lawrencefamily

I had a shih tzu who we had a time getting to use the doggy door... I put it down to him just being stubborn and I read that their breed is stubborn which made me laugh. Most of the time he just stood there and barked till I came and lifted the flap for him, we have a bit of a step down too so I think he was scared. Anyhow new Shih Tzu pup was scared so I opened the flap for him a few times then he just got over it and runs through now. He has missed the flap a few times and splatted into the door so he is going through with a bit of caution now lol. I got the other dogs to go through with smackos as a reward and lots of praise.

Our new pup sleeps in bed with us and one other little dog. I swore I wouldnt not let this dog sleep with us as I get woken up so many times and end up sleeping in awkward positions to ensure the dogs are comfy lol. When pup came home he slept in his own bed in our room for a couple of weeks then I started to let him up with me when I had a nap... now the little bugger ram raids the bed till I pick him up lol.

I recently got my darling dog put down at home by our regular vet. I didnt want to use our vet as I was already upset with him for giving the wrong diagnosis but I had trouble finding another one to do it. I really didnt want to take my darling to the vet as he hated the place and he knew it meant pain and put the brakes on as soon as I got him out of the car. I thought at least at home it would be less stressful for both of us. When the vet came out he wanted to check him over and I said no leave him, I dont want the last thing to be in pain with the vet. So I patted him and cuddled him while the vet gave him his needle. We put him back in his bed and then I went to bed to cry for the rest of the day till hubby got home and buried him. I really didnt know how I would cope with losing my best friend, we spent every moment together, but I have a new darling pup who I love so much and he has filled my broken heart.

Oh god I am sorry to read this about your baby, I just recently lost my darling to brain cancer. It is so hard to make the decision to put your dog down and even tho everyone tells you it is the right thing to do and you know it is, it still hurts. My darling was misdiognosed so we didnt find out till the end that he had a brain tumor and it was to late then to try other options. We took our darling dog home and only had one more week with him and he was suffering so it was time to call the vet. When the time came I couldn't stand the thought of taking him to vet and bringing him out not alive so I called a vet to come to the home and he went to sleep in his bed so it didnt seem so traumatic and I didnt have to drive home, I just went to bed and cried. I think it is hard once you know they are not here for much longer, esp when you worry about when and how long. Your baby will let you know when they dont want to be sick anymore. We miss our darling still every day but we smile and remember nice things about him and now we have a new crazy pup to keep us occupied & we already love him too.

We took him to the vet yesterday for a checkup and she gave him a capstar tablet and said in a couple of days put advocate on him. His skin is red and sore, poor little darling but the fleas are gone now.

Thanks... we already love the little man and his personality seems the perfect fit for our household. He keeps me occupied, sometimes too occupied lol and I am less sad over losing my other darling dog with him around. We got our other dog when my son was just 2 so he doesnt remember the puppy stage and he is loving having a little furball around.

Thanks for the advice.... I would hate anything to happen to this little darling from using flea treatment. We gave him a bath yesterday and he was full of fleas and his skin is red and he has sores on it the poor little thing, it looked so much worse when he was wet. All other animals are treated and they have no fleas and there doesnt appear to be any on the floor surfaces. My husband will treat the floors this weekend (he is a pest controller) when we roll up the rugs that I am going to put away while puppy is being toilet trained(hubby also has to clean and treat rugs for urine.. thanks puppy haha). I have an apt with the vet for later today to give him a checkup and vac.

We just got a beautiful 10 week young Shih Tzu puppy and he has fleas. He is constantly scratching and they are driving him (and ME)crazy and he has a couple of sores on his back from them. I use frontline plus on our other dog and she has no fleas. I am concerned about using any flea treatment on a young pup, maybe there is something safe we could wash himin.

That is great you took in an older dog, I just lost my darling dog and was looking at doing the same but I couldn’t do it even tho my heart wanted to my head won. We have a 16 year old outside large dog and he has always been an outside dog and he suffers from arthritis. Snoop’s arthritis got so bad that he was having trouble getting up and was real wobbly in his feet when he walked and was crying with pain. We took him to the vet and he got a course of injections (cant remember then name of them) and after only the first shot he started to run. He loves to go for a walk but I have to remind my husband he cant keep up with the other dogs and he brings him back earlier

Thanks to everyone for your very kind words, I really appreciate them, sorry I didn’t reply earlier but it’s been a tough week just getting through it. Darling Benson went down hill fast on the Thursday and I could tell he had given up. It was very sad to see him like that. I felt terrible having to put him to sleep even tho I know it was the right thing to do it still didn’t feel right. I am used to our pets dying without having to do that and I hope I never have to go through that again. This week has just been terrible without Benson, I am used to being with him nearly 24/7. He sits under my desk during the day while I work and comes in the car when we go out and on weekends when we boat he would be right up on the bow with his life vest on lol. My teenage daughter said she missed that when we bought groceries home he would trip us up at the door and then once all the bags were on the floor he would climb on them and starting rolling and barking, we still don’t know if it was the groceries or us he was so happy to see lol. I had trouble finding a vet to come out and ended up calling his regular vet who came. The vet started to examine him and I said to leave him I don’t want that being the last thing to happen to him. The Vet apologised that they didn’t pick up on it earlier and explained how it presented the same as the MMM. I really didn’t care to listen at that stage as I still think his leg should have been x-rayed weeks before when he was limping badly One thing I have learned is that I will go with my gut in future and be more insistent when I do not agree with a Vet. Also I didn’t like going between two different vets during the treatment period.

The advice re to seek another opnion is IMO sound. However, do it asap and if the prognosis is poor, don't delay the inevitable. Our lab was, long story so won't go there, mis treated for what ended up being brain tumor and she went blind overnite. the thing is she was so obviously sick but not crying or anything but as the vet said, she may be living with an almighty chronic head ache and we don't know it. Be kind. Benson is already blind in one eye and partly blind in the other, has been for years but his eye looks bad and sore poor darling. He isnt crying just sleeping and miserable and he stopped eating yesterday and isnt wagging his tail. My husband is in denial and said I wasnt to get him put down in case he gets better, he isnt getting better. This morning my husband looked at him and said I think you should call the vet today and he kissed him goodbye.

Thanks for all the well wishes, we really appreciate them. Our little darling has stopped eating and not eating his pain pills and is giving that dreaded look. I am going to call a mobile vet today to come to the home and put him to sleep. I dont want to take him to the vet as he hates the place & I don't want to stress him out more.

Not always - cortisone is a type of chemo and is used in some cancer patients to slow progression. That's a bit harsh though isn't it? We're only hearing one side of the story here. I'm not saying it's the case in this situation, but it's not uncommon for owners to turn down big expensive work-ups in the first consult, and to just give drugs etc a chance and see if they get some improvement. It sounds like the vet made the initial diagnosis based on what she was presented with, and sounds very typical of MMM. Conditions like MMM can take a long long time to resolve too, so it might not be too concerning for the vet that there wasn't much improvement so soon. Unless we are in the consult room at the time, listening to everything that's been said, I think it's a bit unfair to insist the vet be hauled before the board, etc. I am not interested in reporting the vet, I only care about our little fella. Money is not an issue, he is like one of our children and we would pay anything to have them in good health.

The vet is a well respected professional and I have always been happy with him, I guess this just didnt turn out how anyone would hope. Also when you get bad news I think we go through the what ifs and wish we knew earlier so something might be able to be done. I have lost faith in the two vets I saw now tho and wouldnt return with any of our other animals.

I am upset because the vet did a diagnosis and treatment for MMM and continued treating for that even tho his health was not improving and did not look any further. On Fridays visit they still werent going to do any more tests and were sending me home with more pills until I said no.

Our 12 year old shih tzu dog Benson was having trouble eating and barking without yelping with pain. I noticed at the start of May that our little fella was letting out yelps when eating and he was leaving his food not eaten. He also just wasn’t himself he seemed to have pain when we lifted him so off to see the vet. The vet did extensive tests and came back saying everything looked good other than an enlarged prostate which they could look at later and that his jaw wouldn’t open fully even under general anaesthetic. So the diagnosis ended up being for MMM(Masticatory muscle myositis) and the treatment with cortisones started. As the weeks went on we kept taking him back to the vet and he was not getting better in fact he had lost 1.5kg even tho he was eating more than usual after we changed his diet and mushed up his food. Last week he started to limp badly so I took him back to the vet again and he said that dog must have fallen down the stairs or something I said we live in a lowset house so the vet then said he might have the start of arthritis. I was given diff meds to try which seemed to help some with his pain. As the week went on my poor dog was barely able to walk and started to sway lopsided… again I took him back to the vet. I asked could they do blood tests or something more for him, as he wasn’t getting any better. I told the vet I feel like I am going to lose him and I think he is very sick, I think there is more to it than what they diagnosed. I also asked the vet to look at his eye that was red and protruding from his face (very obvious) and she said she would give him some cream for it. The vet then took him away to collect some blood and came back and said she would like to do another x-ray of his skull. My dogs head was out of shape and had a lopsided bulge on the top and the vet said that was from the muscle being eaten away with the mmm(the bulge has been there since the start but more obvious now). Xray comes back and the vet says sorry my poor little darling has a brain tumor and another in his leg and has maybe 1 or 2 weeks to live. The vet showed me the original xray compared to the new one and said in hindsight now she could see the start of the tumor but thought it was MMM. The vet advises that we get him put to sleep straight away but I just couldn’t, I took him home for the weekend to think it over. I don’t want my darling dog to suffer any longer but what if they are wrong again. We have spent 10 weeks and approx $2000 and all the while they told me it was MMM and he would get better. Its just a shock and I am very disappointed with the vets treatment, I don’t know if I should take him elsewhere at this stage. I don’t want to do the wrong thing by my darling dog I love so much and he is by my side 24/7, our kids even refer to him as their brother lol.