Dogs

[go birds]

sounds like a hip issue to me

[slide_into_first]

Gobirds makes a very good point. Does the dog seem to be in pain around the hips or low back? Did the neurologist say if the sensation in the limbs was OK? If he has lost the ability to feel, that would be more with spinal cord problems. If sensation is normal he could have a hip problem. I hate jerk doctors who don't tell you much except some test ruled this or that out. They are just technicians.

[Freed Roger]

Gobirds makes a very good point. Does the dog seem to be in pain around the hips or low back? Did the neurologist say if the sensation in the limbs was OK? If he has lost the ability to feel, that would be more with spinal cord problems. If sensation is normal he could have a hip problem. I hate jerk doctors who don't tell you much except some test ruled this or that out. They are just technicians.

Yeah, our local vet checked all that out long ago, which is how we ended up at a neurological vet specialist (the one I'm pissed at). dog doesn't seemed bothered or protective of the back end. years ago, we had a dog that would flinch a bit when you patted it's back towards the hip. that doesn't seem to be the case with this dog. Though now I think the wear and tear of abnormal movement is starting to cause some pain side effects along the back.

What my local vet showed me to indicate this issue was she took the dog's back paw and flipped it back. Mr Fuzzypants sort of let it's paw sit there in awkward position and wouldn't replace it back to normal position. The dog didn't seem in pain by this, just annoyed by being off-kilter.

[go birds]

Maybe the little guy is just special

[Freed Roger]

Maybe the little guy is just special

It's become a pain in my arse. last night decided to wake up at 3AM barking to be helped out. and since he's waking up the whole house, plus has started taking a few piss breaks inside, I am unable to sleep thru it. we've been having to travel out of town with him for 4 months now.... Some days he seems to be sleeping so damn soundly, and I'm semi-hopeful he drifted off to chase bunniess in the sky, and then he pops his head up and eagerly follows me or the kid around the house.

I've never been in this quandary before, and I've been responsible party for a dog or two pretty much my entire life. I've had dogs put down, the situations were hard but always painfully obvious -the light had gone out on the dog. I can't say that is the case with this poor little fella.

[cardinalkarp]

not sure if this should be a separate topic, but do any of you have pet insurance and if you do, do you think it's worth it?

I ask because someone wants to give me a puppy (labradoodle), completely free of charge, however it still needs one shot and will need to be neutered.

I've been wanting to get a dog for quite some time now and this seems like a great opportunity, but im in the process of mulling it over, mostly the financial aspect of it.

Yeah, we do for both of our dogs. We use VPI (veterinary pet insurance through Nationwide I believe). I only chose that one because I actually get a discount through my work. Ours isn't nearly as expensive as swirls (I think that was the poster that said he had it), I think it's right about $60 a month for both dogs. It actually covers your pets routine checkups & shots as well.

After our Shih Tzu passed away we decided it wasn't a bad idea just in case (since his medical bills got pretty pricey). We figure that if it's needed for either one of our French Bulldogs, and god forbid it's ends up being a very expensive procedure it will prevent us to making that very hard decision of is our pets life worth the expense (if we didn't have insurance).

[jim]

Freed how old is the dog? He eats well? That sucks they can't find anything, the hip issues would have been the first thing they checked for in that breed and that would have been pretty easy to check so I doubt it's that.

I have heard that lab's have very high pain thresholds, which I believe. Our neighbor had a lab and an electric fence and one day the neighbor was petting it and noticed the dog acting weird - he was right on the line and getting the bejesus shocked out of him but putting up with it for the attention.

[Freed Roger]

Freed how old is the dog? He eats well? That sucks they can't find anything, the hip issues would have been the first thing they checked for in that breed and that would have been pretty easy to check so I doubt it's that.

I have heard that lab's have very high pain thresholds, which I believe. Our neighbor had a lab and an electric fence and one day the neighbor was petting it and noticed the dog acting weird - he was right on the line and getting the bejesus shocked out of him but putting up with it for the attention.

This is our little dog with the issue. He's probably 8-9. and we've had him for 5 years. it's a Lhasa Apso which tends to have long life span. He eats well. seems to enjoy life and hanging with us.

I wonder if this guy's health issues stem from inbreeding. He also has quite a few wart-like bumps under his fur (we've had them checked.) I've also mentioned, I really like this little dog - but worth noting, his breed has hardly any capabilities to survive in a natural world. I don't see any special skill set this breed has that would have been useful to it's own survival other than being protective and hilarious - no matter what Wikipedia says about them.

The way humans have devolved dogs by breeding is kind of sad - for example, Lhasa apsos fur would completely envelop them if they aren't groomed. I know I shared this before - a few minutes in wet snow and the dog was completely stuck by accumulation. That personality the has though, it could have cared less that it was doomed, and as soon as I freed him up he was back to peeing on everything.


The lab- the Big Galoot is nearly 12 and seems to be a model of health, ever since he's recovered from that time I nearly got him killed by a tick-borne disease in the woods.

[GeddyWrox]

The last several pages of this thread are making me sad. I am sorry Freed. I know the quandary you're facing.

I've already put down one dog a couple years ago (a 13 year old pit/boxer mix who was the sweetest dog ever)... but our other dog is now 15. She sleeps almost all the time and moves around very awkwardly. It sometimes takes her 2 or 3 minutes of circling before she gets up the courage to sit. She still gets excited at dinner time, and jumps around like an old fool though... and god forbid we leave the gate open in the back yard, she's off like a bat out of hell. She never yelps, and doesn't act like her pain is excruciating, but I can tell it's there. The comment a few posts above about Labs having a really high pain tolerance makes me wonder if that's the case with her (Shepard/Lab uber-mutt). I've also recently caught myself watching her sleep and secretly wishing she'd peacefully go off to the Rainbow Bridge.

[slide_into_first]

The special skill set of Dachshunds is they warn you if strangers come to the door and they guard against you getting food poisoning from leftovers.