Loving my Oldies

If he does his usual trick of turning up his nose at something he has previously eaten, you will hear my shrieks of frustration, Yonjuro. On the other hand, if he loves it again, you can deputise for me and plant one on Trinabean :laugh: :laugh:

I am a gold medallist when it comes to solving other people's problems and difficulties. One of each !!! :laugh: :laugh:

:laugh: :laugh: Too true, hankdog.

:thumbsup: little happy That's what it is all about, isn't it. Lovely to see. Congratulations on the depth of your understanding of your little dog's needs and carrying through.

What an awful story, LG . Poor lady and poor you. At least I haven't fallen over yet. I am feeling pretty stoked at the moment, as had some success today. After Danny wouldn't eat ANYTHING this morning, I followed up on Trinabean's post in Health Nutrition sub forum and this is what I posted there. ....................................................................................... Trinabean is very lucky that she lives on the other side of the country from me :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: otherwise, I'd be on her doorstep ready to plant a big fat kiss on her nose. I phoned Asquith Vets on Pacific Highway (near Hornsby) to check they stocked Natural Balance and I collected a sample this afternoon. The sample is a fair sized package so I will be able to see over the next few days how Danny tolerates it and whether he keeps eating it. Danny has now eaten the first decent sized meal in days. :thumbsup:; however, I am fully expecting him to do the usual trick of refusing it the next time I give it to him . I had to hold a kibble piece in his mouth to get him started - of course the other dogs were wolfing it down, but I gave them little pieces by hand otherwise they'd have scoffed the lot. I held his mouth closed and when I released it, he just spat the kibble out. Then, halleluljah, he ate it. I then gave him a small bowl and he ate happily. And then, he raced around the house almost back to his old self. I guess he was no longer starving and his tummy and gut are settling down with all the medications. Everything crossed tonight will see the same behaviour.

Trinabean is very lucky that she lives on the other side of the country from me :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: otherwise, I'd be on her doorstep ready to plant a big fat kiss on her nose. I phoned Asquith Vets on Pacific Highway (near Hornsby) to check they stocked Natural Balance and I collected a sample this afternoon. The sample is a fair sized package so I will be able to see over the next few days how Danny tolerates it and whether he keeps eating it. Although Danny has now eaten the first decent sized meal in days. :thumbsup:, I am fully expecting him to do the usual trick of refusing it the next time I give it to him . I had to hold a kibble piece in his mouth to get him started - of course the other dogs were wolfing it down as I gave them just a piece each in turn. I held his mouth closed and when I released it, he just spat the kibble out. Then, halleluljah, he ate it. I then gave him a small bowl and he ate happily. And then, he raced around the house almost back to his old self. I guess he was no longer starving and his tummy and gut are settling down with all the medications. Everything crossed!!

I have to be very careful with what I give him, JulesP. I don't give him anything that I haven't checked with vet first. I'm going to check up on Trinabean's link (Natural Balance) and I will have a look at Pediasure ingredients. The photo below is the performance I witness regularly. The food is tuna and he lay with his head turned away, occasionally turning to look at Bunter who was hovering, for about 10 minutes. He eventually got up and walked away and Bunter, of course, wolfed it down.

We are still battling, Yonjuro. I went back to the vet in desperation this morning , because I can't seem to get him to eat something more than once or twice. He will really hoe into something (relatively) and I think we've cracked it and then next time I give it to him he won't touch it. I saw Trinabean's thread about Natural Balance so will be investigating that. At least his sty is healing quickly with hot compresses several times a day and eye ointment. Poor boy.

I will be investigating this. Two stockists (according to the website) near me. I am really battling to get Danny to eat anything more than once or twice. I've never had such a variety of dogs food in the cupboards and refrigerator. Strangely enough, his weightloss seems to be arrested, but how, I don't know. He doesn't seem to be eating enough to keep a dog 1/2 his size going. He is 5.5kgs at the moment. Has spent most of his life around 6kgs+ and a couple of weeks ago dropped to 5.2kgs. The results of his stomach biopsies were inconclusive .... non-specific gastritis Anyway thanks so much for this link Trinabean; I hope Bruno continues to do well.

LOL VizslaMomma - so true. Going a bit Off Topic, sorry, ALoadofBull, but my first puppies were two little Maltese in August 1993. I used to work long hours then and although I took time off when they first came home, I absolutely hated going to work and leaving them. They were so tiny. However, I hired a Dog Walker to come over a few times a week just to spend some time with them, keep them company and just play or let them sleep in her lap while she had her lunch. I still have all the little notes she'd leave for me to tell me what they got up to.

This thread gave me a laugh. Such a long time since I had puppies that I don't really remember much about it except they were very beautiful and had very sharp teef!!

I need to know how I have offended St Francis, because I obviously have......BIG TIME Finally managed to get to sleep just before 4am this morning. Alarm went off for Danny's first med at 7.00. Staggered out to do that, staggered back to bed. 7.30am alarm again, back to bed and sleep until next alarm at 9.30am. I actually got up before then as Gussy Cat wanted out so I opened the door for her, gave her a little bowl of food and shut the door on my finger I was so groggy that I'd propped myself against the door opening and didn't move in time. Gave Danny his 9.30am med and then noticed he was pawing at his eye. Took a look and the eyelid is all red and swollen. I thought at first the cut he'd come home with from SASH might have become infected. Off to the vet as soon as they could see me and he has a sty. Poor little chap. So if anyone has a direct line to St Francis, please intercede on behalf of my dogs, cat and me

Gosh - what a hunky gorgeous boy Ronin.

He'll be okay with Little Legs on his case

I've met a couple and while I am not about to invite them home to play with mine (toy breeds and elderly) :laugh: :laugh:, both were really lovely dog. One was an adult from Big Dog Rescue a few years ago, so obviously they do turn up in rescue and one was a pup in the vet's waiting room. ChristineX, poor puppy you met. Result of a very bad owner and the sort of person who should never be allowed within 100 miles of such a breed. Heapha, I guess it is a case of doing your homework and finding a breeder who breeds for temperament and good canine citizenship. The loss of your Rotti x must have been very hard, but what a wonderful age he reached for such large breeds. You obviously have the touch.

I've heard of them being used for other purposes, Yonjuro :D :D Despite my shock at discovering how expensive the compounded liquid medications are, I cannot express what a relief they are. All Danny's meds are via syringe now and (touch wood), so easy. I just measure the appropriate amount, dip the tip in yoghurt and he takes it without any problems. Tamar is on propalin and that is via syringe too, so I have four small glasses lined up on the kitchen bench for each syringe. After each use, they are washed in boiling water and back into the glass :laugh: :laugh: . Yes, I'm a bit anal, but it works for me. Danny's demeanour seems to be improving too, he actually went to sleep on his mat near the dining table when he couldn't see me :eek: and when I came back from walking the other three this afternoon, he wasn't at the side gate. He was at the top of the back stairs wriggling himself into a pretzel and wagging his tail, so I think he'd gone back upstairs and slept until we returned. Almost unheard of. So he is obviously feeling tired from the whole business and giving in to it. Each day is different.

Thanks LabT and RSA. I'll hold off the cuddles for a little while :laugh: :laugh: . He is sound asleep next to the table and I think he must be exhausted as well. I don't even dare move from here because he'd be up like shot following. On second thoughts, I might just join him on the mat LOL.

Thanks for that, StaffyLuv. The biopsy report came back yesterday and nothing conclusive at all just "non-specific gastritis". We have just re-started the carafate and hopefully it will improve his desire to eat with his tummy being eased just a little bit more. He seems to really like (I'll bet I've jinxed it now) the Eukanuba Intestinal kibble. I have a can of this as well, but haven't tried it yet. He seems to have gone right off the i/d slurry and had to syringe some this morning. I hate having to syringe the food as I am worried that it will bring on gags and vomits. I'm off to the chemist today to see if I can find some I can manage more easily. The ones SASH gave me look big enough to feed a horse and you'd have to be able to bench press 400kg to control the flow. At least all the medications are now via syringe, so that is one worry gone and because the syringes are so small, I don't worry so much about this bringing on a gagging fit.

I think my favourite was the dog hiding under the giraffe.

I couldn't even begin to remember half of them, but I think probably the worst is stepping out of bed into diarrhoea. Many years ago, my father was staying with me and he'd been out into the back yard in the morning, stood in a poo and not realised it and tracked it all back through the house. Naturally, he went to god without ever knowing I'd hastily washed up the floors after him :D

First major throw up this morning since last week :( . Apart from a few very minor regurgitations which have been promptly licked up, he has been pretty good, so his vomit this morning is very disappointing - I'm sure he didn't enjoy it either, poor little man. He seems okay though and I guess the day can only improve. Watching anxiously (sorry LG can't help it :D I am a born worrier) to see if he keeps breakfast down. This is one of the emails from the SASH vet from yesterday. So I need to monitor him carefully (keeping a detailed record) for quite some time: If we ‘trial’ the carafate, it would be most useful if you could try to observe a clear ‘cause and effect’ of using a new drug. So, before starting the drug, you want firstly, everything else to remain the same, and secondly, have a general idea of how things are going (for example in this case our goal is to improve appetite so get a baseline of his appetite). I emphasise the GENERAL idea, in that what is happening that day or that moment is not as important as the bigger picture over the past 5-10 days. So you might say, I’m sticking with this general diet, giving these medications, and Danny’s appetite over the past week has been FAIR. Then, start the drug and after 5 days or, make another assessment as to how that general appetite is. So then you might say, I’ve kept everything the same and Danny’s appetite since starting the drug is BETTER. If it’s unchanged, then the drug is not helping and can probably be stopped. If it’s improved, then the drug has helped and we should continue. If you are not sure, then we are not sure, and we won’t know whether to continue it or not.

Yes, Yonjuro. Danny is the polar opposite of aloof too, but he can be very very stubborn and wilful. You have read and commented in my post about him and I sometimes wonder if he is just being plain stubborn combined with some learned behavioural traits. For sure, he has been a very unwell little boy, but I remembered the other poster's reference to her "stubborn Spitz" when I was trying to get him to take some yoghurt with his medication mixed in it. Luckily this has now been provided in liquid form and I will be able to syringe it from now on, but I have to go over to collect it from SASH. I had to get him started on the yoghurt mix by putting some on my finger and then he was licking happily. He stopped to have a little rest and would not start again until the bowl was right under his nose. All his food and water bowls have to be raised and quite often he will not start eating until I am actually holding the bowl. And, again, after another stop, he would not start again until the bowl was at his little snout. He is making me earn every cuddle LOL. So recalling the mention of "stubborn Spitz", I was prompted to enquire.

Danny is far from aloof. He thinks everyone loves him and acts accordingly. I have to watch him around small children (simply because he might push them over) because he backs into people expecting them to scratch his back. Aloof is different from stubborn.

Because my podiatry appointment was next door to the little IGA at Westleigh, I went there. I actually did stand in front of the ice cream cabinet and wiping up my saliva before commonsense prevailed and I dragged myself past. Did find some scrumptious Mersey Valley spreadable cheese though :D

I saw something in a post not so long ago and meant to go back to read it further, but I didn't and now I have forgotton where it was. The poster said something about her "stubborn Spitz". Are Spitz breeds generally more stubborn than other dogs? Are they known to be stubborn? I'm curious and interested because my dog Danny is going through all sorts of problems at the moment and sometimes (no, many times) I think to myself that he is a very stubborn dog. Even before he became ill, I used to think this. Danny is a little Finnish Spitz cross breed, 15 years of age and currently weighs 5.4kg.