Sheridan Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Grumpy, being still very fit, tends to fling him about with no care to his age. He trips a bit when he walks, too, and sometimes his legs go out from under him. He's begun slipping over as he runs into the house so this morning I bought a couple of non-slip mats for just inside the patio door. What do people do to stop their oldies from falling over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rysup Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I just give mine plenty of room. They dont come in on the tiles very often, so its the other dogs that knock mine over. About 6 months ago I watched one of my boys go diving onto his mothers back, it was like slow motion, and to see the pain on her face, and then her 4 legs just sort of pop out the sides of her, and she was flat on her chest. Poor old girl Since then I am very tough on anyone who thinks its ok to stand on anyone elses back. Son is oh 8 or 9 and mum is almost 14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 I came into the house one afternoon and Grumpy was in front of Mini, so she put her front paws up on Grumpy's back to say hello. Amazingly, he didn't smack her down, though he did one time when he was lying on the bed and she took a flying leap and landed on his head. She's as fast as lightning when she needs to be, that girl. Just as quickly as she jumped up, she flung herself off the bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinsella Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Grumpy, being still very fit, tends to fling him about with no care to his age. He trips a bit when he walks, too, and sometimes his legs go out from under him. He's begun slipping over as he runs into the house so this morning I bought a couple of non-slip mats for just inside the patio door. What do people do to stop their oldies from falling over? Just what you have done. Old Irish wolfhounds tend to get up a bit of a wobble in the rear and mats and rugs make their life a little safer and more comfortable. They need the traction that carpet gives so as tempted as I am to tile the whole house, while ever I have IWs there will always be carpet with persian rugs for padding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weibritty Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Since my 14 year old Brittany suffered a bad Vestibular episode last year she is very unsteady on her feet, plus she has arthritis. Subsequently walking on my tiled areas was becoming quite dangerous for her, if her feet went from under her. So I bought some large rubber-backed carpet tiles from Bunnings. They have made an enormous difference and are easy to clean and Sharnie is more confident walking around now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Grumpy's not as slippy over the last day now the hair underneath his pads has been trimmed back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouiseBrooks Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Grumpy's not as slippy over the last day now the hair underneath his pads has been trimmed back. I never thought of that, will try that with Miss Lillie the Pink tonight I have put carpet mats around here and there, even with her advanced age she still acts like a Mexican Jumping bean, you would think now being partially blind she would stop trying to jum on the couch, I have stairs leading to the couch, lounges and bed - but no this old dear insists on jumping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 (edited) Put a ramp up to the doggie door, not a big step but enough to trip over, non slip mats down and towels etc when it's raining. Edited March 21, 2011 by dogmad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 Much to my dismay yesterday, I had to cut short a walk with Grumpy. I noticed as we were walking along a gravel road one of his back feet was sliding out from under him. He was fine when we got home, though. He's also not lifting his leg when he's doing a wee. He gives it a try but I think his balance is off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 We now have ramps at the back door, in and out, thanks to my clever brother-in-law who measured it all up and built them. I still need to get non-slip surfaces put on the top so I'll be toodling to Clark Rubber through the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hortfurball Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Tip 1: I built a wide, low extra step at the back door so that Kuges didn't have to take the big step (for anyone who doesn't have a handy B-I-L to build them ramps) Tip 2: I found that Kuga's back legs slipped backwards when he ate, particularly as his head was down to eat, so I moved his dinner bowl from the tiled laundry and set it up on the raised hearth so that he was standing on a rug and didn't have to lower his head so much to his bowl, which seemed to help his balance. As he worsened, I held the bowl on my knees at his nose level tilted slightly towards him so that he didn't have to put his head down at all. In the final weeks, I encouraged him to stay in a drop position and placed the bowl between his front feet and held it still for him so that it didn't slide away. Tip 3: In all honesty he had very few walks in his last 6 months as he wasn't really up to more than 100m. By the time we got to the park in the car he'd pretty much had his excitement and was ready to go home. Don't feel you have to walk your old dog if they don't seem that keen. Sometimes they'd just rather rest and it doesn't make you a bad owner if you don't walk them regularly at that stage. Tip 4: (for VERY unsteady dogs) When Kuges had a bout of geriatric vestibular syndrome, which meant his balance was way off, I would always walk beside him on the patio, leaning over enough to have one hand by his far side until he got to the grass, where it was softer if he fell. That way, while we were on the paving, if he swayed one way my leg would steady him, and if he swayed the other, my hand would steady him. Kuges stopped lifting his leg too Sheridan. He adapted to something that resembled a slightly stiffer legged version of the puppy squat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 Yes, Grumpy has that kind of puppy squat, too. He's had a course of cartrophen injections and honestly, it's hard to tell if they've done him any good. The vet suggested Rimadyl but I'm rather put off by the potential side effect of death! Sent an email to the vet suggested we try vivitonin again, as the vet suggested this, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Mats worked well for us and keeping everything tidy so they don't have to navigate around stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hortfurball Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Sheridan, it is my understanding that Rimadyl is only an issue for side effects if given continuously (ie. daily) for a period of time. I spoke at length with my vet about this as they gave me Rimadyl for Kuga's bad days. He was also on Cartrophen injections and Joint Guard. So long as the Rimadyl is no more often than every second day, it is supposed to be ok. Kuga had a Rimadyl tablet on his bad days for eight years. Admittedly he went all summer without them, and most of autumn and spring. I learned to judge when he would have a bad time of it (usually a change of weather would mean a bad day.) I would never give him Rimadyl for more than three consecutive days, and never more than four pills in a single week, and he lived to be 16 and showed no bad effects from taking them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Shepherd mom Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Yes, Grumpy has that kind of puppy squat, too. He's had a course of cartrophen injections and honestly, it's hard to tell if they've done him any good. The vet suggested Rimadyl but I'm rather put off by the potential side effect of death! Sent an email to the vet suggested we try vivitonin again, as the vet suggested this, too. Do you think Grumpy might benefit from some sessions on an underwater treadmill? They are supposedly very good for dogs with joint problems, arthritis, etc. My doggy physio also uses light laser therapy on Casper (I'm pretty sure that's what she said it was. I have the info at home somewhere!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 Yes, Grumpy has that kind of puppy squat, too. He's had a course of cartrophen injections and honestly, it's hard to tell if they've done him any good. The vet suggested Rimadyl but I'm rather put off by the potential side effect of death! Sent an email to the vet suggested we try vivitonin again, as the vet suggested this, too. Do you think Grumpy might benefit from some sessions on an underwater treadmill? They are supposedly very good for dogs with joint problems, arthritis, etc. My doggy physio also uses light laser therapy on Casper (I'm pretty sure that's what she said it was. I have the info at home somewhere!) He may but I don't know anywhere in the ACT that has anything like one. The vet suggested Vivitonin given my hesitation over Rimadyl. After a week, we had three episodes of vomiting. Grumpy does have a sensitive tummy. I took him off it immediately and am now re-introducing the Vivitonin to see if the same thing happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdogs Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 You can buy rubber booties for better traction. Might help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fourjays Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Anyone on here got any experience with vestibular syndrome in a geriatric large dog ( 14 1/2)? Waiting to get my old boy to the vets this morning but he got me up at 4.30am as he was crashing into the furniture. Not sure if it is vestibular related or something else, hopefully vet will have some answers. Not handling going up and down our stairs well at all (nearly fell down them in his desperation to get out to the toilet at 4.30), so I am supporting him for this now. He falls over when he changes direction, he falls over when he shakes his head too. Back legs and front legs aren't supporting him very well at all, mostly okay when he walks straight, but anything else and he goes splat There is no eye movements though which makes me think it's not vestibular Not had anything like this in him before and he was fine yesterday, running around paddocks and everything! Worry, worry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianed Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Anyone on here got any experience with vestibular syndrome in a geriatric large dog ( 14 1/2)? Waiting to get my old boy to the vets this morning but he got me up at 4.30am as he was crashing into the furniture. Not sure if it is vestibular related or something else, hopefully vet will have some answers. Not handling going up and down our stairs well at all (nearly fell down them in his desperation to get out to the toilet at 4.30), so I am supporting him for this now. He falls over when he changes direction, he falls over when he shakes his head too. Back legs and front legs aren't supporting him very well at all, mostly okay when he walks straight, but anything else and he goes splat There is no eye movements though which makes me think it's not vestibular Not had anything like this in him before and he was fine yesterday, running around paddocks and everything! Worry, worry He hasnt got tick has he? I see you are in Canberra, know of two people who,s dogs had them and they hd not been to the coast!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fourjays Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Hi, vet asked me the same thing...haven't been near the coast and he hasn't been near anyone who has either. Weather here has been pretty cool for ticks the past few days too but I guess you cant rule anything out as far as ticks go. He has slightly improved now, and been to the vet and thoroughly checked over etc but can't find any cause for his symptoms. No eye movements whatsoever, so vet isn't sure if it is vestibular syndrome. No answers basically, just playing the wait and see game now, the main thing he has is dramatically reduced reflexes in both hind legs, lack of pinch response in his lower back and a pronounced twitch when standing in particular - but that's been present for a while, possibly is more pronounced at present. Neurologically he seems fine. But he just keeps falling over for no reason at all and is very wobbly He hasnt got tick has he? I see you are in Canberra, know of two people who,s dogs had them and they hd not been to the coast!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now