Older dog not doing well...

[TheHotSensitiveType]

My older dane is not doing well as the title says.

Her hips have been bothering her, and we have started Adequan injections with some anti-inflammatories and pain pill. Honestly, she seems worse after the injections. She seems to be even more uncoordinated on the hind end that she was before the injections started… And we can’t get her to eat. She has also wet the dog beds a couple of times.

We were having problems getting her to eat before the injections but now we really can’t get her to eat anything (started attempting to feed her only chicken and rice again). She has always been a finicky eater (fairly certain she has mega-esophagus and a sensitive digestive track, all recommended steps have been taken to deal with that) but this is even worse than before.

She might bounce back from this, but it is not looking good. She is scheduled to get another adequan injection later this week, and we will be talking to vet. Sigh… pets getting old sucks.

Not sure what I am looking for, some commiseration I guess?

[LauraKY]

I’m so sorry. I’ve been down that road too. Did the not eating start after the pain meds? They really bothered my old girl and she started to refuse to eat, but I suspect she was just already on a deep decline. We changed her meds to Tramadol, which really helped, and were getting ready to start Adequan injections.

Her last day, she went to the barn with me and seemed to be perking up, had steak and salmon for dinner, went to bed and just didn’t wake up in the morning.

It’s so hard to watch them fail. Hugs.

[Horsegal984]

Uncoordinated often is due to a neurological issue, which will not be helped with adequan. With neuro signs and megaesophagus I would reccomend more diagnostics to seperated neuro from orthopedic, and think about testing for myasthenia gravas

[jetsmom]

Some NSAIDs and pain meds can cause stomach problems, so they won’t feel like eating.

[Whitfield_Farm_Hanov]

Have you taken her to an eastern medicine DVM? I’ve found that they tend to think “outside the box” & their care has really helped 2 of my dogs.

[HPFarmette]

You will need to look at her quality of life. If you have not been through the decision process before, you will discover that some people tell you “try everything” and others…don’t.

[HappyTalk]

Danes are prone to have wobblers. Has she been checked for this?

[RaeHughes]

OP - I really feel for you.

May I ask you to consider whether the injections have not done what you may have expected? There is some method in my silly question.

My flatmate older Lab/Greyhound has had one back hock replaced (titanium replacement) and it looks like the other one has now gone/is going.

I had my equine/canine physio out and asked her to see what she thought. Her comment (after her initial assessment) was that we would go so far (release the muscles in his back but not the two small rotations) and see what happened. She was concerned that the tight muscles in his back were because his back was essentially acting as his leg and that, by correcting the back, he would be unstable and in pain/worried.

It looks okay for a few days (with 1/2 dose pain killer) but then deteriorated. It is even worse now and my flatmate has almost ruled out another hock replacement and is considering the “BIG QUESTION” of “when to call time”. We have been both unfortunate in the assistance of the “let’s try this it may help” vets and now are very conscious of our own assessment of “Quality of Life”.

So, perhaps the Adequan injections were too much help/relief and now your Dane is in pain?

[SquishTheBunny]

Sorry to hear

Sure, there are lots of diagnostics that can be done. To be honest, sounds like more is going on than hips. However, danes just dont thrive past a certain age. Nothing wrong with working her up further for other issues, but theres also no shame in calling it a day if she is uncomfortabe. We recently saw a dane for hip issues who ended up having a liver mass, and some pretty good hips. Either route you choose you will not be doing wrong. We have the gift (and often the pressure) of making decisions for our pets. They dont know whats going on, they only know that they are in pain. THey dont know that they can be helped (if you choose workup), or if they will end their suffering today/tomorrow etc. I have personally been there recently, decisions arent easy. Your dog wont judge you, regardless of which you choose

[pony_baloney]

If you can, try acupuncture. It may help with the pain, and it will most probably help with perking him up a bit. When I took my old dog for treatment, she always seemed much brighter afterwards. Even if his days are numbered, he may feel like his old self for a wee bit longer.

[TheHotSensitiveType]

LauraKY - Thank you for sharing your story and your sympathies. One of the reasons we took her in week before last was extremely poor appetite and that has only gotten worse. I will ask the vet about Tamadol though… maybe that will help her out.

[QUOTE=HPFarmette;6508554]
You will need to look at her quality of life. If you have not been through the decision process before, you will discover that some people tell you “try everything” and others…don’t.[/QUOTE]

HPFarmette - This is exactly the discussion my SO and I have been having, the ‘try everything’ or just keep her as comfortable as possible. She has had assorted heath problems for most of the time we have had her and at this point we have agreed no more diagnostics. I feel like a big jerk not spending every last penny we have trying to extend her life, but taking her anywhere makes her extremely sore, amazingly stressed, and significantly affects what little appetite she has. I just want her time left to be as comfortable and stress free as possible.

RaeHughes - You bring up a really interesting point, and I think you may be on to something. I am strongly considering stopping the adequan injections as they have not helped at all have only made things worse for our old gir. Like I mentioned to HPFarmette, SO and I have had the quality of life discussions, and honestly she is close to reaching the point of there not being any. This all just makes me so sad.

jetsmom - I will ask the vet about that

SquishTheBunny - I really appreciate your sympathies and insight.

Thank you other posters for suggesting diagnostics, but SO and I have decided that it is t0o hard on her taking her places and getting her poked and prodded. Trips away from home make her so very stressed out and sore for days afterwords. We love her dearly and it is just not fair to her.

[Rbow]

[QUOTE=TheHotSensitiveType;6507816]
Sigh… pets getting old sucks.

Not sure what I am looking for, some commiseration I guess?[/QUOTE]

I have a rescue we thought might last another 6 months when we took him (old dog with problems/deceased owner) and here we are another 2.5 years later.

Adequan does help him a bit. Fortunately he has a pretty good appetite.

There have been a couple of times in the past where I’ve thought, “this is it, he’s on his last leg”, and then he makes a complete rebound. Sometimes, I think his heart overrides his body and he hurts himself, is bad for a couple of days, and then recovers. When he sees a squirrel he’s a young dog again.

I completely understand not going to any extreme measures at this point. A urinalysis/blood test might be interesting at this point and give you a few more clues as to what you’re dealing with, or not.

Regardless, I’m in the same boat. It is tough. We still have great fun each day and mine is not in any serious distress yet. I hope he just falls asleep one night and the decision is taken out of my hands, but we’ll do what we have to when the time comes. It does suck.

[frisky]

Metacam has had such a profound effect on my dog’s quality of life that I’m probably going to add it to every thread I can find.

A month ago, she was so depressed and grumpy about life that we called her a grumpy old bitch. Nothing made her happy and I could imagine putting her to sleep sooner rather than later. We had tried rimadyl, which made her happier for a few days, but then it ate her guts out. Deramax a little less so. I had gotten frustrated with the nsaids and wasn’t bothering for a few months, when I gave metacam a try.

My dog is happy now! She looks forward to walks and even has her old princess trot back in style.

Metacam might do the trick for your dog, but most importantly just try switching things around. Sometimes adequate works and sometimes it doesn’t. There may be another drug combination that would make your dog more comfortable.

I haven’t tried acupuncture on my dog, but it works for me.

Good luck and hang in there!

[wendy]

well, what kind of diagnostics are you talking about? a simple x-ray + a simple basic clinical neurological exam + basic bloodwork should tell you all you need to know about how to proceed clinically.
You don’t need an actual diagnosis to decide how to proceed do you? all you need to know is:
Is it “just arthritis” or is it something worse?

[TheHotSensitiveType]

[QUOTE=wendy;6510029]
well, what kind of diagnostics are you talking about? a simple x-ray + a simple basic clinical neurological exam + basic bloodwork should tell you all you need to know about how to proceed clinically.
You don’t need an actual diagnosis to decide how to proceed do you? all you need to know is:
Is it “just arthritis” or is it something worse?[/QUOTE]

Wendy your post comes off as rather rude. I did not include all of the details of all the diagnostics we have performed on her because well I didn’t. A simple trip to the vet which she has been to several times in the last two months results in her being incredibly sore with little to no appetite for many days afterwords including having trouble getting up. She is already underweight so losing more weight is a bad thing.

She has had a blood test in the last month, shows elevated liver values (yeah we did the other recommended tests in relation to that too) but she has had elevated liver values the whole time we have had her and the same for the people we adopted her from.

There is no such thing as a ‘Simple X-ray’ on a 100+lb dog. They have to force her down, twist and turn her, and hold her down to take x-rays (yes we have had x-rays done on her before). This stresses the living crap out of her and hurts her. And as far as putting her under for x-rays, last time she was put under she had a tough recovery, and I thought we were going to lose her. If we put her under again, there is a good chance we will lose her.

“Simple basic neurological exam”, well the vet told us that she probably has narrowing of her spinal column and although we could do lots of diagnostics to prove it, she has the symptoms so what is the point in doing that. He also said he would not recommend the surgeries as they are massively invasive and she probably would not recover from it.

You don’t need an actual diagnosis to decide how to proceed do you? You do not know what we have done as far as diagnostics because I did not include them, you just ASSumed. We have done many other tests I do not feel like writing about or justifying to you.

So please, get off your high horse. I am probably losing my dog and was looking for some sympathy, not attitude.

[Guin]

It’s awful when they get old. Shadow has had very positive results from acupuncture for his terrible hip arthritis. It’s not a miracle cure, and it’s not like he all of a sudden can jump on the couch again, but he can navigate stairs better and is definitely more comfortable after the treatments. He’s also on maximum doses of tramadol and rimadyl.

So sorry.

[LauraKY]

Back the heck off people. The OP is looking for people to share her pain, not accuse her of not doing everything she can. It sounds like the OP HAS done plenty already. Old dogs die. It happens to everyone and every animal eventually. We can extend their suffering or we can let them go peacefully. I prefer the peaceful route.

Better a week too soon than a moment too late. It’s not just a collection of words. It has meaning.

OP, feel free to PM me. I’ve gone though a few too many losses in the last two years…I can empathize.

[To_the_MAX]

Aww OP, I am SO sorry! I dread the day mine start slowing down…and unfortunately for us Dane owners that time comes sooner rather than later.

For me at least, when people ask why I would want to own Danes because of their short life span… I just repeat that saying… what is it? “I’d rather have 8 years with a Dane than 20 with any other dog.” :sadsmile:

[RaeHughes]

OP - If you havent already, please try Frisky’s “Metacam”.

I used this with my last dog for about 4 years + for his arthritis (yes, I know, an exceptionally long time for it to be effective - the manufacturers ended up giving me a substantial discount as they could use him as a “real life” study).

It may not make much difference (as we are also using it on my flatmate’s lab/GH) but it may be enough to give your Dane at least something resembling an appetite.

(For the appetite, have you tried porridge?? When my dogs are not feeling well, they can usually be tempted with porridge made with milk and liver broth.)

[Guin]

For her appetite, have you tried sardines? Mine LOVE sardines. I think the stinky oiliness appeals to them. Also, chicken livers (COOKED!)