Igloo!??!

We just have quinzee huts around here

I would get a different vet. You have had the dog for two years before a somewhat diagnosis and with that she doesn't see the benifits to x rays?

Majesty's Buddy Bites are good too, if straight glucosamine doesn't agree w/him. I alternate them w/the AltraFlex only b/c I give it to both tiny and huge dogs, and it's easier than splitting up capsules. Majesty's makes primarily horse products, and I got the Buddy Bites as a free sample when I ordered supplement cookies for my hyper horse who can't eat grain or he acts like a crack addict. I like that the AltraFlex has hyaluronic acid. Buddy Bites do not, but they have Yucca, and something else I forget right now.

Widge is fine. It looked quite dramatic- a big zipper all the way down his back (22 stitches is a lot on a 6lb body!), but he was better immediately after the surgery. That was 3 years ago. His surgeon is excellent. At 9, he acts about 3 except for the occasional soreness, which is certainly expected after surgery that extensive and what I'm sure is arthritis in those bad discs.

Good to know... straight glucosamine (even half tabs) tends to make a mess out of the south end if he is headed north...

Do you give it to him with food? I find that helps, though I guess it would depend on the dog.

I just spoke to my vet - Teagan's bloodwork has come back. Her phosphorus is a bit low, nothing to worry about, but. Everything that I read says that bones are a good source of phosphorus - and she gets lots of RMBs and some recreational bones. Huh. Am I missing anything? I try to feed using a prey model. My vet suggested adding a multi-vitamin for dogs.

She also had slightly elevated urea, which could be dehydration, though she also does eat a fairly high-protein diet. Her creatine was fine w/respect to the urea and her kidneys, but it's something to keep an eye on. Since we ran 10k to the vet with her police muzzle on and it is very heavy (worried about the metal muzzle sticking to her nose in the cold), I'm wondering if that's why.

My vet wants to see how her values change in a few weeks and then talk about doing cartrophen (what they use instead of adequan).

She's also fine if I want x-rays done, she recommends it if we go with certain treatments (like acupuncture) but b/c she doesn't recommend surgery, it's not that she's anti-x-ray, she's just not saying that we have to do them as long as Teagan's movements and comfort levels are okay.

Oh, you are in Canada! YES to the Cartrophen (other readers, please do not confuse cartrophen with carprofen, which is Rimadyl)! We cannot get it yet.

My vet suggested adding a multi-vitamin for dogs.

Based on what vitamin being low?


She also had slightly elevated urea, which could be dehydration, though she also does eat a fairly high-protein diet.
What was the number? The "normal" BUN for raw-fed dogs is different. Creatine not being elevated is good.


JMO.

 Quote: connie sutherland

Oh, you are in Canada! YES to the Cartrophen (other readers, please do not confuse cartrophen with carprofen, which is Rimadyl)! We cannot get it yet.

My mom's cat is on cartrophen rather than adequan and she is happy with it. My vet agrees with using it but wants to see her blood results 4-6 weeks from now before we add it.

 Quote: connie sutherland

My vet suggested adding a multi-vitamin for dogs.

Based on what vitamin being low?

Phosphorus! And I thought that bones had an appropriate calcium:phosphorus ratio! RMBs (big chicken backs; I get the carcasses from the butcher after they take off the more saleable bits) form the foundation of the dog's diet - then I add in tripe or veggies and different organ meats. Some muscle meat as well, but nothing too much. Recreational bones once in awhile. What am I doing wrong? I try to keep the prey model in mind when I feed the dogs.

 Quote: connie sutherland

She also had slightly elevated urea, which could be dehydration, though she also does eat a fairly high-protein diet.
What was the number? The "normal" BUN for raw-fed dogs is different. Creatine not being elevated is good.


JMO.

I was kind of wondering that - she's fed raw, it's a high-protein diet, I thought that might explain it. Her creatine is perfectly fine, yup

Edit: I didn't ask the number - IME different labs can have different baselines, at least with the cat rescue we had to make sure what the normal variance was as it could be different depending on the vet, so I just took her word for it.

Ya know, I wonder what the vets base test results on sometimes; is it truly the "ideal" or is it the "norm?" I sometimes wonder if it's the norm, and the norm would be different than a raw-fed dog...who is not the norm. If that makes any sense. I bet they don't see too many test results for raw-fed dogs, so if there was a whole bank of them...would Teagan's results maybe be perfectly "normal?" Just something I've wondered before.

Tripe has an excellent ratio, too, if you wanted to throw something else into the mix.

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

My vet suggested adding a multi-vitamin for dogs.

Based on what vitamin being low?

Phosphorus!

C'mon.

You know that phosphorous is not a vitamin! It's probably in the top three minerals (by amount) in the body.

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

I was kind of wondering that - she's fed raw, it's a high-protein diet, I thought that might explain it. Her creatine is perfectly fine, yup

Edit: I didn't ask the number - IME different labs can have different baselines, at least with the cat rescue we had to make sure what the normal variance was as it could be different depending on the vet, so I just took her word for it.

You could call and get that number. Just say you forgot what it was.

(I emailed Dr. Jean Dodds some years ago to ask about elevated BUN on a raw-fed dog.)