Hello,
We are at the crossroads of making "the decision". My lab is 10 years old and weighs 85 lbs. Thursday night we took him into ER since he couldn't move or get up and had rapid panting. He stayed the night to treat dehydration and for tests. Xrays show he has advanced osteoarthritis, hip displasia, and extreme mineralization between his lower spinal disk with high risk of disk herniation. We followed up the next morning with our family vet. Riley was given a spinal anti-inflamatory and something to help with the arthritis and displasia. We keep going back and forth in getting a wheelchair for him. Vet said to give it the weekend and see where we are. He will get himself up and take a few steps and then stop. We tell him to stay and wait for help-he is a stubborn lab. Since he can seem to take a few steps still, we thought a wheelchair would work, but now, his left foreleg is shaking and not fully supporting his weight and the right forelimb is dragging. My fear is that even though he is moving, he will cause more damage to himself and herniate hid lower disks. I understand that full counter weighted wheelchairs are a choice. My concern is having him rely on this seems to be the answer for-what quality of life is this for him? Both my husband and I work full time and there will be no one home during the day to help him up and walk. I feel guilt not taking a leave to be here, but I don't think legally I can take one as it is this situation is not a qualifying event. Also, since he is a stubborn dog, he is extremely frustrated with his limited mobility now. He continually whines and cries. Even though there are wheelchairs, isn't this cruel to him since he wants to be independent? Is it wrong to consider putting him to rest? At what point do we help him into rest? I know that many will do whatever it takes to keep their beloved fur baby. I think the differences amongst us is what we consider "all that it takes". I ask, please be kind in your responses. This has been extremely difficult and emotional as it is and unkind judgements will make it more difficult. Thank you!
-luvmylab
What to do now?
Re: What to do now?
Don't worry, it is extremely unlikely anyone would post anything harsh here or insist on one choice over another. My main comment is, your situation sounded familiar up until you said his front leg was shaking and his other front foot was dragging. That is not usually part of an older large breed dog going down in the rear from age-related changes. Something else is going on and I would think you might want to do some further checking to find out what it is. The more you know about his total condition, the better you can make decisions. Even if he has arthritis, it seems a bit extreme for him to be dragging his front foot. Since it is both front legs and not just one, maybe there is a problem in his neck, or maybe something is making him unusually weak overall. I suppose if something was making him extremely weak, that might make him drag his front foot and his other leg shake. Possibly it might be something treatable, I don't know. I do not know if the front feet symptoms were known on Thursday at the vet visit, or if they were noticed over the weekend. I think you want to bring that up with the vet and see what is causing it. Did they do a basic senior workup to check his heart and kidneys, etc.?
You are right, if you were going to go the wheelchair route he would need something with 4 wheels.
If it was me, I would try to give him some more time on the anti-inflammatory, it's only been a few days, but I'm not in your situation and I can't really recommend what you should do, it is just what I would do. But I would definitely try to follow up with the vet on the front leg symptoms Monday if you can. Best wishes as you try to find the best choices for him.
You are right, if you were going to go the wheelchair route he would need something with 4 wheels.
If it was me, I would try to give him some more time on the anti-inflammatory, it's only been a few days, but I'm not in your situation and I can't really recommend what you should do, it is just what I would do. But I would definitely try to follow up with the vet on the front leg symptoms Monday if you can. Best wishes as you try to find the best choices for him.
Re: What to do now?
Carol,
Thank you for your input! He did receive a full geriatric physical with blood work. It came back normal. The ER Vet was leaning more towards putting him down. She was concerned about his forelimb joints being able to handle the weight. I think the "shaking" may be that his front muscles aren't as developed to hold the weight since he never has had to bare this much weight on them-I guess kinda of similar when humans to pull-up/chin ups when they haven't done any exercise as a normal routine. I think the thing that is killing me is he being home without anyone and getting stuck in one spot away from his water bowl. We have put two at opposite ends of the house just in case, but I just don't want him suffering trying quench his thirst. Are their wheelchairs where he can be in for 8hours and allow him to lay down comfortably? Thanks again for your kind words
Thank you for your input! He did receive a full geriatric physical with blood work. It came back normal. The ER Vet was leaning more towards putting him down. She was concerned about his forelimb joints being able to handle the weight. I think the "shaking" may be that his front muscles aren't as developed to hold the weight since he never has had to bare this much weight on them-I guess kinda of similar when humans to pull-up/chin ups when they haven't done any exercise as a normal routine. I think the thing that is killing me is he being home without anyone and getting stuck in one spot away from his water bowl. We have put two at opposite ends of the house just in case, but I just don't want him suffering trying quench his thirst. Are their wheelchairs where he can be in for 8hours and allow him to lay down comfortably? Thanks again for your kind words
Re: What to do now?
It would be nice, but unfortunately I think in reality he would proabably not be able to stay in the cart for that long at a stretch very well. Actually in general, they do not recommend leaving a dog in a cart unsupervised at all. That being said, there are some dogs who can lie down in a cart, but they tend to be the long-bodied short-legged dogs who are close to the ground to begin with, like Corgis or dachshunds? A lab is probably too tall in the legs and short in the body to be able to lie down in the cart. And with your dog needing 4 wheels (or it sounds like he might, anyway) he would not be able to lie down in a 4-wheel cart, the short dogs that do lie down are using the traditional 2-wheel carts. Also, in practical terms, they really need to be taken out after a while to avoid getting sores from the "saddle". If he was in for 2 hours, that would be a pretty good, long time.
Then in actual practice, he may or may not be able to get to his water bowl in the cart, you won't know until you try him. What I mean is, being a large dog he is going to be kind of limited moving around in the house. Some dogs are smarter about it than others, but it is easy for them to get the wheels hung up on doorways and stuff, and they do not necessarily realize, "I need to back up and try another angle" right away. Some do, others are just stuck. If you have furniture that is another obstacle to get hung up on.
More likely the best use of the cart will be to put him in it for a while when you come home from work, but let him rest on his bed during the day. When my golden retriever was down I handled it by just coming home at lunch and walking him to his bowl using a sling around his waist to support him. So he got water before I went to work, water on my lunch break, and then water while I was home in the evening. Some people can go home at lunch and others work too far away.
It sounds like what you might need is a set up where he can lie comfortably, and have water within reach. Maybe a tip proof bowl, or a kennel crock attached to something. Kennel crocks are designed to screw onto the wires of a crate, they sell them at PetsMart. But he is too big to rest inside a crate, you would have trouble getting him out with his size. You could still set up a crate near his bed just for the purpose of having something to screw the kennel crock onto. In that case you would be screwing the bowl on the outside of the crate, not the inside. HIs bed would be next to it, not in it. You would not even need a big crate, just a small chihuahua size crate would be enough to screw a kennel crock water bowl onto. Don't know if that makes sense, you may be able to come up with something better.
I don't suppose you have an old nanny cam you could set up to keep an eye on him, to really see how he does when you are at work. I don't mean so you could run home if he is restless, but just so you really know if it bothers him or not. I don't know, these are not so much suggestions as just thinking out loud. It's easy to assume he is going to be unhappy and frustrated alone and unable to get up and that may be the case, it would just be nice if you could see with your own eyes so you know for sure. If he really is frustrated, then you know it isn't working for him. Or if he just naps while you are away, it would be good to know that, too.
Then in actual practice, he may or may not be able to get to his water bowl in the cart, you won't know until you try him. What I mean is, being a large dog he is going to be kind of limited moving around in the house. Some dogs are smarter about it than others, but it is easy for them to get the wheels hung up on doorways and stuff, and they do not necessarily realize, "I need to back up and try another angle" right away. Some do, others are just stuck. If you have furniture that is another obstacle to get hung up on.
More likely the best use of the cart will be to put him in it for a while when you come home from work, but let him rest on his bed during the day. When my golden retriever was down I handled it by just coming home at lunch and walking him to his bowl using a sling around his waist to support him. So he got water before I went to work, water on my lunch break, and then water while I was home in the evening. Some people can go home at lunch and others work too far away.
It sounds like what you might need is a set up where he can lie comfortably, and have water within reach. Maybe a tip proof bowl, or a kennel crock attached to something. Kennel crocks are designed to screw onto the wires of a crate, they sell them at PetsMart. But he is too big to rest inside a crate, you would have trouble getting him out with his size. You could still set up a crate near his bed just for the purpose of having something to screw the kennel crock onto. In that case you would be screwing the bowl on the outside of the crate, not the inside. HIs bed would be next to it, not in it. You would not even need a big crate, just a small chihuahua size crate would be enough to screw a kennel crock water bowl onto. Don't know if that makes sense, you may be able to come up with something better.
I don't suppose you have an old nanny cam you could set up to keep an eye on him, to really see how he does when you are at work. I don't mean so you could run home if he is restless, but just so you really know if it bothers him or not. I don't know, these are not so much suggestions as just thinking out loud. It's easy to assume he is going to be unhappy and frustrated alone and unable to get up and that may be the case, it would just be nice if you could see with your own eyes so you know for sure. If he really is frustrated, then you know it isn't working for him. Or if he just naps while you are away, it would be good to know that, too.
Re: What to do now?
What about day care, or a sitter who comes by during the day? That way he might be able to go into a cart during the day but not have to stay in it.