left, he is limping a bit on the left now. Reading and...well....crying through the posts-scrolling through intimate moments on here makes me feel as if I am in the right place with my questions and concerns... I hope all is well with everyone both 2 legged and 4 legged.
  14. Well, just got off the phone with Lou's specialist and they are going to put him on gabapentin along with upping his pred dosage back to 5mg everyday for the next month. Then we will give them a call for an update. If the signs are not positive, then we will make an appt to bring him back in. Even the hubby said it doesn't matter, he will call for a substitute that day at school and we will get him there. If it is good, then that is good. Wewill then try to lower his pred dose back to every other day. The reason for the gabepentin is because of the disc in his lumbosacral and nerve damage. I went to wipe his behind today after a potty moment and as I lifted his tail to get a better wipe area, he dropped his butt to the ground. I was so scared. But Dr. Corner said that is normal in dogs with that type of deterioration. She sounded confident in that this is going to help but as with all cases, you never know. I am heading to the pharmacy to pick up meds and supplies for doggie temp taking. Thank you for all the good thoughts!
  15. Why yes we are! Dr. Barry is amazing. We have also been working with Dr. Korner(Corner-not sure which spelling) as well. To make it even more awesome, our VCA vet was did the majority of her training with Dr. Barry. I am actually waiting on a call back from Corner or Barry so we can discuss whether or not to increase Lou's dosage back to 10mg a day. He seemed to do much better with that. I actually did not think about contacting Cathy. That is an excellent idea! They suspected Autoimmune. Poor Lou's MRI results were shocking. Where there should be black/shadows around the spinal cord-it was completely white. It was a wonder why he was able to withstand the pain. His counts (can't remember which) where they are supposed to be a much lower number where well into the 400s. I agree with the question as to whether or not he should be increased on the Pred but we are going to wait to see what the Drs. say. As for taking the temp everyday, I have mentioned this to the hubby and we are going to get a thermometer and some covers so we can keep track. I will make a worksheet so we can monitor. He DOES love it when we ice him after the walk--he gets one large icepack for his hips and one smaller one that travels up and down his spine. Thank you so much you guys. One more question...how the heck do you post pictures? For some reason when I go to upload, it doesn't allow me to create a post/folder! I would love to add my two boys to this site!
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