Guest saltwaterron Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 i am perplexd by change in riley's habits. she usually has potty break at 5:30 in the afternoon before eating. afterwards, she heads to her crate. it is almost impossible to get her out for a bedtime potty break. she has gone from 5:30 in the evening til 9:30 the next morning with even an attempt to take a potty break. she is pretty much ready to get out in the morning to eat but she doesn't seem to want to do that lately. this morning was a 9:30 morning. any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Swifthounds Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 How old is she? How long have you had her? Any other household changes lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest saltwaterron Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 she will be 6 in august. had her for 3 yrs. no changes in household Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Houndstown Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Pre got sluggish kind of like that. We took him to the vet and had his thyroid tested. Now he's on supplements and his energy level picked back up. Have you had Riley tested? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudzu Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 My male Greys seem(ed) to react to boredom by 'sleeping it off'. My girly Grey though is so stoic that slowing down or sleeping more might be the only symptom she would display of a physical problem. When was the last vet visit & blood work? Has that been done since you started noticing this? Changes like these always make me wonder about medical issues. Have found that quite a few of my pets displayed mild or gradual changes long before more obvious symptoms appear. Several times I wished I had done something sooner to save them discomfort. Example (long story as usual; you can quit reading now as my point has already been made): When my girl was about 7 yo she started to slow down. It wasn't dramatic & happened gradually. She'd had a series of injuries with long lay ups. Figured it related to that. Then people at M&Gs started saying things like, "Oh she looks older," or "She must be older. How old is she?" Her face was getting grey. That might have been why. Then she gained weight even as I was cutting back on food. Figured the reduced activity was the cause but as I tried to encourage more activity she resisted. Maybe her injured toes were bothering her or maybe some arthritis. I added supplements. Things improved slightly, maybe. Next her coat changed, getting rougher, less sleek feeling. But I had changed food so it might have been that. Changed back. Coat stopped getting worse but didn't get better either. I added fish oil. Nothing worsened but nothing improved. I wrote it all off for one reason or another reluctantly including age. Finally after a year or so of this stuff her feet started slipping on smooth floors. Hmmm, well she'd lost muscle & I wasn't enforcing an exercise regimen. Her pads were dry, hard & smooth. Maybe her nails were a bit longer than normal? I tried to address those issues but feet sliding at only 8 yo was worrisome. Then the most disturbing change happened. My girl had always been timid but the associated fear had departed as she learned more about & had more exposure to big wide world. Suddenly her old fears started returning & were actually worse than when newly adopted. Yikes! I was greatly concerned. Vet appointment, ortho exam, blood work, including TBD panel because of prior Lyme disease plus thyroid panel because she had many of the common symptoms. All was fine except her skin plus thyroid panel showed low T4&3 even for a Grey. Vet recommended we try supplementation. She explained that the results of that thyroid panel alone were not why she recommended treatment. It was because it showed a trend to hypothyroid compared to her prior levels plus she had so many of the common symptoms. once starting therapy things steadily improved. EVERYTHING improved. I was shocked. Was also very sorry I had not heard what she, my prematurely old dog, had been trying to tell me. That's just one example. I've got a bookful of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2dogs4cats Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I would agree with the other posters. This sounds lethargic to me rather than just lazy. I would get some labs done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest saltwaterron Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 will do. yearly visit for shots due this month. will talk to her about it. thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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