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  1. #1
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Hind end weakness

    Well, Cookie's 13th birthday is in a month. I know, he is old. However I get pretty bummed every time his health deteriorates.

    We've been managing his condition (severe arthritis) fairly well for years now (since he was hit by a car in 2015) and I think that we did a good job in keeping the status quo (he goes for walks, swims, short hikes etc). He does get flare-ups in his arthritic elbow once or twice a year (related to temperature drops) but we have learned to manage these as well).

    Yesterday however, was the first time he couldn't get up the stairs. I am in denial thinking it has to do with the extreme heat (40 C) and him overdoing it in the fountain in the last two days (he still thinks he can be as fast as the youngsters). This morning he got stuck on the stairs too.

    I am thinking about resting him first, and if it doesn't work I think it's time to get him a pull-em-up harness. It's sad. I don't want to accept the fact that this may be the beginning of the end.



    On the happier note, here he is having fun in the fountain with his friends (he is the only Lab among 3 Goldens).

    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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    Sandra (06-15-2019)

  3. #2
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    Oh, crap. That's what we're going through with Sunnie (also dementia).

    I hope Cookie doesn't react like two of my previous Labs....with anxiety. Sunnie's already an anxious dog, so she's a real mess.

    All good thoughts for sweet Cookie!!!

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    Berna (06-14-2019)

  5. #3
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Oh Barb I am so sorry to hear about Sunny. Is there any specific things that you do to keep her comfortable?
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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  6. #4
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Hopefully he's just sore from playing in the fountain. Maybe having 3 friends in there to try to keep up with made him more sore than usual. And at his age he'll probably take a bit longer to recover. He looks so happy. Surely if you didn't have him in the fountain ever to keep him fairly strong, he'd be worse off than he is. Let's hope a few days of rest will get things back to baseline.

    How many stairs are you talking about? I'm trying to get Henry accustomed to going up and down the ramp that I use to get Lark in and out of my car. Right now I have it propped up over some steps from the patio to a deck but it only covers about 4 steps. Lark has been using it as much or more than walking the steps. If there aren't many steps, using a car ramp that is portable would allow him to go up and down more easily and it would not be a permanent fixture. Even if it only got him part way up or down, it would still be fewer steps to navigate. Just trying to think of ways to help him past this.

    -img_2739-jpg

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    Berna (06-14-2019)

  8. #5
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Thanks, I hope so too. I am trying to reason with him that he shouldn't try to keep up with the youngsters but he won't listen! LOL.

    Unfortunately I live in an apartment and the stairs I am talking about are the building's stairs, so they are public and I can't put a ramp on them. My city has recently started to become wheelchair-friendly so there are public stairs with a built-in "ramp" for people who use wheelchairs, but my building isn't.

    I never counted the stairs, but I believe they are around 15-20.
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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  9. #6
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    Sorry to hear that Cookie is struggling with stairs. For what it's worth, all of my older dogs went through a period around 13-14 where they needed a little bit of help on stairs and we did get them harnesses to help. It wasn't a sign of an impending end though - they all made it for at least a year or more after that and the hind-end weakness wasn't what got them in the end. If it's just stairs (not getting up in general) I would try one of the sling style harness that you can use just on the stairs as opposed to the help-em up which you have to leave on all the time. You could even just try a towel slung under his belly for a little extra support. Hopefully resting will help him. I found with my oldsters they had good days and bad ... may Cookie have many good days left ahead of him!
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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    Berna (06-14-2019)

  11. #7
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    See them age is so hard. You do what you can to help them, and keep their quality of life. Cookie went though so much after his accident, how well he's done since then is a testament to his spirit. You could see in the fountain that he may be old in body, but he's still young in heart!!

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    Berna (06-14-2019)

  13. #8
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Annette47 View Post
    Sorry to hear that Cookie is struggling with stairs. For what it's worth, all of my older dogs went through a period around 13-14 where they needed a little bit of help on stairs and we did get them harnesses to help. It wasn't a sign of an impending end though - they all made it for at least a year or more after that and the hind-end weakness wasn't what got them in the end. If it's just stairs (not getting up in general) I would try one of the sling style harness that you can use just on the stairs as opposed to the help-em up which you have to leave on all the time. You could even just try a towel slung under his belly for a little extra support. Hopefully resting will help him. I found with my oldsters they had good days and bad ... may Cookie have many good days left ahead of him!
    Thanks Annette, your post really made me feel hopeful, since all your dogs were long-lived. It's just that I know a few labs that just lost the feeling of their hind legs completely and were consequently put to sleep, and that is probably my biggest fear.

    This afternoon he got up the stairs just fine, so I hope it was just the fact that he overdid it and that resting him will do the trick!


    Quote Originally Posted by barry581 View Post
    See them age is so hard. You do what you can to help them, and keep their quality of life. Cookie went though so much after his accident, how well he's done since then is a testament to his spirit. You could see in the fountain that he may be old in body, but he's still young in heart!!
    Thanks, Barry. Labs just never grow up, do they?
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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  15. #9
    Senior Dog Jollymolly's Avatar
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    Im glad to see he managed the stairs this afternoon. I hope it was from over exertion.

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    Berna (06-15-2019)

  17. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Berna View Post
    Thanks Annette, your post really made me feel hopeful, since all your dogs were long-lived. It's just that I know a few labs that just lost the feeling of their hind legs completely and were consequently put to sleep, and that is probably my biggest fear.

    This afternoon he got up the stairs just fine, so I hope it was just the fact that he overdid it and that resting him will do the trick!




    Thanks, Barry. Labs just never grow up, do they?
    Not that I've ever noticed!

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    Berna (06-15-2019)

 



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