bear hasnt been doing too well

[Shanna66]

the shepherd mix that my dad got from my grandmother a few years ago. she has had a tought year, no more long walks, not many walks at all anymore, and now she hardly eats. it got to the point where the vet who i adore and who studies nutrition told my dad to just give her people food so she would start eating again because she full on stopped eating for a little while. according to my dad her bloodwork isnt looking too good but he didnt tell me what is wrong with her.

i think she is only about 9. she was the first big dog my sister and i ever got to live with and she is so nice. i really hope she gets better. plus she has been so good with stowrm besides the one fight. stowrm is good around other dogs because of bear giving her a few nips to tell her to calm the crap down  

[Eileen50]

So sorry to hear about Bear. She is nearing life expectancy, but I hope she gets better soon. neutral  

[Shanna66]

Eileen50

So sorry to hear about Bear. She is nearing life expectancy, but I hope she gets better soon. neutral

know, doesnt help that she came from a backyard breeder either sad

she had to spend the night last night at the vets because she wasnt feeling well. my grandmother called me late last night and was pissed that my dad left her there all night and wants me to go and break her out as soon as they open today. i wont be able to because my small car is hard for her to get in and out of and if she isnt feeling well then that really isnt a good idea. plus if she needs to be at the vets then she is better off there instead of home alone right now.  

[Eileen50]

Shanna66

know, doesnt help that she came from a backyard breeder either sad

she had to spend the night last night at the vets because she wasnt feeling well. my grandmother called me late last night and was pissed that my dad left her there all night and wants me to go and break her out as soon as they open today. i wont be able to because my small car is hard for her to get in and out of and if she isnt feeling well then that really isnt a good idea. plus if she needs to be at the vets then she is better off there instead of home alone right now.

Yeah, having someone around her all the time probably is much better than leaving her alone at home. Keep us updated as to how she's doing.  

[Shanna66]

Eileen50

Shanna66

know, doesnt help that she came from a backyard breeder either sad

she had to spend the night last night at the vets because she wasnt feeling well. my grandmother called me late last night and was pissed that my dad left her there all night and wants me to go and break her out as soon as they open today. i wont be able to because my small car is hard for her to get in and out of and if she isnt feeling well then that really isnt a good idea. plus if she needs to be at the vets then she is better off there instead of home alone right now.

Yeah, having someone around her all the time probably is much better than leaving her alone at home. Keep us updated as to how she's doing.

well my dad got her back last night, her organs are working well. sadly she has some bad arthritis in her hips and in her spine so they have her on some pain killers and a couple other things right now. i think at this point even her short 5 minute walks will have to end. poor thing was already so bored that she was chewing on herself when my dad had to stop the long walks.

now my dad is feeding her peanut butter andwiches to make her day a bit better  

[Cowgirl-with-heart]

aww poor old gal, can they get her on joint supplements? he should get her a kong, or a few, and freeze peanut butter in them, they would be good for her amusement!  

[Shanna66]

Cowgirl-with-heart

aww poor old gal, can they get her on joint supplements? he should get her a kong, or a few, and freeze peanut butter in them, they would be good for her amusement!

she is on some joint medications right now

and she has tons of toys, but i will tell him to up the peanut butter filled toys  

[Cowgirl-with-heart]

Shanna66

Cowgirl-with-heart

aww poor old gal, can they get her on joint supplements? he should get her a kong, or a few, and freeze peanut butter in them, they would be good for her amusement!

she is on some joint medications right now

and she has tons of toys, but i will tell him to up the peanut butter filled toys

yea, or maybe stop by a butcher shop, and pick up a bag of dog beef bones, you can also get them at grocery stores sometimes, they sell them to make your own stock, that would be yummy, and keep her occupied, and be good for her to get more protein!  

[Shanna66]

Cowgirl-with-heart

Shanna66

Cowgirl-with-heart

aww poor old gal, can they get her on joint supplements? he should get her a kong, or a few, and freeze peanut butter in them, they would be good for her amusement!

she is on some joint medications right now

and she has tons of toys, but i will tell him to up the peanut butter filled toys

yea, or maybe stop by a butcher shop, and pick up a bag of dog beef bones, you can also get them at grocery stores sometimes, they sell them to make your own stock, that would be yummy, and keep her occupied, and be good for her to get more protein!

my dad and sister arent bone people sad  

[Eileen50]

Several years ago when we had a dog, she got sick once and wasn't eating. The vet told us to feed her small amounts of cooked rice mixed with browned ground beef, approx. 1/2 cup at a time. She was a middle aged cocker spaniel/poodle mix, weighing in at approx. 24 pounds or so at the time. At first, she started off eating quite slowly, and picked at it for awhile, making a mess of the kitchen floor in the process, not to mention having sticky rice in her beard. She eventually got her appetite back within a few days and was feeling much better by then.  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

If she has arthritis it's important NOT to stop the walks. It's possible the drop in activity has made it worse. Activity is very very important for circulation. If she stops walking Bear all together she will just feel even more stiff. What pain meds is she on? Also if blood work is okay, organ function normal. It's possible that the pain of the arthritis is why she stopped eating.

I would encourage her to eat, especially anything high in omegas. You might even want to give probiotics for a lil bit. When dogs stop eating, they stop feeding their good bacteria so there might be some proliferation of bad bacteria.

I would be sure to give her at least the exercise she was getting, give the Deramaxx or Rymadil right after (hoping she's on one of those and not just aspirin) Supplement with omegas as much as possible. The company I love is called Ascenta. They make fish oil for dogs with over 1g of O3 in every teaspoon. Another GREAT supplement is Sasha's Blend. I've had really great results with this on Cowboy and so have many people I know. IDEALLY it would be nice if you could try her on Adequan and wean her off pain killers. Adequan is a semi synthetic (natural product with a synthetic preservative.) It's expensive the first MONTH. Because you basically need to buy a whole vial to do what's called a "loading" dose where you give it every 4 days I think. Cowboy is 40lbs and his loading dose cost about 200. However, once you've completed the loading dose you will know if it works or not and then you only need to give it every few weeks. I do Cowboy once a month. Another option is cartrophen. My clinic doesn't even bother recommending this anymore we have had much better results with Adequan BUT cartrophen is a bit cheaper. Of course the other important aspect of arthritis management is keeping her a healthy weight. She needs to eat regularly but she should either have restricted meals or a light food. I seem to recall her being a little overweight.

Anyway, if you keep her weight good, get her eating, treat her with one of the chondroprotectants or a pain killer and use one or more of the supplements mentioned and get her doing some slow controlled activity I think you'll see her perk up and be back to herself. Keep in mind that "multimodal" treatments work 10x better than just choosing one treatment. I.E just giving pain killers is not enough.  

[Shanna66]

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

If she has arthritis it's important NOT to stop the walks. It's possible the drop in activity has made it worse. Activity is very very important for circulation. If she stops walking Bear all together she will just feel even more stiff. What pain meds is she on? Also if blood work is okay, organ function normal. It's possible that the pain of the arthritis is why she stopped eating.

I would encourage her to eat, especially anything high in omegas. You might even want to give probiotics for a lil bit. When dogs stop eating, they stop feeding their good bacteria so there might be some proliferation of bad bacteria.

I would be sure to give her at least the exercise she was getting, give the Deramaxx or Rymadil right after (hoping she's on one of those and not just aspirin) Supplement with omegas as much as possible. The company I love is called Ascenta. They make fish oil for dogs with over 1g of O3 in every teaspoon. Another GREAT supplement is Sasha's Blend. I've had really great results with this on Cowboy and so have many people I know. IDEALLY it would be nice if you could try her on Adequan and wean her off pain killers. Adequan is a semi synthetic (natural product with a synthetic preservative.) It's expensive the first MONTH. Because you basically need to buy a whole vial to do what's called a "loading" dose where you give it every 4 days I think. Cowboy is 40lbs and his loading dose cost about 200. However, once you've completed the loading dose you will know if it works or not and then you only need to give it every few weeks. I do Cowboy once a month. Another option is cartrophen. My clinic doesn't even bother recommending this anymore we have had much better results with Adequan BUT cartrophen is a bit cheaper. Of course the other important aspect of arthritis management is keeping her a healthy weight. She needs to eat regularly but she should either have restricted meals or a light food. I seem to recall her being a little overweight.

Anyway, if you keep her weight good, get her eating, treat her with one of the chondroprotectants or a pain killer and use one or more of the supplements mentioned and get her doing some slow controlled activity I think you'll see her perk up and be back to herself. Keep in mind that "multimodal" treatments work 10x better than just choosing one treatment. I.E just giving pain killers is not enough.

thanks, i will tell my dad to try walking her up and down the street now that she is on the meds.

im not sure what meds she is taking though


@ Eileen50
im afraid to add rice to her food since she has such a bad grain allergy, im afraid she might be allergic to rice aswell as corn