Christmas wish for my dog

My dog, Piyomi, is 11 and has arthritis in her back and legs. Most days it doesn't slow her down too much but yesterday she started having trouble walking and she was panting pretty hard just lying around. We called the vet for a quick weekend emergency appointment, in part because when her (dog) father died, he was panting like that in his last few hours from heart trouble.

The good news is that her heart's fine and they're pretty sure it's not cancer. They think the arthritis in her back has caused a nerve to get pinched, and hope that after a couple of weeks' rest she'll recover. In the meantime she has a hard time coordinating her back legs so she kind of stumbles around, so we're supposed to be keeping her off her feet for best healing.

I found a youtube video showing how to make a helper sling for things like taking her outside for a bathroom trip. Given that she's about a 50 lb dog the DH's back was already hurting from having to pick her up or bend over and hold her hands under her belly. At least that should keep us from having 2 beings in the house in back-related bed rest.

So anyway, here's hoping this is just temporary and she'll bounce back. Her father lived until he was 16. Hoping there's plenty of years ahead, and that at the worst, she gets a little wheeled buggy for her back-end. Heh.

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Eagle Whisperer

Here's wishing the very best to your Piyomi, too, CW! *hugs* I can completely understand what you must be feeling!

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To be or not to be a gatchamaniac - that's the dilemma!

Yeah she has 2 medications, one for pain and one for the swelling. DH says it's the same pain meds he got for his kidney stones, so it's "the good stuff," and that probably explains why she's so sleepy. That's for the best since she needs to stay off of her feet as much as possible.

We'll have to ask about naturopathy. This is a very tree-hugging area so I'm sure we have people who do that around here. We were so, so relieved it wasn't her heart.

At the moment it just kinda sucks that our house has so many stairs. We've rearranged stuff as best we can so she can easily get to her food and water where she likes to hang out most. It's also good that she can actually go to the bathroom, with paralysis that's not always possible.

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Eagle Whisperer

Hope she heals soon.

If it is just her back legs, maybe a canine wheelchair, like LW suggested, might be a good long term investment. It won't help with stairs much, but it will help mobility if this happens again.

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Perspective Alters Reality

We managed coordinate enough with her to use the bathroom while using the sling, so that was good. It also helps us make sure that she can move her legs. We're supposed to watch that. Right now she can move them but can't entirely control them, and one of her back feet tends to curl over while she's walking, but it's something.

If this becomes a recurring or permanent issue, she's getting a doggie wheelchair for sure.

She's spending most of her time in the TV room. We've got sliding glass doors and the curtains open so she's getting sunlight. We'll probably try again with a heating pad. We laid one over her hips the other day and turned it on and she stayed pretty contentedly under it. Moved and lowered her food bowls, too, so she can get to them easily.

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Eagle Whisperer