GSDowner

Thank You everybody sooo much; I have some ideas now

Thanks for your answers :) My vet said that unfortunately nothing can be done in terms of treatment. and that boots would fall off. I will, however try to get them. There are visible wounds on his hind paws (I use antiseptic) and I am always trying to walk him on a grassy surface. My boy hates water so hydrotherapy is out. I give him Krill oil which must help a bit as he is still walking after the original diagnosis 15 months ago; and since walking helps his leg muscles perhaps some other exercises should help too.

Dear Everyone Happy New Year My German Shepherd is now 12 and 4 months. In September 2013 he was diagnosed with the above condition. I am happy to say that he is still mobile and enjoys his extra slow walks. His symptoms are: he drags his hind legs and lately collapsed twice during our walk. (but fortunately stood up after several minutes). My fear is that if it happens again I would not be able (of course) to carry home 40 kg. I saw on Youtube a device which is like a leash attached to the dog's bottom. It's a bit like half carrying him I just am not sure whether I would manage with his weight. I would be grateful for Your views.

I am so grateful for so many replies and good advice - Just want to add that my vet said to stay away from chicken necks (he said chicken is ok, but not chiecken necks? - don't understand this one and feed him small meals (so more frequently). I am away at work so frequent feeding is out of question but he does get two meals a day - breakfast and dinner instead of one big meal dogs usually have.

Dame Danny's Darling - I live in Melbourne, around Box Hill area. (Thanks so much everybody, a check-up sounds necessary)

My vet didn't do any tests just an oldie checkup - his kidneys, heart etc are fine He said that my boy is in an excellent condition for his age. The vet said that as dogs get older they develop all sorts of food intolerance problems. I tried mackerel in oil - big trouble then I read on the internet that oil can cause diarrhea in dogs so then I bought tuna in brine - the same problem I am beginning to think that perhaps animal protein does not agree with him (?) Persephone - thanks so much for your eggs suggestion - it seems he is ok with them So now he can have eggs added so happy (I was surprised as eggs have fat, yet he is ok with them) I will definitely experiment with special diets Di etc, but isn't funny how dogs can develop food intolerance - and not the same for every dog - showing that every pooch is different.

Well, according to my vet Krill is ok and Inner Health Plus Just visited my vet's website - he stocks DI food and Eukanaba

Thank you so much Dame-dannys-darling. scottsmum, aussielover, Persephone I also want to add that I tried cooked pumpkin, raw and cooked carrots resulting in a very bad reaction and he used to love so much to munch on raw carrots. My vet thinks it is irritable bowel syndrome. (and to think that not so ago he could eat anything) I tried eggs early in the morning and so far so good (usually he reacts badly almost straight away) Where can I get DI food?

My boy is over 11.5 year old He had always enjoyed chicken necks, offal, vegies, fruit, yoghurt, peanut butter etc 6 months ago he developed food intolerance - whatever he ate ended in diarrhea (yellow runny with mucous). His vet gave him some antibiotics which helped.. for 2 days. He advised some rice and chicken for a while. My dog suddenly developed chicken intolerance. I finally decided to try kangaroo - I bought kangaroo mince (as it has no fat, nothing added, pure meat). Again a big bad reaction after kangaroo meat. He also gets krill oil every day and Inner Health Plus for two days after each episode. After trial and error meals, my boy can only tolerate rice (cooked in chicken stock for taste) and non-fat cottage cheese. He reacted very badly to full cream cottage cheese. He looks skinny (I can feel his spine under the skin)- what he eats is obviously not enough. He is always hungry but otherwise full of beans. I am afraid though that perhaps I am starving him don't know what to do I would be so grateful for any ideas.

Thanks so much for helpful replies white-shepherd-mom/ my GSD has also the same condition (at the moment his hind legs are weaker) I am hoping the disease won't progress too quickly It started in September 2013, so far it's sort of ok

So is the problem that he doesn't have access to outside when you leave him at home for several hours and he can't hold it for that long? Yes, also he started getting diarrhea. The vet said it happens often to older dogs and nothing really can be done.

It's not a urinary incontinence I also leave hime at home for several hours

Well, he has seen the vet and everything is fine that's why I am considering an inside toilet

My 11.5 boy started having accidents. He is an in-house dog and I have no intention to relocate him outside. Has anyone purchased a portable dog toilet and if so is it a good solution. Many thanks

My good friend is not a native speaker of English; has two degrees and is quite intelligent. He rang a breeder (an old lady) to enquire about labrador puppies Her response was quite patronising: "...but you do realise they won't stay small forever... that they will be big?" She assumed that he must be stupid as he has an accent.

When my dog had diarrhea and stomach upset someone said many times: "it's time to put him down and buy a new dog"

I put heaps of ice in my boy's drinking water

Scottsmum thank you for posting your IGA link :) I was thinking that because my boy is an oldie and lately his stomach is playing up I may try kangaroo, as it is fat-free (but of course if he where younger it would be a different story). Some "helpful" people are already prompting me to put him down as, according to them, he is too much trouble healthwise for me. I am not giving up

My german shepherd at 9 yo got a nipple cancer. It bled and changed in shape. Both vets didn't believe it was cancer as he is a male (?) Well, finally a biopsy was performed and it turned out he did have cancer! It was cut out. I was told by the vet to watch him in case it spread to his lymph nodes (hence to watch changes in his breathing) Well, it was 2.5 years ago and he is still with us I hope this story will help someone.

Thank you all soo much for so many informative responses. I live in eastern suburbs, Melbourne. I will look in my local supermarkets and pet shops. I am also very grateful for the feedback I received from you regarding your dogs' preferences.

My GSD, a cancer survivor is slowing down at 11.5 On top of it it looks like he developed intolerance to chicken meat. I found this link: http://www.dogs.com.au/articles/395 which lists pros and cons of various sources of meat. Looks like kangaroo meat wins thumbs up. I wonder if any of your lovely people know where I can get kangaroo meat for my oldie? Many thanks and Happy New Year to Everybody

To me rotweillers and GSDs are a real deterrent. I would never approach one I didn't know; therefore in my mind these breeds would be best for your needs.

Thank you all for so many valuable tips I find it hard to determine whether a bone is hard. and Unfortunately (shame on me ) I didn’t thoroughly read Persephone’s response, especially this bit: “and cut into sections a few inches long .... bin them ..they are dangerous” So I gave my dog 2 smaller pieces (about 3 inches long). After several hours he started to cough, as if something was lodged in this throat. He coughed up a whole piece of a bone with some meat on it.

I was so happy to have found two bags of soup beef bones half price. I didn't stop and think whether they would be ok for an older dog. My GSD is 11.5 yo. I would be grateful for your opinions Many thanks and Happy New Year.

Thank all of you so sooo much I learned new ways of dealing with this issue and I realised I am not the only one in this situation.