lothianjavert

I've switched vets a couple times recently. The first switch was after my old vet retired. The new vet that replaced him seemed OK enough, but I had so many issues with billing (all the old staff left or were asked to leave within a year of the old vet retiring, and the new people were having problems) and appointment setting among other issues that I left. I tried a practice that is pretty close to us, in part because of they do have a high res digital x-ray. I'll probably use them again if I need a high res xray, but I was not happy with how they handled pain management for D's osteo, and it was a big fight for anything other than just deramaxx, meanwhile D is in pain. The vet I'm with now is the one who sent D to the bridge. She and her assistant/tech came out to the house to do it and both explained everything they were going to do and were just so caring. She has been wonderful and the tech is also amazing. They have a mobile service in the evenings and the office is open during the day. They have a chiro come in once a week as well, and he has worked on Sully's back. What I like is that if she isn't sure about something, she'll research it and/or call another vet who has more expertise in that area, and she seems open to new things. I still felt bad switching those times, but I really like my current vet and I am glad that I made the switch.

Sebau had an episode this past summer. It nearly gave me a heart attack as I thought she'd had a stroke, and at her age that it would be her time. When I left for work that morning, she had been fine, walking fine and being her usual bossy little self and pushing Sully around. When I came home, she could barely stand without falling over, and if she tried to walk, she did fall over. Her eyes were darting back and forth (nystagmus) and she couldn't keep down food and water. We called the vet and the vet fit us in that evening at the end of her rounds (mobile vet). She looked at her ears, didn't see an infection, but said that the symptoms were consistent with idiopathic vestibular syndrome, especially when her age (17) was taken into consideration. She said to give dramamine for the motion sickness and that we should see improvements after a few days and a more notable improvement after about a week. The dramamine definitely helped her nausea and she could keep down food and water. We carried her outside for potty breaks and carried her up and down the steps (she's only about 50 lbs). We noticed that she was doing better walking within a few days, and within a week she could do the steps again and the nystagmus was gone. Her balance is not what it used to be, but she made a good recovery, especially considering her age. The vet called every couple days to check up on her too Hopefully your pup begins to improve quickly and continues to do so! I know what you mean about being in a panic. I really thought I was losing my old gal.

Office visit is about 40.00 here. When I had the vet come to the house for Sebau this summer, the home visit + exam was 65.00. Sully sees a chiropractor at her office, but because he isn't seeing the vet those times, we just pay the chiro. Vaccines- Sully is due later this fall for boosters, and rabies in fall of '12. I'm not vaccinating ol' mutt gal again until her rabies is due in '12, due to her age.

I am so, so sorry. I can't believe she's gone. I remember reading through the Wabi saga as it happened and rooting for her. All of the pics, the physical therapy... the dandelions and your gorgeous pics of her...and throughout it all, her sheer joy at life. She was so special and touched so many that met her. :grouphug

I am so sorry. Sending lots of hugs to you and Steakers :grouphug

Like others have said, it's usually a combo vaccine given every 3 years. Sebau will be due this fall. I did end up vaccinating her last time (3 years ago) but I want to talk to the vet because she's 17 now, and perhaps to a titer instead.

I wouldn't give it w/o talking to the vet first. However, yes, lots of people meds are routinely used for animals. I've had prescriptions for Tramadol and gabapentin filled at my regular pharmacy. As a kid, my dad and our poodle shared synthroid. (she took 1/4 pill, dad took 1 pill, same brand, purchased at same pharmacy if one ran out, the other's meds were used until the refill called in )

Neylasmom gave great info. My experience with gabapentin was very positive. Adding it to the tramadol/deramaxx combo brought Diesel's pain levels down. my vet was not cooperative about the gabapentin (had never used it or even heard of it being used), but yours sounds like he/she is familiar with it. The gabapentin gave us time with Diesel that we would not have had otherwise. With D, when it was time, the change was sudden. He had been fine all weekend, but late sun/ early mon he was really hurting. We couldn't get his pain under control and made the decision to let him go that mon. We had a vet (not the one mentioned earlier) come to our house to let D go. Just be prepared if you cant get his pain under control that it may be time. Lots of hugs for you and your boy. :

I'm so sorry for your loss. Turbo was such a gorgeous, goofy, sweet and happy boy. Your tribute and photo are perfect. : :

I've been trying to come up with something to post, but I just can't seem to get the right words out. I still can't believe he's gone. The house is so quiet now. D wasn't a very vocal hound, but he had so much presence. He was always so happy- about everything and anything. I remember when he came as a foster and everything scared him. Over time he went from being nervous and unsure to being the biggest, happiest, goofiest clutz in the house. He looked forward to every day and was always the first one to greet us in the morning, twirling his tail happily. As soon as the alarm went off, it was tail twirling nose in the eyeball time. Any and every event that involved his family, no matter how routine was met with glee. The house is so quiet now. So empty. Sully has been curling up on D's bed and stays there. He still eats and asks for pets, but he seems to miss his companion. Sebau kept very close to D those last weeks, and she is now keeping close to his bed as well. I keep expecting to turn around and see him standing there with one of his woobies (stuffed toys) in his mouth, doing his happy stompy dance and twirling his tail like he always did We all miss him so much. I never expected to be posting about an osteo diagnosis back in early December. It was a limp- he was getting older and was a bit arthritic, and was famous for his wipeouts while doing zoomies in the yard. He was so full of life- acting more like a 3 year old most of the time than his true age. For most of the time after his diagnosis, he was still happy and playful, just moving a bit slower. He enjoyed his popsicles (edy's all fruit- go figure!), pizza, beer and tripe, and he got lots and lots of those. We worked to manage his pain, which seemed at times to be a struggle with the vet who hadn't used pain meds past nsaids and older analgesics. Still, we kept it under control until early Monday morning. I don't know what changed, but suddlenly, it seemed like the meds just weren't helping. He hurt, and there was a new look, a tired, sad look in his eye that hadn't been there before. It was time. I am thankful to the vet- a new vet I hadn't used before, but who has a small mobile evening practice. She came out Monday night amidst the sleet and snow and helped D to the bridge. She and her assistant were wonderful- kind, caring and patient. D got to cross over peacefully in his home, on his favorite bed with his people and his pack with him. I'm sorry, I just can't type any more. I'll try to post more later, and post some pics when I can.

We're in the same position. I'm so sorry you all have to deal with it too. I felt so guilty today emailing another vet to see if she did house calls for home euthanasia. While D isn't ready yet (and I don't think I'll ever be), I don't want to wait until the last minute and have no other options. I also don't want him to suffer or be in too much pain, but then, I don't want to let him go too early. How do you get it just right? Is there a "right"? I know that I want him to be at home where he is happy and comfortable if at all possible. Still, it made me feel awful. I don't really even want to think about it or face it. I wish I could just make the cancer go away, and wake up from this bad dream. It's just an awful situation to be in and I'm so sorry so many others are going through this too.

Keeping you guys and beautiful Marx in my prayers!

Sending lots of good thoughts and prayers to you and Harley :grouphug

Sending lots of hugs and good thoughts for you all and lincoln! I still think of him as the little puppy!

Keeping her in my thoughts!

It's a dendrobium (orchid). They get used frequently around here as a "fancy" garnish at restaurants.

I was also surprised that they weren't familiar with gabapentin (I spelled it out to the tech, as well a couple of the common brand names). It's a very common drug at least in humans. I know many of the uses are off-label, but pain management is one of the big off-label uses. I'm not all that far from several major metropolitan areas, yet sometimes I swear I can go out the front door and hear the dueling banjos.... everything here seems to be at least a decade behind. My father was astounded that they weren't familiar with gabapentin at least in human use, even if they haven't used it much in animal practice. He also echoed that it can be given at remarkably high doses. The only thing to remember is if you are going to drastically reduce dosage or stop the medication, you need to taper it to prevent withdrawal symptoms. I will ask for the pill form- D is not at all hard to give pills to. He's such a food hound that I just pop the pills in a blob of tripe or just about any food item and he promptly inhales it. He has been having some trouble with the steps, so we are keeping the dogs downstairs (I'm also afraid of him falling and breaking his leg/shoulder with the osteo), though DH carries D up and down the steps for bed time. Thanks for letting me know about the change w/ consults w/ Dr. C.

I'm very frustrated right now- I left 4 messages with the ditsy little receptionist (and a couple on the machine), starting at opening time. I wanted to talk to the vet about adding gabapentin (neurontin) and see if she would write a scrip so that I could pick it up and take it to the pharmacy this evening, and that Diesel was almost out of tramadol and needed more. No return call. At all. All I could get out of the tech was asking if I wanted an appointment for Fri or next week and an "oh, I'll give her your message. She's like real busy right now." By message 4 I wasn't terribly nice- just a very blunt message to have the vet call me ASAP. I don't expect the vet to be able to call me right away, but I do expect someone to make an effort to return a call, even if it's a tech calling back w/ a quick message from the vet. I ended up stopping by my dad's and he gave us a few days' worth of tramadol for D, so at least he's ok there. Perhaps I'm not being realistic expecting a call back the same day, but I can't stand seeing him hurting and it's so frustrating to just not get a response when you really need one, and not being able to do anything about his pain. OK- ETA the vet just called back, so the message did go through, if a bit garbled. I'm just too impatient and a bit spazzy/frantic about my boy. I suggested the gabapentin. They are not familiar with it and haven't used it. They'll call the specialist and ask about dosages and will call it in to the local pharmacy tomorrow.

Thanks Jen! I'm so sorry about Neyla. I wouldn't wish this journey on anyone or anyone's pup, but I am glad I'm not alone. Diesel is still hanging in there, but we're going to have to do a med change to manage his pain- what he's on just isn't cutting it anymore. DH is off tomorrow and will be talking to the vet, and I know I'll be calling from work as well. I know we can try heavier narcotics, but what about other meds like neurontin (we are maxxed out on NSAIDS, so that part cannot be increased)? I know it's used primarily for neuropathic pain (as well as seizures and migraines in humans), but I thought I recalled someone using it with some success w/ an osteo pup. In the meantime, he is majorly being spoiled. I need to upload some pics I took right around his diagnosis time where he was seriously working DH over for some pizza crust. (This morning he hit DH up for his coffee though now he expects it brought TO him! I told Steve that he is now D's personal barista/snack chef. ) to all of you and your pups who have fought and/or are still fighting osteo

It's not good. The X rays showed a moth-eaten looking lesion on his upper humerus. The vet said the location was a bit higher up than is commonly found, but not all that unusual. She suggested biopsy to confirm, but I declined because of the risk of fracture. I'm to call on Mon. about setting up a time to try a fine needle aspirate if I want to go that route. I do want her to send the films to Dr. Cuoto for confirmation, and I'll send her that info when I call on Monday. Right now, he's on 50mg Deramaxx per day, and also 100 mg tramadol 2x day. At the moment he's still groggy and sleeping off the anesthesia. I keep going over the options in my head.... wondering what's best... I just wish there was a -real- option- one that just got completely rid of the damned stuff-period.

Thanks! The X-rays are scheduled for tomorrow and hopefully they are good quality and I'm praying all is clear and he's just turning into an old man.... I plan to send them to Dr. Couto if there's any question/doubt. His bloodwork came back and all is fine, so that's at least good!

Diesel has been limping on and off on his front left for quite a while. He had films done about a year and a half ago, and everything was fine (just arthritis- and arthritic feet, wrists...). He got some deramaxx to use when needed. It wasn't too surprising when he started to limp a bit this fall when the weather really swung. Heck, I hurt too! But the deramaxx suddenly didn't help this week. And the limp was not the same- there was a level of pain that was not present before, and the way he was limping was different than the stiff arthritic limp that would get better w/ movement. He went to the vet today, who is also concerned. The deramaxx was upped to keep him comfortable and a blood panel done in preparation for a full set of X rays on Sat. morning. He was freaking so much that there is no way it can be done w/o sedation, esp. w/the angles to get good shots of the one area of his shoulder that is suspect. I don't even want to mention the word. I'm just hoping it isn't, that it's anything else other than that. He's only 10.