Dogs III - the return of the furbaby thread

[Spockydog]

Just now, Which Tyler said:

 

Use a bigger grade of gravel that's harder for the cat to shift and get to the litter below; or sharper that they don't like walking on. Quite honestly, I'm surprised at a cat targetting a gravel bed - unless is a particularly smooth and small stone - anything 20mm+ or with sharper edges, and they keep away.

We have 10mm pea shingle covering the entire garden. Essentially a 25ft litter tray.

I'm going to try a combination of lion pellets and dried orange peel.

 

[Which Tyler]

7 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

We have 10mm pea shingle covering the entire garden. Essentially a 25ft litter tray.

I thought it might be; I consider that sort of thing to be your own damned fault - just like ourselves when we built raised beds for veg - we created a 4sqm litter tray for the neighbourhood.

Slate chippings or crushed-rock gravel would be your most reliable bet for sorting it - but also the most dramatic change. Personally I'm a fan of slate paddlestones (NB, cost has doubled since I got them pre-brexit) - big slate chippings that lay flat and are fine to walk on barefoot, even with soft, sensitive soles; but the cats can't shift them. Also far, far easier to clean dog crap from than pea gravel

 

Your other option, of course, is to allow your dog access to the garden at all times - once the cat's been chased out a few times it may decide to crap in someone else's garden - depending on its alternatives, how long it's had this habit, and whether it's actually scared of your dog. Of course, this also risks letting burglars in - so again, there are side-effects to consider.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Which Tyler

[TheLastWolf]

Shoot the cat.

But since God is the cat... 

Shoot it backwards 

And the dog will die along with the cat and God 

.... 

 

Even Nietzsche could only get one 

 

Spoiler

He proclaimed his achievement

 

 

 

[Which Tyler]

On 7/7/2021 at 10:18 AM, Which Tyler said:

Guinness is doing better now; but still a definite limp in her front left, to go with her existing arthritis in both hips - not exhibiting much in the way of pain from them, just irritation that they don't do what she tells them to. Currently she's more upset from her guts, having eaten something she obviously shouldn't have - worried that it might be something in our new wildflower "meadow"

Well, the last 13 days have not been kind.

We now think that her pain that we'd thought was from the elbow, was actually from her guts - which means that they've been troublesome for 17 days; we noted in retrospect that it's been 17 days since her last healthy poo.
Once we realised that we were talking about guts we put her on chicken and rice - much to her approval (and her sister's jealousy)... initially.
After a week of chicken and rice we went to the vet, who gave us some medication for gastroenteritis, and some more to help the gut microbiome; and wormed just-in-case.
Her guts have not improved a bit, and the med.s ran out over the weekend. We've got an appointment with the vet again today.

But she's gradually less interested in food, has vomited a couple of times, including this morning; and there's been nothing but liquid emissions for 3 days now.

 

She's 11 years old, part giant breed, part large breed; so a life expectancy of 8-12 (and her weight has been 40-42kg throughout life until last year's vaccination when she was 38kg); she's increasingly frail, especially recently; and must have lost a good 10% of body weight in the last few weeks.

It's obviously not gut-rot; and almost certainly an obstruction - the question is what.
The obvious option is that she's eaten something too big - something like a corn cob - but I'd expect a lot more pain, and more rapid worstening - not to mention, the vet to have found... something last week).
The other thought is tumour - especially with coming on at the same time as the elbow that we're calling arthritis - not to mention the weakness we first really noticed back in May.

I think I'd actually prefer it to be cancer - given that she's not in pain. That way, there's no real decision to be made, just give her the best last few days / weeks / months that we can, and put her out of her misery the moment she stars being miserable.

But if it's an obstruction... would a frail 11 year old survive such an operation? (hell, would she survive the sedation to X-ray?)

Edited July 19, 2021 by Which Tyler

[Spockydog]

40 minutes ago, Which Tyler said:

But if it's an obstruction... would a frail 11 year old survive such an operation? (hell, would she survive the sedation to X-ray?)

I think you have to risk it. I've had old, frail dogs, much older than Guinness, recover from major surgery without any issues. The knowledge and tech is so good these days, the risks are minimal.

Let the vet have a look inside her. 

Best of luck.

 

Edited July 19, 2021 by Spockydog

[RhaenysBee]

4 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

Well, the last 13 days have not been kind.

We now think that her pain that we'd thought was from the elbow, was actually from her guts - which means that they've been troublesome for 17 days; we noted in retrospect that it's been 17 days since her last healthy poo.
Once we realised that we were talking about guts we put her on chicken and rice - much to her approval (and her sister's jealousy)... initially.
After a week of chicken and rice we went to the vet, who gave us some medication for gastroenteritis, and some more to help the gut microbiome; and wormed just-in-case.
Her guts have not improved a bit, and the med.s ran out over the weekend. We've got an appointment with the vet again today.

But she's gradually less interested in food, has vomited a couple of times, including this morning; and there's been nothing but liquid emissions for 3 days now.

 

She's 11 years old, part giant breed, part large breed; so a life expectancy of 8-12 (and her weight has been 40-42kg throughout life until last year's vaccination when she was 38kg); she's increasingly frail, especially recently; and must have lost a good 10% of body weight in the last few weeks.

It's obviously not gut-rot; and almost certainly an obstruction - the question is what.
The obvious option is that she's eaten something too big - something like a corn cob - but I'd expect a lot more pain, and more rapid worstening - not to mention, the vet to have found... something last week).
The other thought is tumour - especially with coming on at the same time as the elbow that we're calling arthritis - not to mention the weakness we first really noticed back in May.

I think I'd actually prefer it to be cancer - given that she's not in pain. That way, there's no real decision to be made, just give her the best last few days / weeks / months that we can, and put her out of her misery the moment she stars being miserable.

But if it's an obstruction... would a frail 11 year old survive such an operation? (hell, would she survive the sedation to X-ray?)

I am so sorry that she’s not getting better. What mix is she? Giant breeds in my family and friend groups have had severe health issues once advanced in age. My grandmother’s dog had a cyst (not cancerous) that was dissolved with some typE of injection. So even if there’s a tumor, it may not be cancer. 

As for an operation, I think the risk could be assessed if she has a chest screening. If her heart and lungs are healthy for her age, anesthesia shouldn’t be a huge risk. I don’t think  an X-ray necessarily requires sedation though, does it? At least both our dogs who got X-rays had it done fully awake. There was an operator in a radiation safety suit to handle them and that was it. 

is she continuously losing weight by the way? PW was a standard 20kg all his life and went down to 18 last spring, which is said to be normal in old age. He’s maintained that ever since. 

All the best for Guinness! 

Edited July 19, 2021 by RhaenysBee

[Which Tyler]

33 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

I am so sorry that she’s not getting better. What mix is she? Giant breeds in my family and friend groups have had severe health issues once advanced in age. My grandmother’s dog had a cyst (not cancerous) that was dissolved with some typE of injection. So even if there’s a tumor, it may not be cancer. 

As for an operation, I think the risk could be assessed if she has a chest screening. If her heart and lungs are healthy for her age, anesthesia shouldn’t be a huge risk. I don’t think  an X-ray necessarily requires sedation though, does it? At least both our dogs who got X-rays had it done fully awake. There was an operator in a radiation safety suit to handle them and that was it. 

is she continuously losing weight by the way? PW was a standard 20kg all his life and went down to 18 last spring, which is said to be normal in old age. He’s maintained that ever since. 

All the best for Guinness! 

She's Newfoundland X Pointer - I generally go for cross breeds to reduce genetic linked risk factors - but obviously, it only reduces, not eliminates; and genes only play so much part in the first case once you get to this age.
Risk factors will have to be discussed with the vet this afternoon. If she needs an X-ray, she'll certainly need sedating (sedating is usually the case anyway; but not anaesthetising) - otherwise they just won't stay still in the arranged position for long enough)
Her weight loss had been gradual; but it's really, really noticeable the last couple of months - which may be down to the arthritis, or may be down to something else.

Thank you

Edited July 19, 2021 by Which Tyler

[RhaenysBee]

1 minute ago, Which Tyler said:

She's Newfoundland X Pointer - I generally go for cross breeds to reduce genetic linked risk factors - but obviously, it only reduces, not eliminates; and genes only play so much part in the first case once you get to this age.
Risk factors will have to be discussed with the vet this afternoon. If she needs an X-ray, she'll certainly need sedating (sedating is usually the case anyway; but not anaesthetising) - otherwise they just won't stay still in the arranged position for long enough)
Her weight loss had been gradual; but it's really, really noticeable the last couple of months - which may be down to the arthritis, or may be down to something else.

Thank you

She must be gorgeous. 

Good luck with the vet! I hope they find a way to help her as best as possible with minimum risk. And that you get a bit more time with her. 

[TheLastWolf]

I'll never keep keep my dog leashed or kenneled. 

Spoiler

Stupid? I'm noob here 

 

[Werthead]

Not leashing your dog when you're at home or in the back garden/yard or whatever is fine.

Not keeping it leashed when out on the street is recklessly irresponsible. When I was younger there was a family near where I lived who had a husky, magnificent dog (what it was doing in Essex I never found out), and it was a point of pride that they'd trained it incredibly well to walk alongside them and they never put it on a lead. Which was fine up until the day for whatever reason it decided to dart into traffic and get its leg broken (and was lucky not to be killed; if it had been a smaller dog that would have been that).

The dogs I've had in the past have always been very well trained, but they've had moments when they've seen a cat from across a road or something and tried to yank themselves out of my hand and go hurtling off to parts unknown.

[Impmk2]

Agreed, we live opposite a popular park for dogs. The number of times we've been walking our girls on the opposite side of the road and an off leash dog has come sprinting at them completely uncontrolled over the road to say hello... Only takes a car coming at the wrong time....

That's quite aside from other offleash dogs running up to them and starting a dog fight and one of them ending up dead.  Keep control of your animal. I'm not a fan of off leash dogs in (most) public spaces.

[Which Tyler]

34kg yesterday - so a 4 kg loss, which visibly has been the last month or so.

Blood tests show a complete lack of proteins or cholesterols, along with some anaemia.

It's now been 48 hours since she ate... anything at all.

 

Vet wants to do an ultrasound and a camera-up-the-backside biopsy - to get a diagnosis... that wouldn't change the treatment plan.

Treatment options are:
High dose steroids - which may calm IBS, and may make her more comfortable if cancer - speed of reaction would be indicative of diagnosis.

Chemotherapy (if cancer) - that wouldn't add much life, but would take away some quality

Surgery (if cancer) - that she probably wouldn't recover from

 

If she doesn't start eating, then she's only got days, regardless of the diagnosis (it's cancer - no way is this IBS, her body is eating itself and stealing protein from the muscles in order to feed the brain and tumour). If we can get her eating, then weeks, maybe into months.

[Spockydog]

On 7/17/2021 at 9:35 AM, Which Tyler said:

Denatured lion poo that scares the moggy; but may scare your doggy too.

 

The garden now has a couple of boxes of Lion's Roar scattered about the place. Maggie is completely nonplussed. Lion schmion, she might as well have said.

Also, I generally eat two or three oranges a day. Have been keeping the peels, and will put them through a food blender. Gonna scatter them this afternoon.

 

[Which Tyler]

 

Guinness crosses the Rainbow Bridge tomorrow.

I'm a complete wreck

Oh, and Tal's got gut-rot now as well - but I@m pretty sure that's a mixture of heat and anxiety

Edited July 22, 2021 by Which Tyler

[Spockydog]

8 minutes ago, Which Tyler said:

 

Guinness crosses the Rainbow Bridge tomorrow.

I'm a complete wreck

 

Ah, shit. I am so sorry.

[Which Tyler]

Top tip for anyone else going through this, with an old dog off her food, and younger dogs in the household:

Our instinct had been to try feeding her, even little treats, on her own and not being hassled by the youngsters.
We discovered yesterday that we can get a bit more food into her by doing a "training" session.

So we have all 3 dogs around, Tal and Beli do Sit, Down, Stand, Leave It etc; and the treats go around from one to the other. Older dog obviously gets much bigger treats for just being there. But that habit and competition meant that she'd take food she was otherwise refusing.

Over a couple of sessions this morning, I managed to get an extra 3 slices of ham, and 2 schmakos into her.

[RhaenysBee]

21 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

 

Guinness crosses the Rainbow Bridge tomorrow.

I'm a complete wreck

 

I am so very sorry. The biggest, tightest virtual hug to you! 

Know that Guinness had a great life and she’ll remember you with fondness on the other side. 

[RhaenysBee]

On the topic of feeding:  what I experienced with our dogs over the years is that the pack knows when one of them needs the food more. The younger and stronger ones never deprived the old or the ill one, because they just know. 

About 15 years ago we had two dachshunds. They grew up together but we got them a couple months apart. There was quite a bit of rivalry when Caramel arrived and having been the chubbier and stronger one then, he eventually won the struggle for dominance and monopolized eating first, curling up in their bed first, going inside the house first etc. Next summer he got parvovirus and he was very sick, he didn’t eat, he could barely keep water down, lost half his weight. Because dogs are dogs, the other dachshund immediately usurped him and took over all the “privileges” and role of boss. Yet, at every meal without mistake, he let Caramel eat first for the rest of his life.

As for Prince William, as he’s growing weaker he lost many of his own privileges to the others. There’s a work bench in the garage with a low shelf and he monopolized sleeping there for quite a while. Last year though, as he got older and weaker, Chubby started stealing the shelf. For a couple months he was able to root her out and get back the high ground on his own. Then he wasn’t, so he and Miss Molly rooted her out together. In return for this joint effort, he let Miss Molly sleep with him on the shelf. For the longest time he didn’t let either of the females share his food, he always ate first and they ate after he was done. Again, he can no longer maintain that, so they all eat at the same time now. Yet. Every time PW was seriously ill (with his leg the other week, after his incident with the Chancellor last summer), both the girls stood aside and let him eat first even though they all know he can no longer coerce that privilege. 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by RhaenysBee

[Which Tyler]

https://www.facebook.com/aidan.barry.967/posts/967024647204569

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

12 minutes ago, Which Tyler said:

https://www.facebook.com/aidan.barry.967/posts/967024647204569

Sorry for your loss.