Worried about my Minky

[minkydog]

We took him to the vet Sat. Nov 6 after he had injured himself while chasing a squirrel. He had bruised his shoulder and hips severely, but seemed to do better once he got his pain relief and muscle relaxant. He's continued to limp, though. We left him at the groomer over the weekend while we took DD17 to VSU. I know they keep a close eye on him because he's as old as their doggies. They only let him out with the real young puppies(they won't chase him or challenge him.) He actually did very well.

Last night, DH & Minky somehow got their feet tangled up and Minky hit the floor, hard. He couldn't get up. I mean, *really* couldn't get up. He finally did get to his feet but he had some trouble on the stairs last night. Today DH noticed that Minky has fallen in the yard several times. And to top it off, he has the worst gas you've ever encounterd. You would swear he'd had diarrhea right there on the rug. He's getting the same food as usual, eating and drinking normally(other than he lays down on the floor while he eats.) And no human snacks other that the occasional wad of tissue.

I'm taking him in to see the vet tomorrow morning. I'm really hoping that this "bruised shoulder and hip" doesn't give way to something much worse. He's 10-1/2 now.

 

[poochie]

We took him to the vet Sat. Nov 6 after he had injured himself while chasing a squirrel. He had bruised his shoulder and hips severely, but seemed to do better once he got his pain relief and muscle relaxant. He's continued to limp, though. We left him at the groomer over the weekend while we took DD17 to VSU. I know they keep a close eye on him because he's as old as their doggies. They only let him out with the real young puppies(they won't chase him or challenge him.) He actually did very well.

Last night, DH & Minky somehow got their feet tangled up and Minky hit the floor, hard. He couldn't get up. I mean, *really* couldn't get up. He finally did get to his feet but he had some trouble on the stairs last night. Today DH noticed that Minky has fallen in the yard several times. And to top it off, he has the worst gas you've ever encounterd. You would swear he'd had diarrhea right there on the rug. He's getting the same food as usual, eating and drinking normally(other than he lays down on the floor while he eats.) And no human snacks other that the occasional wad of tissue.

I'm taking him in to see the vet tomorrow morning. I'm really hoping that this "bruised shoulder and hip" doesn't give way to something much worse. He's 10-1/2 now.

Poor Minky, give him a hug from me. I know what you mean when they get old my lab is 12, walks very slow, does not do stairs due to hip displysha (sp).
He also stinks up a storm. But we love him

Also watch out for those squirrels. My old GR had a heart attack chasing them in my back yard. I watched him charge off the desk race thru the yard and chase them up the tree. He was so proud of himself he pranced back grinning and tail wagging and suddenly just collasped into the ground. No suffering just gone. I still curse those squirrels.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So sad to hear that, I hope he'll be ok.

 

[doxdogy]

So sorry to hear about Minky. Can you possibly borrow an exercise pen from the groomer? Set it up in the family area and keep him confined. This could "force" him rest.

 

[minkydog]

So sorry to hear about Minky. Can you possibly borrow an exercise pen from the groomer? Set it up in the family area and keep him confined. This could "force" him rest.

He's pretty much a velcro dog so he's mostly laying around in front of the fireplace or under our feet. He's not really interested in doing much else. I escort him out to his bushes and he sort of squats a little, then comes back in the house. He did lie down on the back patio, which is made of river stone so it's very cold. I think that's not helping his arthritis too much, so I try to keep him inside. He doesn't sleep in a pen anymore, but he's not real active at night. Once we go to bed he has to be right beside our bed and he doesn't move until morning. I'm just worried because there seems to be a big change in his energy level and activity in the last 2 weeks.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Im not a dog person but give the little guy a hug for me. Ill be praying for him. have you tried a heating pad on low? I know our arthritic cat loved sleeping on the heating pad (and it seemed to make her much more active)

 

[Parkers_girl]

Are you giving him any form of glucosamine and chondritin? I know that it really benefits dogs once they get older. We bought my old boy this stuff called "missing link PLUS". You can buy it at petsmart or petco, and it is like the wonder treatement for old achey dogs. My dog was having such a hard time getting around and we took him to the vet only to have a vet tech recommend the product. It really is amazing!

 

[MELSMICE]

Hope he's OK.

 

[clh2]

Awe - gosh darn it. Give him a healing hug from me!

Hope the vet just puts him on "bed rest" for a bit!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My guess for the "I'm falling and can't get up" would be the muscle relaxant. I probably wouldn't give him any more of that. (What meds did he get?)

Other than that he's probably beginning that slow decline that large dogs start to get around that age. I agree with the suggestion of glucosamine/chondritin which will help keep his skeleton as strong as it can be.

The other thing you can do, after he heals from his recent injuries, is to help keep his muscles strong. What we did with our dog when he got like that was, on vet's advice, exercises that didn't put pressure on joints, like walking and swimming. (Which was really hard with him because he was a frisbee dog and he never gave up wanting to go after it with leaps and bounds.) This will help Minky stay physically strong in the years to come. Once dogs get weak and lower their activity levels, you can see their muscles start to atrophy, especially in the rear. Work on keeping those muscles strong to support the body structure. Also, pain medicine given regularly will help him walk and move comfortably if he seems like he's in pain (once he's back to himself). They often get very arthritic as they age but can't tell us how much pain they're in - we have to notice it as they try to get up, walk, yelp, etc.

It stinks when they get old.

 

[minkydog]

UPDATE--
I took Minky to the vet this morning and she watched him hobble around and ordered some xrays. The good news is there's no sign of malignancy(what I was dreading.) The bad news is he has severe arthritis in that left hip and it is almost immobile. He also has something called lumbo-sacral disease, which is a progressive disease of the spine that causes weakness in the lower back, falls, and incontinence. At this point his muscle tone "back there" is good, so he's still in a good place. Basically, it's gonna be limited activities, Tramadol, Meloxicam, and the sparing use of Robaxin when he's having a tough time. The vet suggested Glucosamine/Chondroitin so I got some of that tonight. I need to buy some carpet runners to put down on my hardwoods to give him some traction.

Man, it's so hard to see him getting old. I guess he'd be about 80 in human years. DH tried to have The Talk last night. Yeah,that helped--NOT. I am not ready to think about THAT just yet. I'm realistic about it--Minky is an old doggy and I'm not gonna put him through any heroic measures. Hopefully, we can make him comfortable and he can continue to have a happy life for another couple years. I figure as long as he's eating & drinking well and is generally having more "happy" than "anxious", I'm willing to nurse him along.

 

[mrsv98]

UPDATE--
I took Minky to the vet this morning and she watched him hobble around and ordered some xrays. The good news is there's no sign of malignancy(what I was dreading.) The bad news is he has severe arthritis in that left hip and it is almost immobile. He also has something called lumbo-sacral disease, which is a progressive disease of the spine that causes weakness in the lower back, falls, and incontinence. At this point his muscle tone "back there" is good, so he's still in a good place. Basically, it's gonna be limited activities, Tramadol, Meloxicam, and the sparing use of Robaxin when he's having a tough time. The vet suggested Glucosamine/Chondroitin so I got some of that tonight. I need to buy some carpet runners to put down on my hardwoods to give him some traction.

Man, it's so hard to see him getting old. I guess he'd be about 80 in human years. DH tried to have The Talk last night. Yeah,that helped--NOT. I am not ready to think about THAT just yet. I'm realistic about it--Minky is an old doggy and I'm not gonna put him through any heroic measures. Hopefully, we can make him comfortable and he can continue to have a happy life for another couple years. I figure as long as he's eating & drinking well and is generally having more "happy" than "anxious", I'm willing to nurse him along.

Well over all that is good news, at least it is manageable. We put our 7.5yo lab on glucosomine about 8 months ago and it has made a tremendous difference. She was getting creaky and slow getting up, now she is running around and playing very happily. It is so hard as they get older, but the journey is certainly worth it.

 

[clh2]

Is minky a big or a little dog?

If minky is anything on the med-bigger end of things - you may want to consider getting something linke this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3307+20748+8082&pcatid=8082
This was a fabulous suggestion from a friend when our dog was having difficutlies walking on some of those days. Definitley much easier on your back. Our dog was close to 70 pounds. This even helped get him into the car when we went to the vet in his last couple of months.

It is tough to see those furbaby get older. Again- sending off some .

Edited to add...I fixed the link, and did a new post (#21) with the correct link too! Sorry!!!

 

[minkydog]

Is minky a big or a little dog?

If minky is anything on the med-bigger end of things - you may want to consider getting something linke this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3307+20748+8082&pcatid=8082

This was a fabulous suggestion from a friend when our dog was having difficutlies walking on some of those days. Definitley much easier on your back. Our dog was close to 70 pounds. This even helped get him into the car when we went to the vet in his last couple of months.

It is tough to see those furbaby get older. Again- sending off some .

He's an 80-lb poodle. I can't access your link. I'll try to google it soI can see what you're talking about.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I can't acces the link either, but I get the free catalogues from them and they have alot of great items for older dogs.

Wow, an 80 pound poodle, I guess I have never seen one that big. My grandmother raised poodles when I was growing up and probably the largest one was 8 pounds, most in the 4 to 5 pound range.

Suzanne

 

[minkydog]

I can't acces the link either, but I get the free catalogues from them and they have alot of great items for older dogs.

Wow, an 80 pound poodle, I guess I have never seen one that big. My grandmother raised poodles when I was growing up and probably the largest one was 8 pounds, most in the 4 to 5 pound range.

Suzanne

He's a great big ol' Standard, about as big as a Golden Retriever. He was a rescue pup, the runt of the litter. The other pups grew up to weigh over 110-lb. Now THATs a lot of poodle!

 

[nancycg56]

I used to feed my old lab Nutra dog food with glucosamine condroitin in the food and it worked like a charm. He was having a really hard time and after a month or so, there was a noticeable difference.

Good thoughts to Minky!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

He's a great big ol' Standard, about as big as a Golden Retriever. He was a rescue pup, the runt of the litter. The other pups grew up to weigh over 110-lb. Now THATs a lot of poodle!

WOW! Thank is all I can say. I guess I haven't actually seen a standard poodle except in pictures and didn't realize they got that big. Ours were toys and that is what I am used to seeing, maybe a few teacups, too.

Suzanne

 

[Pea-n-Me]

He also has something called lumbo-sacral disease, which is a progressive disease of the spine that causes weakness in the lower back, falls, and incontinence.

Other names they call it include

Rear Leg Weakness
Degenerative Myelopathy
Spinal Arthritis/Spondlyosis

if you want to look up more information.

It really just means he's slowing down and could have some pain issues that make mobility difficult. It's good he'll be on analgesics and glucosamine (the other, personally, I wouldn't give due to unpleasant neuro effects).

He could still last a good long time with your great care.

 

[luvwinnie]

May I suggest asking your vet about Adequan injections? Helped both our bulldogs tremendously. Praying for your baby.