BauersMom

That's what I was going to ask. The diarrhea can cause dehydration quickly - and that would be my main concern. I would probably have a dog in who had serious/unimproving diarrhea after 48 hours on a fasting/bland diet. To me, that says medical intervention may be necessary (flagyl, tylan, etc).

A suggestion - there seems to be a lot of good info and links mentioned within this thread related to dosing and protocol for pain meds... could that be added to the front page for easy reference in the next iteration? It seems like it comes up often enough.

I'm so sorry to hear about Fritz.

I am so sorry. Godspeed, Ben.

Our "honorary pack member" Jewell was just diagnosed with osteo in her knee. I really hate this disease. Here she is with Berkeley several years ago.

What wonderful news about Twiggy!

Osteo is extremely painful, and arguably one of the worst kinds of pain - I think the point is if you are going the palliative route you HAVE to be willing to medicate and not hold back on pain medications, which often means you are going against the recommended medication options given by some vets. Palliative is managing the pain as best you can. I don't think there was any knock on someone deciding that route, but that is absolutely the reality of osteo.

My gosh, you're right! For the record, none of my dogs did any damage to their left front.

In *most* cases, amp/chemo IS an option. Will it give you more time? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It is easier to manage their pain with the limb removed, and certainly there are cases where the dogs do live for longer. That all said, if you don't think you will change your mind about treatment, then that's certainly an option too and one that many people choose. Basically, with osteo - you have some options and all of them suck... in the end, it's a terminal disease. You just do what you think is right for you and your pup. There is no right or wrong.

Are you seeing a general vet or a specialist/oncologist? So sorry to hear of Lily's diagnosis.

Yes, I had a dog vomit and have exactly what Batmom described - gastric dilatation without the stomach flipping over. He was at the e-vet overnight and then monitored for another day, and I believe they also did some things to release the gas build up. It never ended up flipping, thankfully, but he was clearly uncomfortable and in the process of potentially having an issue.

That's hilarious!

Berkeley's break was right at the joint and there was a "floater" piece of bone the vet was concerned about - so we splinted (I have dealt with aabout a dozen dislocated toes so I knew the risks going in). He got a sore in about 4-5 days. We did every other day bandage changes from there. The calmer you can keep them in the splint, the less chance of a sore. That said, it's still an impossible feat with greys. You have to weigh the pros and cons of the splint in the individual case - I would not do it in most cases, but sometimes you can't get around it.

Guilt is one of those emotions that is so hard to deal with because it seems to have no real end, like it's always there in the back of your head - I have dreams of my dogs losing both front legs... I know what it's from, and I wish it would just stop already. I guess even though it sucks, it does help to know that all of us deal with bits of it, no matter what route we chose. And go Symbra!!

It was all muscle mass loss - her legs were little spindley things! Her back end troubles limited her activity levels, so it was just a natural thing. Here's what she looked like at 54 (ok, she's lying down, but she didn't do a whole lot of standing at 13+ )

I agree, she's on the skinny side. Some dogs are hard keepers and are just always that skinny no matter what, but if she's lost weight, then that's another thing. A few things about racing weight and older dogs - I also agree that if she's older 9+, then she's definitely skinny... I've seen older dogs get sick and drop 3-5 lbs in the blink of an eye and go from skinny to emaciated. You don't want a fat senior, but something more than what you are looking at now (I didn't see if she's older or not though...). Second - I think racing weight is a great guideline for dogs 2, 3, 4 years post active racing retirement. But when you start looking at the senior ages, it goes out the window. Princess raced at 62 pounds. At 13, she weighed 54 and was what I call "old skinny"... loss of muscle was the real reason, but her ribs/spine looked fine. There was no way she could have been anywhere near 62 pounds anymore, and it was a struggle to keep enough weight on her to stay at 54! As their body composition changes, so should the guidelines you use to establish a good weight.

I know you are all correct, in my head, I know this. The whole thing was (obviously) very traumatic, and I'm having trouble seeing past the emotional part of it. I appreciate all the responses, and they do help.

I have been trying to figure out why I have not progressed much in terms of coping over the last year, and... it's guilt. I do regret going the amputation route. I had an option where I could have prevented the pain Berkeley ultimately suffered during his last moments, and instead I picked the route that put him right into that suffering. Of course, I didn't know it would happen that way, but it is really hard to look back and not think that I put my heart dog through such a horrible last day. It has been extremely difficult to have that day replay in my mind. I do feel strongly that it is a personal decision and each case is different, and obviously a lot of dogs have done really well with the amp route. But, for us, it did not work out as I had thought.

He's not done any reverse sneezing - all "regular" sneezing and he sounds stuffed up. He will sniffle, just like someone would with a cold. No pawing at the nose, or anything that would make me think it's something stuck up there. He is in good spirits and playing and eating and all that. I was wondering if it's allergies of some sort, but the benadryl didn't seem to help at all.

Anyone deal with nasal congestion in their dogs? Buster is sniffling and sneezing, with some clear discharge, otherwise seems totally normal. I'm going to try some benadryl tonight, but any other thoughts? He's set to go into the vet for his annual next week anyway, so I was going to wait to bring it up then.

We're starting to come up on the one year mark since Berkeley's passing, and it's causing me great anxiety. To say I have not dealt well with his death would be an understatement. Sigh

This is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry. Are your dogs related at all? There has been some work on a genetic make up - it does seem like terribly bad luck to have three in such a short period of time.

I'm so sorry. Godspeed Gia.

I had a similar case with my Ivy - something was just "wrong", she was restless and pacing/panting off and on. It was finally the chest/abdomen X-rays that gave us a diagnosis. Not sure you need to jump to that at this point, but if the protein in the urine doesn't lead you anywhere definitive, I'd keep that as an option.

Wendy - worth sending the x-rays to OSU?