Sometimes we have to answer that most difficult of questions; are we keeping this dog around for us or for the dog.

DFrost

yes the vet knew about his liver. So are cartrophen shots good then? What are they? what do they do?

David, Buddy has minor hip dysplasia, has trouble getting up but can still walk around, eats drinks, goes outside to pee/poop, is in good spirits, to put him to sleep b/c he has trouble walking would be cruel in my opinion. I plan on giving him supplements, doing massage, hydrotherapy, feeding better quality raw then he gets now, basically anything and everything to make his life easier, from big cushy beds to a doggy cart/wheelchair thingy to help him get around if that time comes...lol. Rest assured his best interests are first and foremost in my mind

I don't understand. Did you remind the vet of the liver problem when he mentioned NSAIDs? This needs discussion IMO, you and the vet.

About Cartrophen Vet: Does the dog have any GI issues? Any ulcer history?

http://www.ehow.com/about_5538312_side-effects-cartrophen.html

http://www.srdogs.com/Pages/care.cd.html
Scroll down to "Cartrophen Vet."

no i didnt remind him, probably b/c i had already dismissed it it my head, I wanted to try something less harsh first and see how that went. I will read those pages now. Thanks.

No ulcers, no gi issues that I can think of. He drops little hard pices of poop in the house sometimes, w/o knowing or meaning to. Dont know if thats relevant. Occassianly constipated.

Thanks!

Cat, I think you should mention to the vet the poop dropping and other "irrelevant" things. Mention things and ask questions.


It's a shame a lot of doctors are not capable of seeing outside the box. Not saying yours is not a good vet but sometimes they don't think the client wants to hear things they don't want to hear (or learn). Show them you understand and care and they might surprise you.

good advice Ana, thanks I will! Our vet is good, conventional but doesnt push things on us or bug us about raw, hes honest, i dont agree with everything he says at all, like I said hes conventional, but hes really honest and upfront which is refreshing! I get a cheaper rate b/c my work uses him for all our animals so thats why we go there, thankfully we like him anyway, same cant be said for the front staff...lol.

From personal experience, sometimes a vet will stop after they find something wrong and assume that they have found the problem.
Unfortunately, a dog can have more than one problem at the same time and one may mask the other.

 Quote: Cat Richter

David, Buddy has minor hip dysplasia, has trouble getting up but can still walk around, eats drinks, goes outside to pee/poop,

Your words; old dog can barely walk. Pls help! Strike more of a note than minor hip dysplasia.

DFrost

Mary,thanks, Buddy just had a full work up so hopefully theres nothing else we dont know about...It does frusterate me when its all just oh hes getting old, but is getting old really a condition, like be more specific,,,hahah, I want there to be things to do to help him, and I cant help him not get old, haha, hes a good vet though, I am just having a hard time with him getting old

David, I guess it was startling when Buddy suddenly could barely walk and when he did was super stiff, hes never bin that way before, he has definitely improved since then though so thats good!

I would take him to the chiropractor. HD, arthritis, etc that have been around for awhile without symptom (you mentioned a little limp in front, then the next day he can barely walk) don't get that severe overnight without something else going on. The occasional incontinence, was that happening before the walking issue? To me that sounds like he's lost some feeling/awareness in the rear end. Which can lead to the problems walking also, hard to control body parts you only have partial feeling of. But that's usually a gradual thing also, not an overnight thing, unless something happened.

It's possible though that he was injured and now things are being pinched or otherwise restricted, a good chiropractor can tell you if this is happening, and put things back in line. Sometimes they can also see (well feel) things that xrays won't show. And no sedation is required.

Regarding the meds. If he's in chronic pain and can barely walk, and there is nothing that can be done for him in terms of chiropractoric, etc then I would be less concerned with what the meds might do to his liver 1, 3, 6, 12 whatever months down the road and more concerned with his immediate pain. If you can find a more liver friendly way of relieving the pain, do it. But if you can't, isn't a short time of being pain free more important then a longer time of chronic pain, but his liver is OK? I had to make this decision many years ago for my Dobe who had Wobbler's. I was lucky, he didn't have liver problems, but everyone warned me that long term Rimadyl use would destroy his liver (it didn't). My response was I'd rather risk the liver to make him pain free and able to walk, then watch him deteriorate and save his liver. It actually bought us another 1.5 years before the Wobbler's became to bad, but even if it had only gotten us a few months, I'd have done it.