raphsta

Appreciate your response puglvr, and sorry to hear about Errol! We'll see how he goes this week, then will need to start thinking about making a decision.. If it weren't for the falling over, I don't think we'd be upto the stage of having to make a decision though - which makes it quite tough...

Quick update.. Took him to a new vet, who I'm extremely impressed with. We started him on Metacam on Friday (first dose was via injection), and some anti-biotics.. Although she mentioned that if this doesn't help, it's time to start thinking about putting him to sleep.. While he can walk around, the gait of his back legs is all over the place. The vet believes there is some neuorolgical damage which is stopping him from controlling his back legs properly, which would also be a factor in him unable to get up when he falls (on top of arthritis and lack of strength). It really is unfair for him to get into a situation where he falls over and struggles endlessly trying to get up, till he exhausts himself, must be stressful.. Poor guy.. Am hopeful Metacam will help a bit. I think it may help his general comfort level, but I don't know if it will help his falling over situation...

Quick update.. It appears the dog was suffering a slipped disc - had an xray today.. (the lump near her shoulder was from the vaccination, so not related to the main issue).. Vet has used corizone (can't remember exactly what it was, i think they said cortizone) - and urged that the dog be allowed to rest, and minimise movement as much as possible.. Will see if it improves, otherwise may look at chiro or acupuncture - the vet basically said the next step is surgery, and didn't think much of the suggestion of chiro... I don't think it's too bad, as the dog is still in reasonably good spirits and is walking around OK (not 100%, but not that bad that we would think surgery will be the next step). Thanks again for your advice.

Thanks Rappie.. We steered away from the full blood test, as he would have to go under anaesthetic - although if there is a prean option, that may be a good idea. The dosage of Tramal is supposedly on the low range for his weight, but I can't really tell from his behaviour if there is any benefit of giving it to him. We'll def keep up the glucosamine chondrotin formula, and might add in "The Missing Link" - which appears to be a good Omega supplement, as well as having fibre, etc. I'll search around here on DOL for other products worth considering besides Missing Link. Appreciate all your input!

Just the pain relief.. The vet did mention another option, but I think it was just a different pain killer, instead of Tramal. Tramal was supposed to be easier on the kidneys than the other option, so was less risky with a dog this age (as the other one stresses the kidneys a bit). I might give the vet a call again, as NSAIDs sounds like a better fit for his issue. I guess lowering the inflammation would also lower the pain, so maybe Tramal isn't even required.. Do you think it'd be worth giving him supplements such as omega 3/6 ? or Glucosamine Chondroitin? We started give him GC a little a while ago, but my guess is that it won't have much of an effect at his age (and stage of arthritis).

Hi again all, Thought I'd start a topic re my 15 year old Pug, "Milo" .. He'll be 16 in a few days actually - on the 19th .. In general, he's had pretty good health. We had a couple of scares, caused by gum infections in the last couple of years - but nothing serious really.. So... he has been slowing down over the past couple of years, but no more so than the last couple of months. We've stopped taking him for his daily walks, as we think it's too much strain on his legs. He has arthritis, and while he can usually get up without too much drama, he is really lacking strength in his legs - usually when he gets out of bed, he walks around a bit like he's drunk.. I'm not too concerned about this, as he is nearly 16.. BUT.. There is one thing that is a big concern for me. Occasionally, he rolls onto his side, and simply can't get up! I usually have to pick him up, and he's fine after that.. But when he's on his side, he struggles a LOT trying to push himself up - a few times when I've got to him, he's been breathing very heavily, with his tongue out. He could have been struggling for 10 mins, 20 mins, 1 hour - no idea.. This only started happening every now and then (usually at night), maybe in the last 2 months.. Took him to the vet, and they recommended a low dose of a pain killer called Tramal. We've only given it to him a couple of times - I prefer to give it to him on days when I can see he can't get comfortable sitting, standing, etc.. Although not sure whether Tramal will help with his falling over issue - it may let him get his energy back from a good sleep, to give him enough strength to get out of those situations. We've swapped his bed for something a lot lower, so there's less chance of him tripping up when going in and out.. He weighs under 7kgs, which is expected for a Pug this age.. He eats well (still goes crazy at 5pm in anticipation for his dinner), drinks a good amount of water, etc.. Only other odd thing I've noticed is that his hair on his rear half seems to be falling out a lot more than usual.. Just wondering if anyone else has had experience with a dog that falls over, and can't get up.. It's having quite an effect on me too, as I now sleep with my door open, so I can wake up if I hear him struggling - but I seem to get up quite often, whenever I hear the slightest noise (I must be sleeping pretty light lately). Everyone tells me not to worry and just close my door - as he'll be OK.. But who knows, he might work himself up so much that he could have a heart attack - who knows??? Thanks again for listening!

Appreciate both your replies! It's been a while since I've been on DOL, but browsing through the forums, I can see that the quality of members and information is still second to none!! Interesting, I was unaware that yearly vaccinations were considered overkill. I will especially take that into account with my pug.. He'll be 16 next week!! - and definitely in a more fragile state than the 6 year old shitzu/poodle cross. We'll keep an eye on my friend's dog, and if her pain symptoms don't improve over the next few days, will look at the doggie chiro option (didn't even know there was such thing.. ) Again, thanks so much. I'll def do a bit more research now regarding vaccination (and over-vaccination). Cheers.

Hi All.. Hoping for a bit of advice from some of you, regarding a friend's dog. The dog is a shitzu/poodle cross (approx 6 years), and something has been strange for a bit over a week now.. Firstly, when she was picked up from grooming about a week back, she seemed a bit more quiet than usual. We also noticed that she yelped a few times, for no reason - she even let out a yelp when she jumped up and greeted me at the door - as if she was in some kind of pain.. We thought she may have been injured at grooming (although the groomers say nothing happened... hmmm..).. We did checked all her limbs, and she didn't seem to mind when we moved and bent her in all different ways.. A few days past, and she still wasn't her usual playful self - maybe around 75% of her usually energy level... Visited the vet, and all signs looked good (no pain points, temp and pulse fine), recommended to wait a few more days then get an xray if no improvement.. Problem was, we gave her the yearly vaccine at that vet visit, and she usually has a funny reaction (mouth swells up, etc.) - so the vet also get have her an anti-hystamine.. So now we're not sure if her lower energy is related to the vaccine, or whether there is still something not right from when she came back from the groomer... Should we expect the vaccine to slow the dog down a bit for the next couple of days? Particularly noting she does need the anti-hystamine to deal with the vaccine.... We also noticed a small amount of swelling around her right shoulder - Injection was around 3 days ago now - Guess this is where the needle went in, but not too sure. .Will keep an eye on it, and go back to vet if there is no improvement... Appreciate any input... If only dogs could speak!!