Question by ItzDaina: Hi. I’m very worried about my dog and I can’t sleep. ?
Hi I have a 13year old lab/dalmation female and I’m very worried about her. I am physically sick so can’t walk too much but 3 weeks ago I noticed she keeps peeing a lot. She drinks normal water. Right after she goes, ten min and again she needs to pee. She is eating ok and her weight seems same. I finally could walk a bit today and took her into the vet. He took X-rays and blood and urine that I’m still waiting for. X-rays showed arthritis in her back and hips and I’m praying the blood and urine tests will be ok. He gave her antibiotics in case she has an infection. What could this problem be? Does anyone know what are best natural herbs to keep a dog that’s getting old to get her energy back? She has been so sluggish and today she is worse. I don’t want to lose her just yet. I keep telling her to wait for me so I can get better and take her to the beach bc she likes that. If she gets really sick on me, I don’t know what to do if I’m not better yet. I have 3 dogs and they have been there for me these past few years I cant walk. I wake up everyday praying I’m better so I can take care of them better. Financially been hard bc I can’t work but I’m doing my best. And things keep happening to them one after another. So main question(sorry needed to vent) I don’t know what results r yet but how do I keep an old dog full of light? I feed the nutro natural chicken oatmeal for sensitive stomach. I physically can’t make them food and I don’t like raw diet. Do u think maybe she also isn’t getting enough nutrients? Should I give her vitamins? Her stomach can’t handle vitamins too much though.

Best answer:

Answer by vettech2013
Have you tried and NSAIDS (non-steriodal anti-inflammatory) like Rimadyl or Metacam. They help with my very arthritic kitty and there are also glucosamine supplements you can use to make it to were she she won’t get any worse. The bloodwork should show if she could handle a NSAID (make sure her kidney and liver function is normal) if she has sensitive stomach before a medication, ask your doctor about carafate, it coats the lining of the stomach to so the stomach can settle before giving a medication. The urine issue sounds like maybe an infection, I’m assuming they took x-rays to look for stones? SO that is great that we don’t have any of those.
Hope this helps at all

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Question by Corie: My dog can’t walk on hind legs?
My dog is a 9 year old Chihuahua Terrier Mix, I woke up this morning and she was unable to walk on her hind legs, she had her thigh leg broken when she was 3 months old, could it be arthritis that is affecting her?

Best answer:

Answer by Wonder Woman
TAKE HER TO A VET IMMEDIATELY!!?!?!?! WHY ARE YOU ON HERE?

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Question by Cathleen: Please help!: My dog can’t walk anymore and we can’t afford to take her to the emergency vet clinic?
My dog is an English Pointer who is 12 years-old. She is a healthy dog, but has had arthritis for the past year. Lately she has been having difficulty getting up and sitting down. She has also been getting tired a lot quicker when I walk her.

Every time she tries to stand up her hind legs give out and she falls. My parents can’t afford to taker her to the vet… what can I do for her?!
It’s not my fault! I am a teenager and don’t have any money. We’re about to lose our house as it is. It’s my parents who I need to convince…

Best answer:

Answer by ~ Cel ~
Find a way, the absolute only way to not let this dog suffer is medication. Only a vet can prescribe. Arthritis happens over time, it doesnt just pop up, surely your parents knew she would need medication.

I know its hard times out there, but when you have an animal you cannot simply let it suffer. Please take her to the vet in the am. Call the vet at least and explain, maybe someone in good nature will help you.

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Question by Stephanie: my dog is 12 and she cant get up the stair, any suggestions?
my yellow lab dog is 12 and she is my baby dog. She cant make it up the stairs anymore and has trouble walking for too long. She has hip problems and arthritis we are pretty sure, like most yellow labs develop. For the last few years we have just been having her stay on the ground floor, however now my we are moving to an upstairs apartment and I need a way to get up and down the stairs with a little more ease. My mom also needs to be able to do it while I am at college. I just tried using the Lift N Aid and bribing her with a a treat but she seems to afraid to try it. Any suggestions? Were moving in about 2 days so we need something quick hopefully! Thanks so much guys!
no worries we do take her to the vet very often! even if its a slight change we make sure everything is going well. She is an extremely happy dog as far as her mood goes. But I do agree, she does have some pain. And we have looked into the pee pads and were hoping that will work. It just might get difficult for taking her to the vet and bringing her someone if my mom has to go on a work trip. And we are giving her treats that should help with her joints, but the glucosamine seems much more promissing so maybe we can try that. But hopefully we can use a little bit of everything to make it a little easier on her. Thanks again!
And very true about the upstairs and downstairs apartment. We tried hard to get a downstairs one so it would be less of a hassle moving in and with the dog, but there were only uppers available for a very long time.

Best answer:

Answer by dontknow86
There is no miracles, She just going to have to use pee pads until she dies. She is in pain don’t try and make her do anything.

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Question by Mountaineer Rocker: My dog can’t walk up stairs, but he can walk around a flat surface fine.?
My Peekapoo is 14 years old.
He can walk around the house (flat surfaces) fine, but he can’t walk up stairs.
He also doesn’t let me or my family help him up and growls at us when we try…
Would this be arthritis?
If so, how would I help treat this, if possible?
I don’t think he’s growling because of slipping on the stairs and being hurt, because he’s been like this since he was about 4-5.

Best answer:

Answer by katara1997
Yes, it sounds like arthritis. Take the dog to your vet to get x-rays to confirm the diagnosis and to make sure it is nothing more serious than arthritis. If it si just arthritis, your vet can give you pain medication for you animal. DO NOT give any ibuprofen or acetaminophen (advil or tylenol). They are EXTREMELY toxic to animals. Don’t give any aspirin until you speak with our vet about whether it is safe for your dog (it can cause intestinal bleeding in some animals.)

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Question by Kestrel: My dog’s toenail is bleeding and I can’t get it to stop! (more complicated than it sounds)?
My dog is very old. He’s arthritic and probably won’t last through the winter–meaning I’ll probably have to put him down when it gets so cold that his arthritis hurts him. But that time is not yet.

So, due to arthritis and other problems he’s had in his life, he’s a bit unstable when he walks. I’ve long noticed that he wears his toenails down unevenly. He places much more weight on his inside two nails and almost none on his outside two nails. So his outside nails need to be trimmed while his inside two nails are extremely short.

So, yesterday I noticed blood on the floor. I realized that one of his inside nails was bleeding. I cleaned it and staunched it with styptic powder.

The problem is, the nail didn’t break off. It’s been worn to the ground by constant use. Every time he walks he wears it open again and it starts bleeding.

I can’t think of anything to do to help heel this nail. I can’t elevate his foot so he limps on his other three legs because he’s already rather unstable. Any ideas?
Oh yeah, something I forgot to say. This dog is an expert at removing bandages. He’s had various ills throughout his life and has quite a knack for removing this stuff. He had surgery on his foot years ago. Managed to pull off (and bury) his queen’s collar and remove his bandage.

Best answer:

Answer by aussie mom
wrap it with a bandage.

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Question by Blondie: Can’t imagine life without my dog?
My dog Sammy is 14 years old and for the past year or so she’s not being doing so great. She has slight arthritis in her back paws, her legs are very thin and yesterday we had to take her to the emergency/after hours vet practice as she couldn’t get up and when she did she was unsteady and could only toddle about before lying down again.

The vet told us last night she had a urine infection that’s why she had a high temperature and could explain why she had trouble getting up and stuff. They checked her legs and confirmed she was showing signs of arthritis and possible degenerative muscle disease.
This morning we (me, my aunt and cousin) took Sammy to our local vet (as my mum and dad are away for the week and my sister went to work but we didn’t know things would be this bad and won’t be back until later tonight).
The vet basically backed up what the other nurse said last night and said that she has arthritis in her back paws. Her gums are all pale now and it just seems that she’s just gotten worse overnight.

I know she’s old and the vet said they could do tests and give her meds but they mentioned putting her to sleep and I don’t want her to be in anymore pain but I’ve had her since I was 6 years old, I’m almost 21 its tearing me apart.

Our other dog, died on Feb 2008 and I was devastated and miss him but I don’t know if its cause me and my sister and the ones dealing with it up front as opposed to my parents that I’m getting hit with the shock and realisation that she might not be here much longer.

The vet booked me in for an appointment tomorrow, she looked at me and said I should go home and spend time with her and as a family we should come to a decision. She and my aunt agreed that it was too much for me to make on my own.

I just can’t stop crying and am trying to stay strong but my sister was in tears phoning me from work and its killing me cause I can’t do anything. I knew this was going to happen, I’m not naive but I just didn’t think it would happen now. She’s still eating, going to the toilet.

I just wanted to hear from people, people who are going through or have been through this. Its not the first time this has happened to me but it sure as hell is the hardest.

It just feels so sudden. I feel so lost.

Best answer:

Answer by ♥L.LElliott♥
aw, hi..im here for you sweetheart. i know exactly how you feel. ive had my cat since i was 5, now im almost 15 and she died last year, i still cry often but i keep reminding myself that she lived a long happy life, and it was her time so i did the right thing. it sounds like sammy is a very happy healthy dog to have been loved so much and to live that long, just feel proud about what you did for her. that is true that meds and care at this time and age will only be too sudden and may not help, putting her to sleep would be the best thing and the best thing to do for her, since you love her so much. it will be hard, but just know that you gave her a long happy life and she will always be with you in your heart.

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Question by ohbby: My parents are getting rid of my dog, Sadie, and I can’t deal with this pain anymore; I’m deteriorating?
I am miserable… just last month they got rid of Zoe, my other dog. Two years before that they got rid of Bernard, and before that Freedom and Cosmo. They get me dogs… I bond with them and then they get rid of them for no reason, just to have less. Then they buy more and it’s the same shit over again. I have some mental issues so a dog is really the only thing that keeps me from considering suicide and going into episodes or a deep depression that leaves me lying in bed for days. Sadie is something special to me, she follows me around the house. When I go into the bathroom she paws to come in or waits outside the door, she sleeps right next to me every night, in the morning she wakes me up by pawing at me and licking my face.

I walk her and play with her, I love her so much. She’s literally my best friend and I don’t want to be… “here,” alive, if she leaves my side. I’ll have no one to hold or make me feel better if I get depressed, then I’ll just spiral downward. I fear for her being miserable with her new family (my grandma). I think about how my Grandma feeds her dogs human food and how they get obese, and then I think about Sadie’s arthritis and how it’s be ten times as worse if she were to grow obese like that. I just don’t know what to do… I can’t talk to anyone in my family. My father has cancer so he never really talks, and if he does it’s to his daughter. I am adopted, and I just feel.. awkward when I try to express myself to people especially when my parents told me I should have never been picked.

My mom is just… a drama-starting whore. I have no idea how to get in touch with a therapist, and even if I managed to I’d have no way of getting there, I have so much shit bottled up it makes my head pound. Sadie is leaving this week or next week, what will make me feel better, or what can I do? I’m sure I came across as attention seeking or “emo,” to a lot here, but I really have no one to talk to.
@Tapping
“Troll” is such an unfitting word for a grown-ass woman, or who I assume to be. Tell me, how would I be trolling? What in my question is a trolling statement? Do you even know what a troll is? Someone who stirs and ruffles feathers on the internet and those who flame others for their own amusement. Why would I waste my points on this just to “troll,” especially when nothing in my post is trolling? You’re the troll, now hop off.

Now enlighten me.
@Raymond
Thanks… I wish I could visit her, if my grandmother was close I wouldn’t be as depressed. I live in NC, my grandmother FL. That’s a long, long ways away. About 400 miles I think? I tried using the, “If she goes I go,” but my dad just said, “good,” so it really didn’t help any. The only way I feel I will ever, EVER get through to my parents is by physically harming myself.

Best answer:

Answer by Raymond J
hi,you are not in a very nice enviroment,family members putting you down,put the hard word on them and get the message accross,no this is my dog,i feed,bath,walk etc,if she goes i do,if that doesnt work then you can still see her and visit your grandma alot to spend time with her and away from the verbal abuse,you are a human and are here for a reason not to be bullied,merry xmas and hope it works out for you,

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Question by 98Mustang: Dog cant stand and hardly move, What should we do?
We have an 15 year old golden retriever. Her back legs have bad arthritis and she can hardly get up, We have hard wood flooring all over so its so hard for her to get outside to the bathroom. She hardly eats anymore, She will nibble on food once a day. And she will just sleep the rest of the day. She is over-weight too. Its really sad to watch. So what should we do?

Best answer:

Answer by sianrees1979
take her to the vets and see what they say.

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Question by Azure: Husband can’t put our dog down?
Our lab is now in his mid teens. He’s 14. He’s had a very full life… he was a working dog (duck hunting), just as he was designed to do. We have other dogs as well. A few years ago, our lab’s arthritis started in the front legs. He was put on the pain meds/vitamins. Then his back legs/hips went last year, in a big way. He can barely walk. He stays on his bed *all day*, goes out twice a day. He’s become incontenent. He has cancer under his shoulder. This all absolutely kills me. I’m with him all day. He’s hurting so bad.
This dog is my husband’s first baby. I tell him how bad our pooch is, he hangs his head and says, “I know”. But he doesn’t have the heart to put him down.
I’m out of ideas. This dog is suffering. How do I convince dh that it’s time? That we can’t wait for him to die “naturally”. (If he was in the wild, he’d be dead by now). Should I just let it go? Our boy was my husband’s before we got marrried. What should I do? It’s breaking both our hearts.
We have a no-kill vet. We’d have to take the dog to another vet to have him put down.

Best answer:

Answer by Raidermom
Your husband needs to handle this situation. He needs to understand that it is an act of love to put this baby out of his misery. Can your vet talk to him?

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