Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Old Dog Owies


This morning I went down to the basement to wake up Simon for School, and let old Butchy out to go potty.  He (Butch) did not want to get up.  When he finally did he whimpered as he walked across the floor.  I stopped, reached down to touch him and he yelped and went back to his bed.  I called him back to the living room and felt him all  over, not hoping that he would yelp again, but hoping he would give me some indication as to where he hurt.  He didn't. 

Then he went to the door to go out.  I let him out but watched him the whole time.  He moved slow as he did his morning routine.  I know he has an enlarged prostate, so he has to work at it some when it comes to potty time.  But he got all his business done without incident and trotted back to the door where I was waiting. 

Usually at this point he comes up stairs with me, but this time he went back to his bed. The the other two (bad dogs) came down and jumped all over Simons bed. They sit right in the middle of Simon's chest to say good morning.  When they went back up the stairs to collect the morning treats, Butch still did not go.  I was finally able to coax him to come along, and after that he acted completely normal.

I took some time to just rub him all over hoping for some sort of reaction, but got nothing. I massaged his bad elbow, made sure he got a Rimadyl, and just watched him very closely.  He ate good, asked for his treats like he always does. He was wagging his tail, and had happy feet when he got his butt scratched. 

I can only assume that he was just a little stoved up from laying in one position too long. It seemed that once he got moving he was ok again. Still it worries me.  He was obviously in quite a bit of pain if it made him whimper to walk.  We will watch him and see how he does tomorrow.  If it happens again, it may be time to try something a little more effective than the Rimadyl.  Although I am not sure what that would be.

I know that the day will come, and it is not that far off, where he will be in too much pain.  I know that eventually I am going to have to make that hard decision.  I'm glad I don't have to make the decision today...truthfully I am just not ready.

4 comments:

  1. I hate when they get to that stage. Especially when you're not sure what's hurting them. I've learned at the vet clinic that labs as a general rule are very stoic, and if they say something hurts then it really hurts. Poor old guy. Maybe your vet would think tramadol is a good option. That's the only other pain killer (besides Rimadyl) that I've used, and it was kind of a last-ditch effort at the very end. But it can be very effective.

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  2. Poor old fella, hope you can keep him comfortable a while longer

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  3. At least you will be able to know you gave him his best last days he could have! Much better than being put down at the shelter like he otherwise would have.

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  4. Well here is my update. We started him on a glucosamine supplement last night, which I am hoping will help. I was going to start him on it earlier, but with being on vacation, it sort of got set a side. He was moving slow this morning but no whining or yelping. Luckily I got his rimadyl refilled just in time so he did not have to go without any.
    Andrea I do have some tramadol left over from when Smarty swallowed the pacifier, I will keep that in mind if he seems to be getting worse.
    I had to smile this morning, because even though he is moving slow, he was right there at the door when I was leaving hoping to come to work with me! Silly old dog!

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