Help B get up
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| Your emails about B are so sad and I wish I could help. It would help to have a bit more information about her condition:
Is she on any painkillers? What kind of therapy is she getting? Have you been back to see a neurologist since her surgery? Are your floors wood, tile or carpet? Is she able to hold her pee/poo until she goes outside? Is she yelping, growling or making any other indication that she is in pain? If you poke or prod her rear feet, can she feel it? Does she pull away? |
| B is just fine except for not getting up. She is not on pain medicine, or anykind for that matter. We have only seen the doctor in SAT since her surgery. They see no reason for her not to get up. They want us to do therapy on her standing, she doesn't like that and tries to sit down. It only involves holding things over her head and turning to look up,down, sideways. Also in a sitting position. Well I can't B to just sit like normal. She lays and holds her head up from middle of body. I have lineolum floors and I don't know if she has lost confidence because she got up 2 times by herself 2 weeks ago. I mean she got up and came outside like always, we were so shocked! But no more has she tried to get up. I have since gotten rubber backed rugs for her area. The surgery was done middle of March. She has great pee/poo ways. It is awarkard when she bends her back legs to squat. She can hold it all day if needed while I work and can't get home at lunch. But that doesn't happen often. She doesn't yelp or growl like in pain but I know she would reather get up by herself. She has feeling in both back legs, it just seems like she won't try anymore to lift herself in sitting or standing position. |
| If the vets see no reason for her unwillingness or inability to stand up, I would absolutely positively get her on strong pain medications unless there is a reason she can't be on them.
When we took our Jake off of his pain meds, within 3 days he couldn't get up off of the floor. When we restarted the pain meds, he could get up off the floor -- that was probably 2 years before he left us. |
| What about Rimadyle? That is all I have left till Wednesday's appointment.
The pain meds I had made her jerk. It was Tramdol. |
| I agree with Ron. Chummie is on painkillers and it has made a huge difference in her mobility.
There are many different brands / formulas of painkiller, including Rimady, Deramaxx, Etodalac, and more. You will need to work with your Vet to determine the right pain medicine for B. They generally need to analyze a sample of her blood before starting the drug to make sure organ function is ok (primarily kidney and liver) and then they will want to follow up in a couple weeks with more bloodwork to make sure the drugs don't cause any problems. For example, Chum tried Etodalac but it really upset her stomach. Now she is on Deramaxx, which is really helping her move, but her kidney values were slightly higher so I needed to reduce the protein level of her food to make it easier on her kidneys. I will take her back in about another week to see if they are still elevated or whether she is ok. If they remain elevated or have gotten higher, I may need to put her on a different food or a different pain killer. Also, put as many rubber-backed throw rugs down as you can stand. Chummie goes from rug to rug, avoiding slippery floors whereever possible. Previously, she could not get up on slippery floors at all. Now she can but she has to do it very carefully and it requires alot of strength and effort. She is much happier if she is on a rug. |
| It's definitely best to again talk with the vet. Refusal to stand can be an indication of pain... some dogs are very stoic and hide their pain well. This may not apply but please take a minute to visit the following link about Osteoarthritis. They have a "Signs and Symptoms Checklist" that you can use to help determine whether you sheepie might actually be in pain...
http://www.deramaxx.novartis.us/checklist/checklist.htm I have a sheepie named Panda that has hip dysplasia and we also have wood and tile floors. She is able to stand much easier when she's been lying down on a rug. Boy, I wish I could have borrowed your sling the night Panda's bladder sutures failed... I had a heck of a time getting her on her feet! I finally got some scatter rugs lined up so I could help her stand. I'm sorry I can't provide any answers to what's happening. I hope she improves soon. Best wishes~ |
| We used Dermaxx for 2 years with good results. As Val said, the liver values MUST be checked, we also gave Beau milk thistle for liver support.
Beau had problems standing because he had synovi sarcoma in his front leg and he was a big boy, about 115 lbs. We went to Home Depot and bought runners cut in various lengths (some were 8' long) and rubber backing to put under them. We also used paw wax on his pads to help him feel more stable, we still had to help him on occasion but he did feel more confident. Good luck, I know what a difficult time this is for you. |
| It looks like Lucy is going to have to be on painkillers long-term as well. She also has a horrible time getting up and down without them. She's on Previcox and it worked very well for her while she was on it. |
ButtersStotch wrote: It looks like Lucy is going to have to be on painkillers long-term as well. She also has a horrible time getting up and down without them. She's on Previcox and it worked very well for her while she was on it.
Awww poor Lucy. How old is she? Is it arthritis? I'm glad the painkillers are helping. |
| Yeah, she's almost 13 and she's been doing great up until now so I knew it was only a matter of time until she started some old lady ailments. She has pretty severe arthritis in her spine. I think I was telling someone else, or maybe I already mentioned it, I think she may have been in a bit of pain for awhile but she was hiding it well. When she finally overdid it at the petsitters', she couldn't fake it anymore. On the Previcox, she does great though so we'll just start her back up. We were hoping that she was just sore and that a week of pain meds would be enough but it's pretty clear that she needs more. |
| Old age is such a bummer but it is far better than the alternative.
Is she twitchy in her spine? I had been avoiding petting where Chum twitched but her therapists tell me that I need to gently massage those areas for her to keep the muscles loose. They have a way of tightening up to prevent movement that hurts -- but that leads to more stiffness and discomfort. So now Chummie gets a gentle massage daily and she seems to like it and it reduces the twitching. I just wish she could return the favor. . . |
| Sorry to hear about B and Lucy too.
Re the Rimadyl, dogs can become immune to that after being on it for a while, so it's not a bad idea to try something new. |
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