Josie

thanks RWM yes I think I will have many experiments in the next weeks... I'm anxious a bit when I'm going to give Tuffy first chicken legs (or other bone, dont know yet what I'll let him try first)... little affraid that he will choke.. or that he wont eat it! yes I'll get Grizzly oil too

Tuffy loves it no vomiting and superb poop (like I never saw him do!) for now it's just raw evening meals but I'll finish the kibbles by this week-end yep the butcher said to go slowly to introduce new meat espacially pieces with bones. I tried to give Tuffy chicken hearts tonight and he did not wanted to eat it... poor boy had a strange look like saying "what the hell are those little things mom wants me to eat?" But he did eat some sweet patatoe cubes slowly we will get there

thanks for you replies at my question it's true that 99.9% of time the first thing you see intering a vet clinic are piles of kibbles bag... usually Science Diet here... DH suports my interesst in raw feeding for Tuffy. He was born and raise on a farm (slaughterhouse actually) and all the dogs were fed raw... and they lived on average 15 years old in good health. DH grand mother fed them veggies pells also... I found a local butcher shop that sells grounded chicken carcass (ok I know many dont like grounded meat). The owners started doing this because they have Great Danes and after reading a lot about raw they embrace that feeding method. This week I started to give Tuffy grounded chicken for the evening meals, he LOVES it, licks the bowl . for now I'm giving his kibbles in the morning to finish the bag and after I'll continue only raw... I'm continuing reading about the subject to find the "ideal" menu for Tuffy, I dont think there a single recipe for all dog... right?

I'm reading on BARF and may try it with Tuffy. What concern me is that I dont find many vets that aprooves BARF... why? Is there studies on BARF publish?

so sorry

run and play painfree angel Sunny

so back from the vet! vet thinks Tuffy is doing much better too we will continue deramaxx 1/2 pill evenings and 0.25mg dextab in the morning 6 days on 7... one day a week no dextab just to keep the body top shape. we go back to see the vet in 6 months... well that's in december and with the snow and cold temp we will probably incresse the dosage for winter months big boy is happy, mom is happy

how long she's with you? Tuffy is home for 5 years now and it took like 4 3/4 years to grow back on his butt (all fuzy and curly!)..... he just turn 8 in February...

merci you're so cute

UPDATE almost 2 weeks with dextab and Tuffy is doing greyt! we had some rain and it did not slow Tuffy down like it used to... Tuffy is more out going on walks, sniffing all around and more interactive (before medication he was slow and just wanted to go back home when we walked) tomorow we go back to the vet to talk about the next step... I'll get back to you about what the vet thinks...

thanks! I'll see what we going to do after the 2 weeks of dextab. I check out dusaquin and it's gluco and chondro, Tuffy already gets that.

is it a prescrition drug? is it a horse medication? the vet talk about something horse takes... I talk about Duralactin to the vet, He says it's not a drug but a natural suplements, it could help and I could try it, he did not know about it and the results it could make, Tuffy alreay takes gluco and chondro but we have to keep the inflamation down with anti-inflamatory drugs... and I dont know where to get it druralactin...

We went to the vet yesterday, Tuffy is on deramaxx for 2 months now. On palpation Tuffy back was much better He did not flinched down when the vet push on it. His knees and hips are still stiff anf painfull So we keep giving deramaxx (1/2 pill) and will add 0.25mg of dextab (Dexamethasone) each day for 2 weeks to help boost the anti-inflamatory effect. We will return in 2 weeks to and see the next step (going to alternate medication after, 3 days deramaxx-2days without ect. Tuffy is about 40-50% better then he was 2 months ago. More interactive and playfull. Love my big boy.

oh I know something was important today, gosh... 2 years already! I mis you so much Trish Yes she talk to me about bulldog via msn! I'm sure Butkus is in greyt hands!

Tuffy is taking deramaxx for is arthritis and it's giving stomac ache... The vet give him ranitidine (human zantac) to help... it may have help the stomac but the bowels did not like it at all! soft/liquid poop.. so I stop the zantac and gived some rice/minced beef to resove the soft poop problem... is all anti-acid medication have that side-effect? I will talk the the vet tomorow about this.. wanting to know your ideas on this situation...

thanks tbhounds. I'll talk to the vet here to see if mobic is available in Canada... Update from the visite to the vet this evnening we are back from the vet, he thinks that Tuffy is doing about 20% better now.. Tuffy got a shot of cortisone to boost the relief of pain. In 3 days I'll give 1 deramaxx and after 1/2 pill daily. The vet is trying to see wath dosage is best fot Tuffy. He also prescrib zantac for his stomac ache. Back to the vet in about 3 weeks to see if it's going better and to adjust the dosage (and the tech is supose to call every 4-5 days to get news too). I have to slwly increse the walk distance too... getting Tuffy back to shape... I did cut back on walks during winter because of his pain but now we are going to take great long walks together

UPDATE-April 8th It's been 2 weeks today that Tuffy started deramaxx. We seen a difference and he is doing ok on it. Poop is normal, appetite is a little so-so but with yogourt everything is ok He seems to have less pain, runs and jumps more... We are going to the vet tonight to discuss what we do now.. to see if he needs a higher dosage.. I know Tuffy wont be like he was at age 5 when he arrived but he is more active now on deramaxx.

yeah! cant wait to see pics of that beatyfull smile!! Miles

WELCOME!!! I bought the Greyhound Angel Memorial "I Had A Dream of Heaven" print when Peatie, Trish (gosh I miss her!) little brindle girl past away! Love your work!

I found that it could increased thirst...

thanks for your replies! we will see after this 2 weeks how it does... the vet was talking about getting the good dosage and maybe give more next fall to prepare for winter (that's not a good time for Tuffy usually)... Energy11: should I wait and see if Tuffy has stomac issues before giving him pepcid AC? what dosage of pepcid do you give Goldie? is it every day? Patrikcmom: tremadol is cheaper you say? I pay 27$ (cnd) for 7 pills at the vet today... dont now if you can compare with the cost of dog medication in the states..

So it was Tuffy anual check-up at the vet today. Our 8 years old big boy is in good health, lungs and heart are good. Teeth needs a cleaning but it's not too urgent... the only sad part is that his arthritis may have worsen... on palpation of his knees it look painfull around the interior sesamoid (fabella), and his back (around T13/L1) too... The vet said that I was doing good giving Tuffy gluco and chondro (1500mg/900mg) every day but that he needed something for the inflamation... He give us derramaxx for 2 weeks (1/2 pill every 24h) and will see if it helps... what are your experiences with that drug? good results? any side-effects? thanks!