Rickiesmom

Godspeed Joe T. Donna my heart is breaking for you.

Might be therapeutic to meet Santa Claus

Thank you for sharing Graham with us, he was indeed a Good Dog. I am so sorry it was his time.

I think it comes down to 4 things (assuming you are looking for help with the big unforeseen, vs. routine care): - cost of vet care (including specialists) in your area - the higher those costs, the more insurance may make sense - how well you can handle a sudden, large expense - whether you are more inclined to pay a monthly premium or religiously set money aside (bearing in mind it can take awhile to save enough to pay for something requiring a lot of tests and treatment) - how many pets you have - potential for things happening with more than one in a short time = much bigger expense I have insurance on 2 of my three (third is too old and a walking pre-condition). For me it's about predictability (peace of mind).

My 15 year old whippet goes for chiro every two weeks right now. She's very good - initially qualified and practiced in chiropractic for people (still practices) and then qualified for animals, currently dogs and horses. If you find the right chiropractor, the results are very worthwhile.

This is an interesting idea, I will be following the responses to this thread.

So, so glad to see this update!

My 15 year old whippet is on a combination of Metacam and Gabapentin and is doing well. Although I haven't tried it yet, I am told that Sasha's Blend is a very good supplement. As soon as I run out of the current supplement I will try switching him to this.

Diane I am so, so sorry.

Whenever I've boarded mine for more than a day or two, they come back very tired and if it's been for any length of time, leaner (and in amazing great shape) because they are so much more active. I would be very surprised if it was anything else. Except maybe lonely. I had a sort of reverse experience once - when I put my house on the market a couple of years ago, I boarded the two greys but kept my whippet, who is older and very bonded to me, at home. After awhile he stopped eating and was very subdued. Because of his age, I thought something was physically wrong but the vets couldn't find anything, and they checked everything. All I was left with, was that he was lonely. So I took him up to camp and abracadabra, problem solved, he was a happy boy. I bet if you took her back up there she'd be happy to see the place again, and that would be your answer.

Jen, I am so very sorry. What a wonderful tribute to a life well loved.

I am so very sorry.

A beautiful tribute to a special and very loved girl. Perhaps a new constellation will form in the sky, as Symbra learns she can collect the stars.

Ducky I am so sorry. Run free sweet Gracie

I am so, so sorry for your loss of a remarkable hound, and for the ache in your heart.

Anne I am so sorry to read this. Sending good thoughts

If you are going the canned route (been there, done that, for similar reasons) you might want to look at canned tripe. Trippett is the brand I have always used (they have several variations). It's very good for most dogs, and I've yet to meet one that didn't think it was the best thing ever. Also, it doesn't smell as bad as you might think, which is not to say it smells good. At all. If you can't find it locally, you can purchase it from Sitstay.com. They changed hands awhile back and I like them better than I used to.

Jeff is with Trupanion and so far my experiences have been all positive. When I was looking at carriers Healthy Paws wasn't available in Canada, not sure if that is still true - their coverage sounds very similar, but for some reason much less expensive than Trupanion. I am looking into insurance for Jaynie, but she has a major pre-existing condition with her kidneys, and her coverage may or may not be affected by an epulis that was removed (hopefully only if it were to come back in the same spot). I asked Trupanion for a list of exclusions for her so I could make an informed decision (and to avoid surprises later). They require you to enroll in order to do the assessment, but you can cancel and get your money back within 30 days, and the assessment should be completed before that. All my customer service experiences with them have been very good.

I switched Jeff from Orijen to Acana Ranchlands. He loves it and is doing well on it.

I am missing something here - are the corns still in place, but bleeding? Would you be able to post a photo? (Apologize in advance if the font size here is either huge or tiny - each new message lately is an adventure, no idea why.)

Judy I am so sorry you are facing this with Nadir. Sending thoughts of comfort to you both.

If the muscle twitches continue I would have her seen asap.

Ugh, please keep us posted.

I don't understand the process, but according to Boeringer's website (at the time, and presumably still) in susceptible dogs Metacam can increase the depressive effect of anaesthesia on the organs, and precipitate kidney failure. In a nutshell, the progression was like this for Jaynie: - Monday: spay - Tuesday: feeling low - I was aware but didn't worry much because I figured it was understandable - Wednesday: more lethargic, started having occasional muscle spasms - two vets saw her, misattributed the symptoms - Thursday: didn't want to come out of the open crate where she was resting, muscle spasms much worse, by this time I was applying compresses and doing massage; saw the vet again During this time she was drinking but not eating. The only good thing about that was, although I had been sent home with Metacam to give her, because she wasn't eating I gave her Tramadol instead. I will never know for sure, but think this may have saved her life. On Thursday our regular vet still didn't know what was wrong, but realized she was in a very bad way. He admitted her and put her on fluids. Friday the bloodwork came back - her kidney and liver values were off the chart. At the vet's suggestion and my complete agreement I moved her to the specialty clinic which also functions as an emergency clinic so has attendings 24/7. She received good supportive care until Monday morning when we saw the internal med specialist and although it was still touch-and-go for awhile, he pulled her through it.

Metacam has been great for my whippet Rickie, who has been on it for several years without issue. Our experience is similar to others that have posted - start with weight-appropriate dose and once results are seen and stable, start slowly reducing to a lower but clinically effective dose. Have bloodwork done very 6 months. Also, my vet told me what some others have said, Meloxicam sits in the stomach longer and has a higher chance of causing ulcers. As a sidebar, since it is not pertinent to the purpose of Metacam being discussed here, do not allow it to be used pre- or immediately post-surgery. Per the Boeringer's documentation, in susceptible dogs it can result in acute kidney failure. Jaynie turned out to be one of those dogs, and the situation was compounded by the fact that because her bloodwork was so good pre-spay, it took a couple of critical days for the vet to figure it out, by which time she was very sick indeed. She made it, but it took two weeks at a specialty clinic, the first days of those in the ICU.