Old Age And Failing Health

[Guest weisster]

Thank you. You've all been very helpful and caring and I appreciate it.

[GreyPoopon]

Another thought: Methocarbamol (Robaxin), the muscle relaxant in Robaxacet. It's helped my two girls with hind end weakness. Both were already on NSAID (Metacam), but I did notice an improvement in each when we started Methocarbamol.

[PatricksMom]

Dealing with a lot of the same issues. Home cooked meals have turned around the appetite problems and seem to have really improved quality of life. Is that a possibility? Now if we could just figure out the digestive issues. It really is hard seeing them get so old in front of us.

 

Eta: Fish oil supplements have been suprisingly helpful with arthritis pain (on top of tramadol and cosequine, but still a noticeable improvement). Might be worth trying as well.

Edited June 23, 2012 by PatricksMom

[Guest bernadette]

This reminds me of a question I had regarding acupuncture. We don't know what's wrong with Vinnie... NO arthritis evident in xrays. I suspect LS- bit there is no official diagnosis- yet.

Should acupuncture even be a thought until we figure out a cause? How can you treat without knowing what you're treating..?

[FiveRoooooers]

Frustratingly, sometimes no matter how much diagnostic work is done, an answer is never found. BTDT. I would give the A/P a reasonable try, it can't hurt and it might help. I hope it does for Vinnie.

[Guest bernadette]

It can't hurt? I am so hesitant to do anything like that until we know what exactly is going on. I feel like I'm the only one close to the situation that feels that way. Yes, the Rimadyl is helping him a bit, but I still don't know what 'it' is and I would like to. I want full understanding and to know what to expect. I'll probably have him back into the vet soon with this new lump. =(

Seeing these guys age stinks, especially when things creep up so suddenly.

[Batmom]

Acupuncture won't hurt but it has no substantiated effect -- it's a placebo thing for the owner, for the most part. Chiropractic is the one you really want to avoid if you don't know what's wrong.

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Adequan helped Tommy's LSS a lot. I was able to buy the bottle from the vet, and inject myself. It was easy to do. It started off slow then given near the end every 4 days.

 

Hope you find something to help Darrell.

[Guest Flaco25]

Hi I am new to the forum but greyhound mother for many years. We lost my boy Flaco this past february, he got a horrible cancer in his chest and it was a matter of 1 month.

Something that REALLY helped us was prednisone...I do not recall how much and pepsid. Our vet view before we found it was this cancer was that he needed to eat to stay strong.

Also I started spoiling him and cooking for him everyday...I was so desperated trying to make him eat.

Yogurt also helped.

I miss him desperately...

[dbullwinkel]

My Missy is nearly 13. has had a bad back for years. always panted too.. she is currently taking tramadol, metacam (human version), we recently added in gabapentin. acupuncture has been very helpful for her.

[krissn333]

I started taking Carrie (age 13) for acupuncture after she did something to injure her lower back. We didn't know if she'd just strained it or if maybe she had a bulging disc. When NSAIDs and tramadol did nothing and she got to the point where she could not even stand in place, we switched her to pred and I took her for acupuncture that afternoon. The next morning she not only was able to stand in one spot, she was able to STAND UP and WALK. I know that the pred did a lot of the heavy lifting there to begin with, but, she's now off the pred but still going for acupuncture every 2-3 weeks.

 

Truthfully, she gets around better now than she EVER has as long as I've had her. She can now run mainly like a normal greyhound (she had a stroke before I got her, which has caused some oddities in her gait, especially with her right rear leg). She seems to be aging in reverse, which is the most precious gift I could ever receive with regard to a 13 year old.

 

To some extent I can understand placebo effect in people, but, dogs' brains don't work that way, so really there's no way that the improvement she's shown is a placebo effect. But, my mom also went to an acupuncturist for a bulging disc and for the first time in MONTHS, she has been able to take less pain medication instead of more. The treatments help to allow blood to flow more freely to the area, which promotes healing. Her results were not instantaneous, but the next day she looked at the clock and realized she'd forgotten to take her pain meds, but then also realized that she wasn't experiencing any pain. Considering she was skeptical when I pushed her to go, I also have a hard time believing that she is experiencing placebo effect. She'd done the cortisone shots, physical therapy, rest, etc...everything modern medicine recommends for a bulging disc. She got zero relief...so she thought I was nuts to suggest she try acupuncture.

 

So, moral of my long story is, acupuncture has done great things for my friends and loved ones...it's worth a shot

[Batmom]

To some extent I can understand placebo effect in people, but, dogs' brains don't work that way

 

That was part of my point . There is likely a placebo effect on dog owners, however.

 

Here's the easy to read version of the most recent study: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110324104147.htm

Edited June 23, 2012 by Batmom

[greyhead]

Darrel turned 13 last month. There are two main issues. Constant panting (only stops when he sleeps) and 0steoarthritis that's resulting in very weak wobbly legs and back. Yes, I've been to the vet often. Drugs like deramaxx, rimadyl, pericot , tramadol cause him to lose his appetite and within 3 days he stops eating. Five days ago his back legs got extremely wobbly and I knew I could no longer walk him as he'd not make it. He is on benazepril for his heart and the vet put him on veymedin. His panting never got better and once again he stopped eating so I took him off that too. Vet saids his pressure is good and the rest of him is in good shape.

I realize at 13 Darrel's days are numbered but I'd like him to be comfortable.I'm no longer going to drag him to vets unless absolutely necessary. I will not cause him anymore unnecessary stress. If you have a thought that would help, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

Sucralfate is an amazing thing to give before meals/meds. It coats the tummy so it won't be hurt by this stuff, which will allow you to give him oral meds that will help him without his losing his appetite because his tummy hurts. It's working like a dream for us. Costs much more than Pepcid and such, but it's so much more effective that it's worth it.

[Guest grey_dreams]

Darrel turned 13 last month. There are two main issues. Constant panting (only stops when he sleeps) and 0steoarthritis that's resulting in very weak wobbly legs and back. Yes, I've been to the vet often. Drugs like deramaxx, rimadyl, pericot , tramadol cause him to lose his appetite and within 3 days he stops eating. Five days ago his back legs got extremely wobbly and I knew I could no longer walk him as he'd not make it. He is on benazepril for his heart and the vet put him on veymedin. His panting never got better and once again he stopped eating so I took him off that too. Vet saids his pressure is good and the rest of him is in good shape.

I realize at 13 Darrel's days are numbered but I'd like him to be comfortable.I'm no longer going to drag him to vets unless absolutely necessary. I will not cause him anymore unnecessary stress. If you have a thought that would help, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

The panting can also be because of his heart condition and/or the heart medicines the vets prescibed. Zuki could not tolerate enalapril or benazepril, he stopped eating and was feeling worse and worse. I developed a treatment regime for Zuki's mitral valve insufficiency and heart murmur: CoQ10, hawthorn, dandelion, ginkgo, carnitine, and taurine. We will be adding cayenne and turmeric, and upping the CoQ10 and hawthorn, if needed. If you are interested in more information just let me know.

[KF_in_Georgia]

To some extent I can understand placebo effect in people, but, dogs' brains don't work that way

 

That was part of my point . There is likely a placebo effect on dog owners, however.

 

Here's the easy to read version of the most recent study: http://www.scienceda...10324104147.htm

 

Sam and (angel) Jacey were the demo-dogs for sessions that trained vets to do acupuncture. The dogs would stand on tables while the vets used fingers-only to learn to locate pressure points.

 

But we were able to request sessions from the trainers. Sam had a brief session and it did make a difference. That night, he came home and curled up in a tight ball to sleep--like a curled up, sleeping cat--for the first time in months. The increased flexibilty lasted at least a few days.

 

And when they did the final session, where the trainees actually used needles, both dogs participated. In Sam's session, they said his pulse went noticeably lower a few needles into the session--as if he'd gotten some pain relief.

 

On the other hand, Jacey's session didn't do anything. And while she had loved standing on the table getting petted and handled during the training sessions, she wasn't nuts about the actual needle part.

 

Jacey was one of the few dogs actually wagging her tail through all the training.

Other dogs were a bit nervous.

 

But I agree that chiropractic adjustments are to be avoided unless you know what you're dealing with and have good x-rays and stuff. The closest Sam has ever come to biting someone was during a painful chiropractic adjustment, and his pain was back in less than two weeks.

[Guest trevdog]

Acupuncture has helped Ossie tremendously with his hind end weakness. He turned 12 in March and is getting around much better. It does take 4-5 visits to see an improvement.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I would suspect that the panting might have more to do with the heart, since it is constant. Did the vet give the all clear with the heart issue? No fluid build up or anything?

[Guest jenmm]

I'm right there with you. It's hard. My Hines is 13 and he has hind end weakness. He has good days and sometimes really bad days. I take him for acupuncture and he gets Chinese herbs, it seems to help.

[Guest greytexplorer]

I would suspect that the panting might have more to do with the heart, since it is constant. Did the vet give the all clear with the heart issue? No fluid build up or anything?

 

I agree with Lindsay. Our chihuahua, DickCheney, has been on vetmedin, benazapril, lasix, carvedilol for 4 years, and just added spironolact recently.

When he is panting, and it's not heat or bad weather-related, it's time to go to the cardio vet.

 

Do you have the expertise of a cardio vet, or does your regular vet handle his heart meds?

 

I feel your pain. Watching the aging process advance in my 3 elderly dogs is not pretty.

[kickchick2000]

My boy is 12 and he pants a lot too. He's on Rimadyl and occasionally muscle relaxers for his back end. We recently went through an eating issue as well. I was basically force feeding Milky Way, I would put down food soaked in chick broth or cooked hamburger anything to get him to eat, even then it was just a nibble here or there. I looked in his mouth a ton to make sure there wasn't a bad tooth or something. Well after a few weeks of the food battle I took him to the vets and the only thing the vet could think was that maybe there was a small infection under his gums that we could no see since his teeth looked fine. So she prescibed an antibiotic and within 3 days Milky Way was eating normal meals again. We finished out the antibiotic dose and he's been eating fine ever since.

[Ragsysmum]

A bioflow magnetic collar seems to really help some older dogs with arthritis.

[Rustyroo]

He only stops panting when he sleeps. I ask the vet if he's in pain and I don't get a definitive answer

 

I haven't read all the replies and I can only share my experience. Rusty was doing a lot of panting like you have described at the end. I could not figure out at the time what was wrong, but in the end it turned out he had osteo and was in a lot of pain. I just did not know it until he broke his leg and had to rush him to the emergency vet. He never showed any other signs that there was anything wrong, so I never had the choice of putting him on any kind of pain meds.