Golden w/ possible DM

[Goldenz2]

Hi there,

I had been posting on the "Mobility" board but I think we are unfortunately graduating to this Paralysis board

My 13 year old Golden Retriever, Angelo has severe muscle loss in the rear legs. (Especially the right leg) And also Arthritis, Spondylosis and possible DM. Everything that I have read about DM fits my dog. He was recently x-rayed and it also showed Hip Dysplasia in the right hip. His blood work came back great thankfully. But we are at the point where "there is nothing else we can do". We have tried water therapy but he can no longer handle it.

He is on Metacam (70lb dose) and Tramadol (100mg 2x per day) and does not appear to be in any pain. Even though the Tramadol is supposed to cause constipation we have been dealing with loose poops for a while. My dog wears the Lift & Assist Harness almost 24 hrs per day so we can assist him to get up and also to poop. (He occasionally poops in the house) We have not had an issues with urinating thank goodness.

He still has quality of life, he eats well and will play with his toys. We take him for a short walk in the yard at least 3 times a day. I ordered a wheelchair for him which will be here by the end of the week. I want to at least give him a shot with it while he is still strong in his front end. If it doesn't work out I will most likely donate it. I was reading about the negative comments that some of you were receiving about your dogs in the wheelchairs. I better not hear one or I will be the one biting their heads off

I have no children and Angelo is my heart dog I am having a hard time with this all as he is my best friend, and was my hiking buddy. But I am taking it a day at a time with him, and not letting sadness fill my head. He has the strongest will to live as he was stricken with a deadly auto immune disorder at 10 years of age and survived with a lot of love and care. He is now VERY attached to me. He will not leave me easily...this I know. So I joined this group to learn how to give him every shot he deserves at a good quality of life right up until the end.

Thank you for listening,

Jeanne in NJ
Goldens, Angelo & Archie

[Goldenz2]

Hi again

My 13 yr old Golden, Angelo, is continuing to do well. He has not gotten any worse and still has a great spirit and will to live! I have attached a photo so you can see how happy and handsome he is

Everything I read about DM fits him except that he does not have any problem urinating. He cannot control his BM's at time and will go in the house. He does have other issues as I stated below so not sure if it's just a combo of everything that is affecting his rear legs. I think he has now accepted this "new lifestyle" and does not have any anxiety about it anymore. He knows that my boyfriend and I are here to help him.

I keep reading and reading and reading to make sure that I am doing everything I can to help him. And I am quite confident that I am.

Thanks again for listening...it helps to know that there are others out there that are dealing with some of the same issues although I obviously wish you weren't.

Jeanne in NJ
Goldens, Angelo & Archie

[critters]

What a handsome fella! Have you looked at the Poop on Demand ideas down on the incontinence bb? You might want to, to prevent surprises.

[Caroline]

Hi,
So glad you two are still here.
He looks so happy just a puppy at heart, the slings are wonderful tools.
Keep the faith

[Christine]

As you know, my Bailey has been wearing this 24/7 also. I noticed the other day that there is a rough spot at one of the seams that I never noticed before. It is rubbing the hair off her shoulders. I kept trying to think of something to remedy it and came up with using that self stick moleskin. I just cut a piece large enough to cover the rough spot and stuck it to it and now the moleskin is what is rubbing her shoulders. Just take your hands and give him a good massage under the harnass and you may or may not find any of these places.

[Goldenz2]

Hi there,

Critters: The only "POD" idea I am comfortable with is the spritz of water so we have been doing that for now. It works about 50% of the time. He pees on his own so we are ok with that.

Caroline: Thanks for your kind words!

Christine: Thanks for letting me know about the harness but I checked and don't find any bad areas. He has to wear it about 90% of the time now. I will ocassionally give him a break from it even though he doesn't mind it at all.

His legs are getting progressively worse. He appears to be in no pain and will follow me all over the house regardless of how many times in between he falls over. We are taking him to be fitted correctly in his wheelchair on Friday. A woman at the Canine Aquatic Facility has experience with this and will help us. We are still trying to gauge whether it's beneficial to him or not, and are taking it one day at a time.

Shortly, I do not think Angelo will be able to stand at all. I do not know what we will do because he is 70lbs. He still has spirit, goes nutso for his food and will play with his tennis ball so he still has quality of life.

This really sucks

Jeanne in NJ
Goldens, Angelo & Archie

[SandyNY]

70 lbs not so bad. have you seen in the info gallery there are a couple of inventions - rigging stations to hold the large dog up for him to pee. if you cannot find, we will help.i am running in and out the door right now - The large dog i had pulled himself around just fine. he developed sort of a mushy feeling callous on his legs where he dragged them. it did seem to me that he was doing injury dragging himself; but all the vets he saw said no he was not. this may be different for yours as porkchop was not diagnosed with DM. I used the bottoms up leash to walk him and he had a wheelchair but when he really wanted to get somewheres fast - he just went! If you get a large rabbit-style water bottle; hook it to his crate door if he is crated. if he is not crated, hook it to a pet carrier door (or I hooked porkchop's on a carrier door and tied the door to a set of those plastic drawers) - put the water bottle where he can easily reach it from his bed or where he lays in the house/ when you leave him. You can put some peanut butter on the end if he doesn't know how to use it. you will find if you leave him a regular water dish it is spilled all over the place! Go to the dollar store and get the stuff made for lining shelves or the stuff made to keep scatter rugs from slipping. put this under inexpensive throw rugs that you can easily wash. add another pet or two, a tv, and there you have it - large hc dog haven. Oh, yeah, and stuff his kong with low cal good tasting treats and put it in a box top ( so it doesn't roll away from him) for entertainment.

[Goldenz2]

Thanks for your suggestions SandyNY!

I'm under the impression that he does not have DM now because he has no problem peeing at all (so far). Pooping, like I said above is the biggest problem. His issues most likely are from Spondylosis and Hip Dysplasia among other things. It doesn't really matter at this point as I am sooooo lucky to have a 13 year old Golden as it is

He is pretty much able to pull himself up and get to his raised water bowl. We do make sure if he cannot get to it that we offer it to him several times a day. He is still very mentally active so he does keep us busy!! His favorite thing is to push his tennis ball back and forth with his nose...he just loves that!

We are going to get him fitted correctly to his wheelchair tomorrow so I will report back on how he does.

Thanks again to you and everyone for their continued support!

Jeanne in NJ
Goldens, Angelo & Archie

[CarolC]

Jeanne, there is a mental trick I like to use when I think of helping a big dog. For example, if your dog is 70 lbs, but his front legs still work, I look at it this way. The average dog carries 60% of his weight on his front feet and 40% on his hind feet. For your dog it is about 42/28. So when you are helping him to his feet, or lifting his hind end into a wheelchair, it helps to psyche yourself out to see it as really only lifting 28 lbs. This is a lot less intimidating than thinking "I'm lifting a 70 lb dog all day". Hopefully you will not have to do much full-body lifting. The main time for that would be getting him in the car for vet appointments. In that case you should just have to lift him twice, once getting into the car at the house, and once when you get home. Remember that when you arrive at the vet, one of their sturdy young assistants can take him out of the car for you, and load him back in after the appointment. Hope this helps. I would also diet him as best you can, it will help you care for him and even though he loves to eat, you have to be able to care for him. I have my golden down to very slim...

[Goldenz2]

Thanks Carol

He is not that bad yet. He wears a harness and 50% of the time can get up on his own. The other 50% we help him up by lifting him in his harness that he wears. Once he is up he is ok for a while.

I keep him very thin at 70lbs so that is not a problem. He LOVES the car and knows that he has to help me to get into the car. (I have a small SUV) He knows that he has to lift one foot up and then I can boost him. And he does it every time. He is SO smart and such a strong boy for his mom

He did well at the Canine Aquatic Facility yesterday. The wheelchair that we currently have needs more adjustment so we borrowed one that the Director had. He was cruising around and really did a great job. We are so proud of him! The PCV one that we have just seems too heavy so I am going to see if I can find a used "metal" one for him.

Here is a picture of him yesterday. Look at that SMILE

Jeanne in NJ
Goldens, Angelo & Archie

[CarolC]

Hi Jeanne,

I copied and saved the picture of your dog in the cart since I have a golden who may need one some day. That one looks really good. Where did you find a PVC cart for a dog that size? I thought plastic wasn't recommended for dogs over 60 lbs? He looks like he's enjoying the attention!

[Goldenz2]

Well I am kind of "new" at this so I wasn't aware that you weren't supposed to use PVC. I had it made custom for him. I am currently looking for a used "metal" one that will fit his measurements.

He did really well and you are right...he LOVED the attention

Jeanne in NJ
Goldens, Angelo & Archie

[Dianne]

Who is making these PVC wheelchairs for large dogs? PVC really isn't supportive of a large dog's weight and we're kinda' curious who sold it to you.

[Goldenz2]

Hi Dianne,

I had it custom made for him. No worries though, I am renting the "Eddie's Wheels" one from the director of the Canine Aquatic place we go to. Of course we are having a heat wave now so we haven't had him in it yet, but as soon as it cools off a bit we will

I have another question...I am back to assuming that my Golden has DM as one of his problems. BUT, as I said he had no problem peeing...only pooping. So now as it's progressing...we are finding that he will only pee 2 to 3 times a day! And I am starting to get worried. Is this how the incontinence starts? That the bladder doesn't fully empty because they can't feel it or something?? We have started to make a chart of when he goes #1 and #2 so it helps us to remember when the last time he went was. But I just wanted to throw that question out there.

Thanks!

Jeanne in NJ

[Goldenz2]

I wanted to share another photo of my Golden in the wheelchair we are now renting

Angelo has some good days and some not so good days. The other night his back legs were just crossed and like rubber...my boyfriend and I thought "this is it". But 5 minutes later he got up BY HIMSELF and walked across the living room LOL so he still continues to amaze and inspire us with his spirt and stubborness!

Jeanne in NJ
Angelo & Archie