How Did You Manage Lp Without Surgery?

[BauersMom]

Princess is not a good candidate for the tie-back surgery, so for now we're managing it by keeping her life pretty low-key and low-stress and the AC is on whenever it gets warm out. She still romps and plays in the yard (well, romping for an almost 13 year old ), but I limit that to the cooler evenings.

 

What did you do if you didn't opt for surgery? One thing I haven't changed is her food - don't know if looking at a softer/wetter food option is better? Did you have meds on hand in case of a crisis?

[3DogNite]

My old gal had tie-back surgery at 13yrs old.. she live 2 more comfortable ~ happy years!!!

 

before the surgery, we did a lot of water spray bottles to keep her cool, cool coats, and room fans,, we never let her "romp",, she was on leash all the time!

 

we did not have med's on hand, and we didn't change her food.. except for the really crumbly treats, she didn't get those often

Edited July 1, 2010 by 3DogNite

[sweetdogs]

I'm not sure if my old boy has LP, but his breathing is really raspy. The vet calls it old man trachea. We have him on doxepin & he's still wheezing along. And doing pretty well too. He was 13 in February.

[2hounds]

My Iceman had LP and we limited his time in any temperatures over about 75-80 degrees. We didn't take him for long walks (he couldn't anyway with his back end so weak) and in general we just kept him really calm. He was diagnosed at 11 years old and lived to be almost 14.

[Guest KennelMom]

We used valium on Grandpa as needed, but he was a pretty chillaxed dog so he was easy to manage for a long time. Of course the typical stuff: no collars, avoiding heat and exertion. We also kept a liquid valium suppository on hand for emergencies. You have to keep it in the dark and make sure you replace it often as the liquid version loses potency quickly. Towards the end we were trying him on doxepin, but he wasn't on it long enough for me to know if it really made a difference.

 

The scary thing about LP is you can manage it medically successfully for a long time and then your dog has a crisis with no warning. And a crisis is a medical emergency you will never forget. I remember flying down the interstate at about 90 mph (not an exaggeration) when Grandpa was in a crisis. When he pooped involuntarily, almost no air getting through, I was convinced he was going to suffocate to death in my arms. The sheer terror on his face brings me to tears to this day. A dog would have to be an extraordinarily bad candidate for tie back surgery for me to not do it. Just being "not a great candidate" would not be enough to manage medically. I would rather lose a dog on the operating table than have them asphyxiate to death.

[BauersMom]

I appreciate the opinions on whether or not to do the surgery, but both my vet and the neurologist at Angell Memorial both are in agreement that she'd not make it through surgery. While I obviously don't want her to suffocate to death, I also don't want to take a happy, otherwise healthy dog and risk her life against the recommendation of two vets. There is risk in everything we do as pet owners.

 

So long as her schedule and routine stays the same, she's easy to keep cool and calm. I'll look into getting some valium to have on hand, too.

[Burpdog]

Get liquid valium to adminster rectally if she goes into shut down mode. It's my biggest regret re Trevor

 

He was not a candidate for surgery either. I should have started him on elavil before I did which would have given it time to kick in and I should have had liquid valium on hand.

[Guest KennelMom]

I appreciate the opinions on whether or not to do the surgery, but both my vet and the neurologist at Angell Memorial both are in agreement that she'd not make it through surgery. While I obviously don't want her to suffocate to death, I also don't want to take a happy, otherwise healthy dog and risk her life against the recommendation of two vets. There is risk in everything we do as pet owners.

 

So long as her schedule and routine stays the same, she's easy to keep cool and calm. I'll look into getting some valium to have on hand, too.

 

It's a really tough decision DH does not agree with my position on surgery...if we ever have to cross that bridge again, it'll be an interesting debate.

 

Our vet has managed his dog's LP medically for many, many years.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[2hounds]

Forgot to mention that we did have liquid valium on hand but thankfully never had to use it.

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

I think Red was heading down the LP road last summer. He sounded like Riley did on Lucy's video. We kept him cool, no long walks, and took off his collar unless outside our fence. He didn't seem to have as episodes.

Edited July 1, 2010 by VinnieAndRexsMom

[Guest Smiley]

I would definitely get in touch with Kim from FastJack (cool t-shirt people). They had a dog with LP and she had a ton of great suggestions on managing it-everything from temp in the house to food to what she did if the dog over-exerted. She had some really good info.