Sad day, i guess i need to make a decision

[yinepu]

Yeah, the cat does know something's not right. I'm glad to hear Abby is doing better. Fingers crossed for a full recovery.

 

[Kari Howie]

Oh, Kim. I am so sorry for you and Abby! Poor baby. I’m praying she swiftly and completely recovers.

 

[Catscankim]

I gave her her meds a few hours ago. Shes been sleeping ever since, which is one of the side effects of the meds.

Her eyes arent twitching as much like they were yesterday. So thats a plus. I would absolutely have gone mad if that had been going on for this long if it were me. She still wont eat though.

i cant stop staring at her. I thought my dog was going to be gone by now. I am so grateful to have her sleeping next to my feet. And i cant wait for her to be crazily greeting me at the door when i get home from work.

Even though she cant seem to hold her bladder right now lol. Not sure if its because of the the vertigo, or because of the meds. Small price to pay with tile floors (and a basket full of doggie towels now).

 

[Vandam]

My Border Collie had a stroke. It left her with a crooked face. She continued to work for many years until she started going blind then she retired to a life of a house dog (she had never been in the house) until she died.

 

[Catscankim]

For the first time since this started she ate tonight. She was holding out for canned food . She usually eats dried. This seems like a ploy to get canned food lol. Sneaky girl lol. J/k.

I only gave her about 1/4 of the can though. If she holds it down i will give her more later. She hasnt eaten in a few days so i dont want to overwhelm her system.

 

[SoapMedic]

Glad to hear it seems to be a workable situation. After reading this I recalled having a 16 year old lab about 20 years ago that experienced the same thing, per the vet. The eye movements give it away. He also crashed around, head-tilted and staggered for 7-10 days, then one day, he didn't! A slight head-tilt stayed with him and he enjoyed life again for another year or so before old age peacefully took him.

 

[earlene]

For the first time since this started she ate tonight. She was holding out for canned food . She usually eats dried. This seems like a ploy to get canned food lol. Sneaky girl lol. J/k.

I only gave her about 1/4 of the can though. If she holds it down i will give her more later. She hasnt eaten in a few days so i dont want to overwhelm her system.

It may be a ploy, but perhaps she also has a residual dry throat &/or headache and knows dry food would aggravate it. Eating dry food takes more energy, too, and her stamina is probably not near what it was, so the canned wet food helps with energy conservation, as well as some fluids and obviously, nutrition. And it probably smells better, too.

You could put a few pieces of the dry food in with the wet & see when she is starting to get ready to eat the dry food again. I did that with Kitty Baby when she was recovering from a snake bite. She couldn't tolerate the hard chewing at all (bitten on the face) for some time, but when she stopped leaving the few bits of dry food in the bowl, I knew she was tolerating dry food again.

 

[Kari Howie]

I also think when you’re nauseated wet food is easier on your stomach than dry. Same reason I like mac & cheese when I feel sick instead of dry toast.

 

[Catscankim]

It may be a ploy, but perhaps she also has a residual dry throat &/or headache and knows dry food would aggravate it. Eating dry food takes more energy, too, and her stamina is probably not near what it was, so the canned wet food helps with energy conservation, as well as some fluids and obviously, nutrition. And it probably smells better, too.

You could put a few pieces of the dry food in with the wet & see when she is starting to get ready to eat the dry food again. I did that with Kitty Baby when she was recovering from a snake bite. She couldn't tolerate the hard chewing at all (bitten on the face) for some time, but when she stopped leaving the few bits of dry food in the bowl, I knew she was tolerating dry food again.

I keep wet food in the house. Usually its a treat. Same with the cat. But if thats whats she wants to eat, i will keep getting it for her. if i realized she would only eat ribeye, then she will get that 100% of the time lol. But if shes ever actually tricking me ....back to the regular food. She keeps walking to her regular spot to eat and walks away. I think shes too dizzy still.

Giving her Zofran for nausea, and its working. Plus i the vertigo meds are working. Her eyes are getting more normal. But she still has head tilt and walks in circles to the right.

I have a camera pointed at her bed/blanket in the living room while im at work so i can peek in on her. I wasnt going to do it cause i can never just leave work if something happened. But it makes me feel better, so there it is.

Back to the food. She wont eat out of her bowl, only off a plate On the floor, and only the wet food. I tried the food at different levels. Her normal bowls are elevated. Even her water ...she wont touch unless its low in a dish. Lower level bowls and plates of food is what she is preferring. The vet told me completely the opposite. I guess every case is different.

BTW i am totally grateful for this vet. I didnt know her before this, but i will forever put my fur babys lives in her hands. I had a vet like this in Philly. Cared so much about the animal...the bill is an afterthought.

And her meds??!!! LOL. Tried a pill in cheese, turkey lunch meat, etc. gobbles it up...pill on the floor. Cheeze wiz... peanut butter. Pill on the floor. I even managed to get a pill inside of a Pup peroni treat lol. Shes a freakin magician lol. So now i just have to man handle her, toss it in her throat, and hold her muzzle shut till she swallows it lol.

 

[DeeAnna]

My Ocho is a pill phobic pibble (pit bull) who has to take a big horse pill every day for his arthritis.

I have found if I cover the pill with wet dog food or something sticky and yummy like that and just give it to him, he will often spit the pill out, nicely cleaned off, after he sucks all the yummy stuff off. I mean, it's crazy -- the discarded pill is almost dry!

I've learned if I give him the food coated pill and then hold my palm gently against the front of his mouth for a few seconds, he is a lot better about swallowing the pill.

My dogs aren't especially protective/aggressive about food, so I have sometimes created a little friendly competition and that has been helpful. I'll ask one of my other dogs to sit close and give him a little treat right when I give Ocho his pill.

I also have learned to not put too much yummy stuff on the pill. Enough to generously coat it, but not much more. I think too much goody makes the whole mess harder for him to swallow in one gulp.

But it's been a real journey to find out what works best for Och. Now if I could just get my 14 yo cat Riley to eat more. ...sigh...

 

[Catscankim]

She is done with the pills, thank goodness. Slowly she is getting to some sort of normal. Still has a really bad head tilt though, which i think is throwing her balance off. I tried holding her head to the left but it obviously makes her dizzy.

Last night i let her out to pee, and there was a huge possum standing on my stoop. Right at the door! Abby went to chase it, i freaked out cause she cant hear me calling her. Then she fell over, dum dum lol. Playtime over.

Still wont eat out of her bowl, and still no dried food. I tried mixing some wet food with the dry, and like the pills, she managed to leave just the dry food on the plate. Bugger. The wet food she gobbles up so im not sure whats going on. I tried tough love and left the dry food only, she ignored it so i gave in.

I know it sounds selfish, but i really hate the wet food lol. Its disgusting. I was fortunate in adopting a dog that was on a dry food diet. Maybe shes taking the opportunity to protest lol.

 

[earlene]

I am so glad she is getting better.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

She is done with the pills, thank goodness. Slowly she is getting to some sort of normal. Still has a really bad head tilt though, which i think is throwing her balance off. I tried holding her head to the left but it obviously makes her dizzy.

Last night i let her out to pee, and there was a huge possum standing on my stoop. Right at the door! Abby went to chase it, i freaked out cause she cant hear me calling her. Then she fell over, dum dum lol. Playtime over.

Still wont eat out of her bowl, and still no dried food. I tried mixing some wet food with the dry, and like the pills, she managed to leave just the dry food on the plate. Bugger. The wet food she gobbles up so im not sure whats going on. I tried tough love and left the dry food only, she ignored it so i gave in.

I know it sounds selfish, but i really hate the wet food lol. Its disgusting. I was fortunate in adopting a dog that was on a dry food diet. Maybe shes taking the opportunity to protest lol.

So glad to read she chased after a possum' wonderful improvement from your 1st post. yay

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

Vet said shes not ruling out a stroke, but gave her meds for vertigo. Said its more common in older dogs than stroke is. She said that as soon as she saw abby she was 99% sure of it and it should clear up in a few days. If not then she will revisit stroke.

we just got home. She got a shot of the vertigo meds at the office and i have pills to give after. She already seems a little better... walking around like a drunk dog. She keeps walking in circles to the right. But at least she is walking, yesterday she wasnt.

And she got a pedicure while she was there lol. The office fell in love with her

How's your pupper doing? Catahoulas are tough dogs. Did she come around?

 

[Catscankim]

She is getting better every day. She still has a crooked head LOL...Funny but not funny. But she is eating almost back to normal now, and has started chasing the cat away from her food, and has gone back to stealing the cats food. Oddly enough, allowing the cat to eat her food and drink her water was concerning to me...she is one of those aggressive towards her food types, which I hated, but then when she didn't get mad about it I thought that was a weird personality change.

And she's back to being my shadow LOL. I can't go anywhere without the dog by my side. She is probably more so now than she was before. I guess between being deaf and now this, she always wants to know where I am, and apparently she thinks there is a secret door out of the bathroom that I might escape from. Oh to pee alone or without a dog sniffing under the door, would be divine LOL.

She saw her friends the other day...two greyhounds that live across the street. She wobbled over to them. I don't like those two dogs. Like oddly well-behaved. I dunno, overly trained or something. I never realized how big greyhounds were. But this guy takes his dogs out a few times a day. Abby gets excited like she found her long lost friends and these guys stand there aloof with their noses in the air, literally. Its weird, they don't even acknowledge that there is another dog there who wants to play with them. Before I got Abby last year I was thinking about rescuing a greyhound. I am not sure if they all act like this, or if its just these two particular ones.

The other day my guy-friend stopped by while I was in the shower...scared the heck out of me because he came into the house through my back door. I don't know why, but I didn't have the alarm set, which I always do when I'm in the shower. I opened the bedroom door, and there was my friend, my cat, and Abby standing there with her "baby" in her mouth. "I got your crooked dog". What a good watchdog

 

[Catscankim]

Bad Dog!! I dunno, I guess she is feeling her oats with me lately. Now that she is starting to get back to normal, she is being so bad!! Same sweet doggie, but really testing me.

Keeps digging through the trash. Ate half my sandwich the other night. Chasing the cat...

Yesterday I woke up, the glass table top for my coffee table is smashed on the ground. It was big and heavy, and still in pieces on the floor because I had to go to work. I don't even know what to do with it all. Some of the pieces are huge and frankly I am afraid of them LOL. And I came home from work this morning to trash all over the kitchen and dining room again.

I don't know...can I put this glass in the recycle bin? Its a huge trash can, but not sure if the city will appreciate it LOL.

I guess not a bad thing considering that I thought she was going to die last month, but she is acting like a big bad puppy LOL.

 

[Megan]

Bad Dog!! I dunno, I guess she is feeling her oats with me lately. Now that she is starting to get back to normal, she is being so bad!! Same sweet doggie, but really testing me.

Keeps digging through the trash. Ate half my sandwich the other night. Chasing the cat...

Yesterday I woke up, the glass table top for my coffee table is smashed on the ground. It was big and heavy, and still in pieces on the floor because I had to go to work. I don't even know what to do with it all. Some of the pieces are huge and frankly I am afraid of them LOL. And I came home from work this morning to trash all over the kitchen and dining room again.

I don't know...can I put this glass in the recycle bin? Its a huge trash can, but not sure if the city will appreciate it LOL.

I guess not a bad thing considering that I thought she was going to die last month, but she is acting like a big bad puppy LOL.

The best thing to do with glass like that is to wrap/tape it up in a paper bag or newspaper and mark clearly on the paper that there is glass inside and place in your regular garbage bin, not recycle. Some municipalities do recycle broken glass (depending on the type of glass), but it is a hazard to the handler and many don't.

 

[Catscankim]

A friend of mine suggested breaking it down with a hammer. I am not sure I am comfortable with that either....

 

[dibbles]

A friend of mine suggested breaking it down with a hammer. I am not sure I am comfortable with that either....

Do you have a box large enough to put the bigger pieces in? You could put on eye protection, wear heavy gloves and break the glass inside the box to contain the smaller pieces. I'm happy your girl is feeling better, but sorry she is going through a naughty streak.

 

[earlene]

Interesting dilemma. I'd call your recylcing company and ask for their advice about the broken glass. I always find they are gracious and kind and really appreciate a call to ask a question such as this, because often folks tend to disregard the recycling rules & just toss in all kinds of things that they then have to weed out.

If you don't have kevlar gloves (most folks probably don't) then make sure to wear some really heavy-duty gloves when handling the broken glass.