Sampson had his annual wellness exam last week.
There were a couple of things that were concerning to me and I was anxious to discuss them with the vet. The first up was Sampson’s physical well being.
Sampson’s been licking at his front paws for at least three years now. He goes on an off with it. I put him on a supplement and he does well, then after a short while, he starts licking at them again. X-rays taken when it first started showed nothing. We couldn’t determine if he was licking at his front paws because they hurt, or he was licking because something hurt somewhere else and his paws were the easiest thing to reach.
Since his ACL surgery 20 months ago, he doesn’t put full weight on his back feet. Since each back foot takes approximately 20% of his weight, I wasn’t sure if the extra pressure on his front was causing him discomfort.
His back legs tremble when he stands. Like when we stop on a walk. And he doesn’t care for standing, if he has to stand for too long, he’ll lie down.
Then about 10 days before his exam, he was running around the house and he started holding up his left front foot. I massaged the leg and the foot and he went right back to using it. In my mind this confirmed that his front paws were bothering him. I filed it in the back of my mind to mention at the vet.
Sampson at the vet’s office, you can see how much he hates going.
I shared all of this with Dr. Soutter who after examining him determined that Sampson has arthritis in the two middle toes of both front paws and he also has it really bad in his left wrist. He also has it at his surgery site and more than likely in his hips. As for the trembling, she says she can’t say with certainty, it could be something vets refer to as “geriatric trembling,” or it could be that stinking Illiosoas.
My poor guy.
The next question was how do we make him comfortable?
Well he’s already on Glucosamine, an Omega product and Zyflamend for anti-inflammatory. Our choices were to put him on pain pills for days when he’s really struggling, or we try Adequan injections. Then Dr. Soutter suggested he might be a candidate for PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy). Clearly we had some decisions to make.
Next we talked about his noise phobia.
Sampson never used to have an issue with noises. Oh a sudden and loud noise might startle him, but thunder storms, fireworks and wind never bothered him.
Until recently.
In the past year he gets very anxious when any of these events take place. When I’m home, we typically go in the bedroom where we can snuggle on the bed. If I am beside him reassuring him, he usually does pretty well. If I’m not home, he heads downstairs to my mom’s apartment. With the apartment being in the basement, it is typically much quieter than the upper part of the house.
He also takes issue with my husband and my mom’s cell phones (either ringing or text alerts) and my mom’s house phone. Mind you, when my phone goes off, whether it be ringing (actually my phone barks) :-), text alert or one of my crazy alarms, it doesn’t bother him at all. Long time readers may remember that last summer we had a problem where the smoke detector went nuts. We don’t know for how long it was beeping but poor Sampson was really freaked out by it.
Dr. Soutter thinks his new aversion to sounds could be as simple as the frequency of the phones is the same as the smoke alarm.
My poor guy.
He does have one bad tooth, right in the front of his mouth. He had that last year too, but it doesn’t appear to be bothering him. Dr. Soutter suggested we take care of it sooner, rather than later because it could cause a bone infection. So I went ahead and scheduled him to have it removed in January.
Other than those issues, he seems to be okay. He’s maintained his weight of 85 pounds, and everything else seems good. We had blood drawn to check for tick borne diseases as well as heartworm and those were both negative.
The biggest issue is making him comfortable and as pain free as we can. Next week I’ll let you know how we decided to treat his arthritis. In the meantime, have you had experience with pain management, Adequan injections or PEMF? If so, would you mind sharing them with me? Thank you!
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Poor Sampson! Please give him a treat for me. I hope he starts to feel better with the care you are giving him. 🙂
Poor pup. The trembling in the back legs can happen in older dogs. If Sampson is at the same weight he has been before becoming a senior, you might want to consider taking some additional weight off him. Storm’s breeder keeps his seniors very lean and it really can help with the “rear leg” issues. Did you have xrays to confirm the arthritis? I am curious. Storm’s breeder also has had acupuncture done on senior dogs to relieve arthritis pain and swears it works. Maybe something to look into if the other doesn’t help.
We did not have x-rays to confirm the arthritis. I didn’t even know that was possible.
Sampson started his weight loss in 2010, he was six. He lost a little the first year and then more the second and third years, but he didn’t hit the vet’s goal weight for him until the end of 2014. I know he looks big in that picture, but really, he has a tiny waist and hips compared to his front end and he really has a very large rib cage. I might be able to get a couple more pounds off him, but I don’t think I could get much more than that.
I’ll have to check and see if I can’t get him an acupuncture appointment, I never thought of it!
Poor Sampson….getting older is not easy. Sheba has that trembling in her legs at times also. Since I’ve seen it in many older dogs it doesn’t overly concern me, though I hate to see it.
I also suspect Sheba has arthritis in places that haven’t been diagnosed (she also does the paw licking). But since she’s already in treatment for where we know it is, I haven’t discussed it with the vet (though certainly would if anything worsened).
We use Rimadyl for her bad spells. I know some people don’t like it, but Cricket takes it as well for arthritis and it has really helped both of them a lot. Cricket is on it daily and is monitored with blood tests.
I have also heard cold laser therapy as well as massage can be good for arthritis. I think you used the laser therapy for Sampson’s recovery? I have both of those things on my back burner for when either of the girls gets worse.
Poor Sheba. Doesn’t it break your heart to see her tremble, I know it breaks mine to watch Sampson. Usually I will massage his upper and inner thigh when he trembles and it does help.
We didn’t discuss the type of pain medication with the vet, but I’ll put that in my file for future reference. Thanks for reminding me about the cold laser, I’d forgotten about that.
Oh, poor Sampson. I have Blueberry on Dasaquin (it’s a stronger strength and more expensive, but seems to be more concentrated and helpful) along with Freeform and I give her half a tab of Rimadyl once a day. For really bad days, which maybe happen once or twice a year – I keep a bottle of Tramadol around for her. And of course, exercise and mandatory (B’s idea, not really mine) massages on a nightly basis. I have tossed around the idea of Adequan – but I don’t think it’s something that’s really necessary right now. As long as what she is taking is working and not causing her any harm, I see no reason to change things up. If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it. My last dog that had a lot of pain, nothing seemed to help him. He was really bad off and the options at the time weren’t what they are now. I ended up having him euthanized because he was just not getting any pleasure out of life anymore – he had that thousand yard stare thing going a LOT. It was always so sad when he’d get stuck in the dog door. Sounds like Sampson is having some issues, but I know you will figure out what works for him to make him as comfortable as possible.
That’s really weird about the sounds. I am used to B being sensitive – I haven’t had my phone turned on for that very reason (if I’m honest, I have some noise sensitivity issues too). She also had a run in with the smoke alarm battery running low when I was at work and it was beeping when I got home and B was hiding outside, nervous. I have no idea how long she was like that but I just remember the noise when I got home and taking a hammer to the alarm to stop it and then looking for her outside and escorting her back inside. Once the noise was gone, she was fine. I understand the importance of smoke alarms – but come on – that noise when it’s just a low battery is piercing and in my opinion, unnecessary.
Thank you for sharing how you are treating Blueberry and for taking me up on the challenge to teach her to use your back for a stool. I had a quite a chuckle about that post. I also laughed at you taking a hammer to the alarm because when I got home and couldn’t shut the damn thing off, I ripped it off the wall. A couple of weeks ago we picked up 10 year smoke alarms (the battery is supposed to last that long) and they also ‘talk’ instead of beeping. I’m glad she had no lasting side effects from the beeping. I seem to recall my smoke alarms in my old place would ‘chirp’ every minute or so when the battery was low. It was annoying as hell, but not nearly as bad as that constant beeping.
That chirp is so loud – that’s what freaked B out. I am going to have to look into those 10 year alarms that only “talk”. Right now I am living without a smoke alarm and I keep telling B if we burn, it’s her fault. 😉 And I think all smoke alarms should come with a small hammer. They make it impossible to remove the battery. I’m hardly ever violent – but the smoke alarm chirp or beep will set me off every time. 🙂
Aw, poor sweet Sampson. Feel better soon, buddy. <3
Have you tried acupuncture for pain management? I try to go non-chemical first but like the sounds of the PEMF as a strategy though I'm unfamiliar with it. As someone who themselves is experiencing issues with getting older, I can confirm "it definitely ain't for sissies." Best of luck making your sweet handsome boy as comfortable as possible.
I haven’t! Damn, why didn’t I think of it? I’ve done it for the Illiosoas but never thought of it for the arthritis and I’m in agreement with you, I’d prefer non-chemical if I can manage it.
Aw poor guy, I wish I had some experience with that so I could share, but I just don’t. I am anxious to see what decisions you make, and how it helps him though.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
He is such a lucky pup to have someone like you to read his mind.
It is so hard to see a loved pup getting old. Katie went through the noise phase, Mom’s phone made her crazy, but less than 6 months later she is nearly deaf. Not that it will be the same for you, but it came and went really quickly, the fear I mean. We deal with the arthritis and it is tough. Wet weather is the worst, dry air and Katie does much better. No pain meds here, but we do the Rejenease, and Katie has been wearing the Dr. Buzby’s toe grips since August to help her out on the hardwood flooring. The toe grips may help his paws take it a bit easier if you have floors that are not carpeted. Katie didn’t want them on at all but after about 5 mins she was fine with them. That’s my two cents on it all. Give him lots of hugs too, everyone loves hugs!
Do you find it easier for Katie to get up with the toe grips on? I got a pair in Nashville and I put them somewhere and I can’t find them!!
Katie likes to sleep on the wood floor, but she was waking us up every night because she couldn’t get up and we could hear the flailing paws on the floor, so Mom would get up, go downstairs and help her. Toe grips on, hasn’t happened since. She had also stopped walking anywhere with the wood floors so she was confined to the living room but now she walks all over the main floor, slowly, but she does it and doesn’t fall down either. They stay on all the time, even on her walks, and last at least 2 months. One will fall off here and there, sometimes it can be put back on, sometimes she needs a new one, but it has been a big help.
Awesome news for Katie (and the rest of you trying to sleep!) Thanks for sharing that. This weekend on my hunt for my toe grips. 🙂
I hope Sampson feels better soon! A friend of mine has had good luck with adequan injections!
I’m just curious how it works….is it just an injection like a vaccine or is it more involved?
Mom’s old dog took a chewable thing called Cosequin which definitely helped her feel more comfortable as she got older.
Thanks Cupcake, I’ll check that out.
I’m so sorry. 🙁
One thing I heard once is that older dogs startle easier because they begin to lose their hearing, and certain noises they can become more sensitive too. Not sure if it’s true or not.
I hope you get things figured out with Sampson, it’s hard getting older. <3 <3
*Wags and Kisses you way!*
It’s so hard watching them age and then second guessing yourself if you’re doing the right thing. 🙁
Oh the arthritis is so tough to manage, I sympathize with you and Sampson. It’s hard to find the right balance of pills/supplements/exercise/etc, and some days are worse than others. I’d love to know if you have any good results with any of those options. Laika is OK for the moment, but since it’s progressive I know we’ll have to add more treatments later on. I’ve heard good things about cosequin & adequan but we don’t have any personal experience.
Geriatric trembling? That’s a new one to me. It sucks getting older, but Sampson is so lucky he’s in such great hands.
As far as noise phobias go it is quite odd that they seem to show up randomly. My Lab was about 10 when he first started getting frightened by new noises – like the new washing machine. It completely caught us off guard, but we did our best to help desensitize him to all those scary things.
Laika is a lot younger than Sampson is, isn’t she? That must be so difficult!
Never heard of the geriatric trembling before and Dr. Google didn’t have much on it.
Oh the poor puppy, I’m glad you were able to help desensitize him. Because his reactions are so random, I haven’t even tried with the phones.
I don’t really have any experience with those kinds of pain management but I did give Cocoa a baby aspirin once in a while. The vet said it was good to help her with her arthritis but not more than a couple times a week because it could upset her tummy. It did seem to help her but it wasn’t a daily thing. I gave her massages at night (oh my goodness I sound crazy but you understand, right, lol). Sampson is in good hands with you!!
And State of The Dog, hilarious!!
Glad you liked the title!
Poor Cocoa. Isn’t she a young pup too? What’s up with that. Glad the baby aspirin helped and NO, I do not think you’re crazy for giving her massages, I do a lot of that around here myself. 🙂
Hi Y’all!
I swear by acupuncture. We used it on the horses’ backs beginning in the 80’s. It’s especially good for back problems. My Hubby and I have gotten acupuncture for years for ourselves after seeing the results on the animals.
BrownDog’s Human
Thank you. I’m going to speak to my vet about this! I’m glad you have had results.
Poor Sampson, it sucks getting old. We see great results with Adequan when they are really really bad. Other wise our clients use nsaids when needed or supplement with tramadol for added pain relief.
I hope your buddy feels better soon.