Mork - Advice On Assessing Pain

[spottydog]

Just thought I'd share a funny story - funny now anyway. My sweet ole' lab cross (who made it to almost 16) had LS and had absolutely no idea what her back end was doing near the end, and would often poop in her sleep. This story takes place when she wasn't quite that bad...We were at my Mum's lovely condo, 3 floors up, white rugs...you get the idea. So, when she woke up in the mornings during this visit, she was going to do her business rightawayquick so we had to get her outside as quickly as possible. She couldn't do the stairs anymore, so we had to do the elevator. We pile in and proceed down and to our horror, when the elevator doors opened, there was an extremely disapproving man in a suit waiting to get on. (Apparently we were supposed to use the stairwell, who knew?) We flew out and immediately realized it was not the ground floor...poor Babalu couldn't hold it any longer and lost it right there on the second floor. Truly that was a blessing because she would have let it rip in the elevator beside the elegant man...No mess was made, love those dry little poops, and no one was the wiser...don't tell anyone...

[krissn333]

Carrie turned 14 on May 8th, just one month after her 2nd Gotcha Day with me

[robinw]

Just saw this. How is Mork doing today?

[Guest MnMDogs]

Thanks for checking, Robin. He's his same happy (if a bit unsteady) self. I think we just need to accept that we will find poop in the house more days than not now. And that's fine - he tries to get out the door, as evidenced by the trail of poop to the back. But the poor dude just can't get there in time all the time.

 

In any event, we'll just keep doing what we're doing and hopefully he'll be happy for a long time more

[GeorgeofNE]

Fecal incontinence is a result of the LS. He cannot feel the fecal matter.

 

If he were my dog, I'd be looking at saying goodbye. 14 is a VERY long life for most breeds, and it sounds like he's deteriorating beyond the point of palliative care.

 

I hope you don't hate me for saying so.

 

Best wishes,

 

Susan

[Guest MnMDogs]

I've thought long and hard about this, and have discussed in depth with my vet. The only change in him right now is the incontinence, which I've been assured is not resulting from pain.

 

He's happy, he's playful (I still catch him in the yard spinning and bowing), he's still a pain in my ass after all these years. I'm not putting him to sleep because I'm dealing with crap in the house. I know it's easy to say what you'd do if this were your dog... I would probably be saying the same thing. But he's not, and it's easy to say.

Edited May 28, 2013 by MnMDogs

[inugrey]

Fecal incontinence is a result of the LS. He cannot feel the fecal matter.

 

If he were my dog, I'd be looking at saying goodbye. 14 is a VERY long life for most breeds, and it sounds like he's deteriorating beyond the point of palliative care.

 

I hope you don't hate me for saying so.

 

Best wishes,

 

Susan

I'd be pretty upset if a stranger on the internet told me to put my dog down. Not helpful.

[FiveRoooooers]

Thanks for checking, Robin. He's his same happy (if a bit unsteady) self. I think we just need to accept that we will find poop in the house more days than not now. And that's fine - he tries to get out the door, as evidenced by the trail of poop to the back. But the poor dude just can't get there in time all the time.

 

In any event, we'll just keep doing what we're doing and hopefully he'll be happy for a long time more

Good boy, Mork.

[cristar]

Well, let's face it folks, a lot of us are going to be pooping

our pants eventually.

I just hope we've got the patience of someone that is willing to care

for us and overlook it like Mork's mom is doing.

As long as he's happy and loving life, what the heck is a little poop? !!!

We used to have unexpected poop here 4-5 times a day. It even got to the point that

our girl would be laying on her bed sound asleep and her tail would twitch - then we knew,

here comes another one!!

Gotta love it.

[Wonder]

I hound sit a pup who is almost 14 and she poops right after she jumps into my car. No biggie, I know it's gonna happen

Now I make her potty and I lift her into my car- no poops since I've started this.

 

Kisses to Mork

[Guest MnMDogs]

Thanks for the additional comments

 

I just want to be clear, this isn't a thread asking about whether I should say good-bye. That's a decision I'll reach with my husband and my vet. I really just wanted to make sure the increased incontinence isn't a sign of increased pain. That's it.

 

I appreciate you all sharing your stories...this old dog stuff is so new to us.

[BootsyCollins]

I am occasionally incontinent thanks to my giant-headed children. So far, my husband hasn't given me the big shot, although I'm sure he wants to.

 

Glad Mork is still so happy. I hope to be able to say that about Bootsy when he's 13 and 8 months.

[greysandmollie]

inugrey, on 28 May 2013 - 2:11 PM, said:

I'd be pretty upset if a stranger on the internet told me to put my dog down. Not helpful.

Ditto

 

I am at the same spot with my Cody...about the same age exactly...but he has a soft tumor on his leg though. Up until today he was doing really well. The leg seems to be a problem. But the other issues you seem to be having...sounds like he is still enjoying what he can. I have never had one this long and have been amazed how well Cody has done. Best wishes!

[ZoomDoggy]

Well, let's face it folks, a lot of us are going to be pooping

our pants eventually.

I just hope we've got the patience of someone that is willing to care

for us and overlook it like Mork's mom is doing.

As long as he's happy and loving life, what the heck is a little poop? !!!...

 

Agreed, 100%

 

Sounds like you've already received the reassurance you need, but I do also agree with those who say the incontinence due to LS is unlikely to be, in itself, indicative of increased pain.

 

Thank you for being so patient with your sweet oldster. We should all be so lucky to have someone give us the loving care we need in our senior years. Give that sweet ol' boy-o a gentle smooch for me, please.

[GreyPoopon]

I didn't have time to add specific poop stories in my earlier post, but here are a couple involving Jessie:

 

Jessie got to the point where she couldn't always hang on when the urge hit. One day we had no sooner walked into the clinic than she lifted her tail. I picked up the poop. A staffer took the bag and removed the mat for cleaning. It was replaced with a towel. Later the same day, Cal sliced her foot in the yard. On her way into the clinic, she bled all over the towel. We made quite a mess of the clinic that day. After that visit, I started arriving a bit earlier so Jessie could poop before her visits (every 4-5 days).

 

During the last several weeks, Jessie had to go out for her first pee before her morning walk. The walk was the first thing on the agenda, but she just couldn't hang on for the few extra minutes it took to get organized. After a couple of weeks, she started needing to poop then too, which I realized when she dropped a load or two in the living room. So I left her out longer. But the urge to poop didn't hit until a minute or so after she'd peed. By that point, she'd be back on the deck. She couldn't make it back to the potty area. I soon started calling her chosen spot "the poop deck."

 

And one for Betsy:

 

When she first arrived her, Betsy was very tense and not especially concerned about where she pottied on her walks. It took a long time to teach her that the grass was better than the pavement. Now that she's an old bird (14 1/2), she can't always hang on when the urge hits. So sometimes we're walking along happily when I'm jerked to a dead stop to find that Betsy is pooping in the middle of the walkway.

 

Both Betsy and Jessie have also surprised me by pooping when I'm picking up after another dog. Usually I notice. But occasionally I look back after we walk away and realize that I have to go back.

 

Old dogs.

Edited May 28, 2013 by GreyPoopon

[FiveRoooooers]

I didn't have time to add specific poop stories in my earlier post

 

Old dogs.

 

Ditto. My great dane (before greyhounds) had LS and would "spill" on his bed in the middle of the night. It got to the point where I would wake up just before it happened and could catch the poop. Tom was so embarrassed if he made a mess

 

Old dogs are the best dogs

[KF_in_Georgia]

Now that she's an old bird (14 1/2), she can't always hang on when the urge hits. So sometimes we're walking along happily when I'm jerked to a dead stop to find that Betsy is pooping in the middle of the walkway.

Both Betsy and Jessie have also surprised me by pooping when I'm picking up after another dog. Usually I notice. But occasionally I look back after we walk away and realize that I have to go back.

 

Old dogs.

 

Sam has done this occasionally. And tonight I took the dogs out, Sam peed, I brought them both back in the house, fed them, gave Sam his pills, and started watching TV for a little before bedtime. About 3 minutes later, Sam pooped in the house--with no warning. (He usually barks to tell me he needs to go out.) I may need to start planning two trips outside--one before the meal and one after it.

[krissn333]

I take the pack out before and after meals, just because some go before food, some go after. It's just always been our routine and it's worked well for us