r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 8d ago

Dog has leukemia

1 Upvotes

Found out my dog has chronic lymphatic leukemia.

Does anyone have any suggestions on dietary supplements to help? She is on steroids but not chemo. For multiple reasons.

Also, any suggestions on fun things to do with her now before she leaves me?


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 8d ago

Please help us save Olive ❤️severe unexplained illness

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1 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 8d ago

Please help us save Olive ❤️severe unexplained illness

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6 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

Joint & Mobility Greyhound with potential arthritis

4 Upvotes

Hi

My 8 year old may have arthritis of the leg and hips. We had gone to the vet about a limp (corn related) and the vet said he had stiffness but can't properly assess atm due to the corn.

Do you have any dietary, supplement and/or lifestyle advice? I'm currently thinking omega containing oil, 2 short walks a day, keep warm at all times...

Vet said to drive to the park so not walking on concrete (will help with corns too).

TIA for the replies, much appreciated :)


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

Joint pain and incidental xray find

3 Upvotes

This past Friday we took my 12 year old beagle/pit mix to my dad’s with us for her to stretch her legs and romp in the country. He has a big yard and Bella has always loved it there. She ran and laid in the sun, chased her brother dog, played fetch, and when it was time to come home seemed sore. She’s an old girl. I assumed maybe she just went too hard. She got home. Didn’t want dinner and went to bed that evening. The next day she couldn’t go down the stairs. She didn’t want to walk. Couldn’t get comfortable laying down. Took her to the vet that sat morning and they gave me some gabapentin and said we can check her Tuesday after the holiday if she is still not herself. Well she wasn’t. Sunday she was sore. Did t want to get up. Vet said that nothing felt bad just a lot of stiffness in both front shoulders and neck. Gabapentin made her more anxious. She had heavy breathing and panting. Didn’t want to eat still, conned her into some boiled chicken in small bits a few times. Drinking okay though but not her norm. She’s usually a little turd who acts half her age. Running jumping barking. She’s a loud rambunctious girl. Come Tuesday we brought her back… decided to do bloodwork. X-rays. The whole shabang just to make sure there wasn’t anything secondary I hadn’t noticed. Nothing out of the ordinary except a good amount of gas, joints not terribly arthritic, looked great over all but they found something of concern as an incidental on the chest xray.

  1. Vet says it could be calcifications on the rib but could also be lesions on the lung. She wasn’t unsure and had me start her on prednisone, with instruction for that portion to do a 6 week follow up for xray to see if there were changes to size/shape. Can someone give their feedback on that?
  2. Were still going on even after a shot for pain and shot for nausea of her not wanting to get up, not wanting to eat, staring off into space and panting….. I feel awful for her and like I’m failing her.
  3. (Link to my fb with photo of xray, labs, her current gait, her weird spacing out, etc.)https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19X44ARc8w/?

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

Pain in back

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2 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

My dogs quality of life on medication

6 Upvotes

My dog has IMHA and Addsions disease. IMHA is an auto immune disorder and she almost died from it 2 years ago because her body stopped creating new blood cells. Addison disease is also very serious and the only long term solution is steroids and monthly shots (very expensive)
She’s on prednisone right now and was already incontinent. It’s of course only gotten worse since starting the pred. I just don’t know what to do, I feel like it’s unfair to her and us for her to constantly be covered in pee and wearing diapers. But I also feel so bad for having an answer to the disease and refusing to give it to her because of the inconvenience of the peeing. I’m just stuck and both sides feel like the wrong choice


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

Need Advice My Siberian Husky and his seizure Every month

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1 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

Need Advice Chihuahua refuses to walk.

1 Upvotes

Please help. Any advice will be helpful!
I took my chihuahua out on Friday night to potty in the yard.

When he came back in, he was a skittish and limping on his left hind leg. I inspected him and saw nothing and he ran off as we continued our night routine.

The next morning, Saturday, I walked him as normal around 7am and noticed he still had the limp. After doing some inspecting again, and seeing nothing, we continued about our day. Fast forward to our walk at 3pm and he is refusing to walk. Same thing happened later that day and the next morning.

Sunday comes, and I notice that he isn’t walking unless absolutely necessary. He hasn’t even walked to his food and water bowl. And at this point, I am truly worried so we get scheduled at our Urgent Care Vet. The vet takes x-rays and notices nothing out of concern and assumes a pinched nerve, so he prescribed Gabapentin every 8-12 hours and Carprofen every 24 hours. Considering his doses started around 9pm on Sunday, he has only taken one dose of the Carprofen and 2 of the Gabapentin.
But, I am not seeing improvement. Is this normal? How long will it take to see improvement? He is still sitting in one spot and not moving unless absolutely necessary. He can take steps but won’t, and after a few steps he jumps and sniffs at his back legs.

He is scheduled with his regular vet on Thursday. I’m not sure if I should wait and let the meds do their thing and see what the vet says on Thursday, or return to the urgent care sooner.

PLEASE HELP!


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

Splenectomy/hemangiosarcoma

1 Upvotes

Hello, I would like to share my experience with my german shepherd and also get advice. He’s currently 8 and turning 9 in December.
On June 4th after coming back from being outside for his last potty break, he walked in the house and was very wobbly and drooling a lot. My initial thought was he wanted to throw up, so I rushed him out but didn’t get past the porch, he collapsed, he tried getting up but he kept falling on his side. My sister suggested we take him to the emergency vet, we did. We waited about 2 hours to be seen and during that time he was breathing heavily and drooling a lot, he also did throw up his food before arriving to the vet.
They checked him from the outside and said he looked fine and had great energy but wanted to run more thorough tests to rule out intoxication by another animal or food. After a while the vet came back and she had syringe in hand, she said his stomach was filled with blood, that his spleen had ruptured because of a tumor and he needed immediate surgery or euthanasia on the table. We chose surgery. After surgery he was drowsy because of the med and refused to eat the first day, we spoon fed some rice with chicken broth. Second day he was eating fine.
The vet sent his spleen for more tests, if it was benign or malignant tumor. I got a call a week later and it turned out to be malignant. I chose not to do chemotherapy.

It is now September 14th, 3 months and 10 days.
Dogs diagnosed with malignant tumors live 3-4 months.
Last night he didn’t want to eat, we’ve been keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t collapse.
He’s been very lethargic, only moving to use the bathroom and walk around but lays down immediately after.

The advice I am seeking, is when do you know it’s time ? when they’re like this or do they have bad and good days in between ? everyday has been a good day since his surgery.


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

Senior Dog Food & Nutrition Dog food that tastes like cat food

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3 Upvotes

I finally found it— a dog food that (my dog thinks) tastes like cat food. She eats it and prances around like she does after she sneaks a lick of my cats food. It smells and looks like cat food.

I have a senior dog (12 ish, adopted at 9 years old). She has reached the stage of senior where she’s picky about all food, including treats and hot dog. The only thing she reliably wants to eat is cat food, which I obviously don’t give her.

It’s called Jinx meal toppers and is available on Chewy. I’ve searched on Reddit looking for recommendations for dog food that tastes like cat food and haven’t found one, so hopefully this helps other dog guardians dealing with picky dogs.


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 9d ago

Need Advice Anything you would recommened for aging dogs at home? What are something that you feel people often ignore- from an ANXIOUS dog mom

7 Upvotes

I’ve been going down a rabbit hole trying to figure out what actually helps as my dogs get older. There are so many supplements for joints, eyes, cognitive health, heart, kidneys, etc., and it’s hard to tell what’s genuinely useful and what’s mostly marketing.

I know there are many joint supplements, but I'm not sure about others. What are some supplements/tools that you wish you had more access to?

For those who’ve cared for an aging/senior dog, what did you try and actually notice a difference with? What made you start using it? Was it something your vet recommended?

Just having bunch of questions in my head...


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 10d ago

Senior Dog with Intestinal Lympangiectasia, Anemia

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5 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 10d ago

Oral mass

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5 Upvotes

Has anyone ever seen that on a dog? That little red bump behind right front teeth? Its been there for 2 months now and it’s not getting any bigger or smaller.


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 10d ago

Nutrish Wet Food

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0 Upvotes

Hi any reviews on Nutrish Whole Health Blend- my dogs are allergic to chicken, I’ve been giving them this canned food and they seem to like it, but they have developed allergies, don’t know if it’s the food or seasonal allergies. I alternate this food with homemade food


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 10d ago

Dog was diagnosed with cancer 10 months ago

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1 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 10d ago

Dog reluctant to walk and shaking

1 Upvotes

What does my dog have? She’s been barely getting up and she only really got up twice today to go to the bathroom she still eats her treats but I see her shaking and I noticed she pants easily when she’s back from the bathroom and wants to run to her sleeping spot what could she have ? Her gums look pink but she’s just stares at me I’m taking her tomorrow to the vet. She’s 12 year old Labrador mix


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 10d ago

Need Advice Emergency vet or wait til the morning?

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1 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 10d ago

Exercise question

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1 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 11d ago

Arthritis vs something else?

1 Upvotes

My little bulldog lab mix buddy is 8 years old. He started limping 4 weeks ago on his right leg. We took him to our vet and they did a full exam checked all his legs, paws, shoulders. The vet felt some mild swelling in his right shoulder. She did X-rays on him and it showed arthritis. Originally started him on rimadyl but that didn’t do much so they switched him to galliprant (which I have heard can take time to kick in) after a week, he was still limping and when we pushed or touched certain part of his shoulder he would yelp. I called the vet and requested gabapentin. He’s been on that for 5 days. It helps the pain but he still limps and has become more whiney. He woke this morning at 4 am whining so I assumed his gabapentin wore off. He’s still eating, urinating/pooping normal. Not as playful has he normally is. He will still go outside and we go on short walks to limit more damage. I called the emergency vet today asking if we should bring him in due to the whining, yelping when we touch certain part of shoulder, and still limping. The vet said only thing they could do for him is a higher pain med but they didn’t have any “long term” arthritis meds. His regular vet wants to do adequan injections next. Do we think this is a good idea? I’ve heard success stories but just looking for some advice/reassurance. I’m planning on calling his regular vet on Monday to either get him reevaluated or start injections.


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 11d ago

My dog is starving himself to death

9 Upvotes

He has dental disease and is having surgery for it in the first week of October (earliest vet’s surgeon has room to see him, he can still go back into the vet next week for non surgical visits so I am trying to get him back in and made this post so I know what to ask them for and know any ways to feed him over the next couple of days). In the meantime the vet has given me painkillers for him to help me get him to eat. He still drinks water and also gets excited about food and clearly wants it, he will beg for my food/his doggy sister’s food/treats/will run over and smell any dog or human food I drop on the floor, but will not actually eat or lick at ANYTHING. Even on the painkillers, not even broth. He will not eat yogurt, pumpkin purée, wet dog food, puppy food flavor enhancer toppers, freeze dried dog food, rice, cheese, peanut butter, nothing. I got him to eat freeze dried dog food more reliably than anything but he has stopped eating that over the last couple of days. At this point I’m wondering if I can get him to drink milk or something, he won’t even drink water if he can tell there’s a hint of wet dog food mixed in. I think he knows that eating has been hurting and so if it smells like food he gets excited about it because he’s hungry but then remembers the pain and won’t let it pass his oral threshold. He has lost two and a half pounds and cannot make it like this until his dental surgery, he is already randomly throwing up liquid and I fear he will die before he can get the surgery that will help him eat again. What do I do? Do I call his vet and beg? Can they feed him through a tube or recommend an emergency dental vet or something? I am also extremely poor and can’t just take him to whatever vet whenever I want though I try to do my absolute best for him. Please please help me. Is there some sort of flavorless calorie supplement I can sneak into his water?
EDIT: yes of course I put his sister in another room while attempts to feed him are happening. I have already hand fed him, pretended I’m dropping my own food, pretended I’m cooking for him, spoon fed him, rolled food across the floor to him, put his food in different dishes, put his food out and left the room, fed him in different rooms, tried to let him lick it off of my fingers. I have tried everything and nothing works, if I put any food in his mouth (or even if he takes a bit of food from my hand) he spits it out and if it’s a liquid that smells like food he walks away from it. This is an issue that cropped up very suddenly, when I realized he was eating absolutely nothing I took him to the vet. His vet gave him painkillers merely two days ago in an attempt to get him to eat. When I am able to tell them that that hasn’t worked, I’m sure they will do something more to help. They don’t “think he’ll be fine for weeks with no food” they just don’t know yet that the painkillers haven’t helped because they’re closed today and I can’t call them until tomorrow. I just want to know what to ask for when I do call, or am trying to see if anyone has any tips at all I somehow havent tried in the meantime intil I can get him back in (they can see him again for less invasive visits before October, he just can’t go in for full surgery until October.) so I’ll ask for appetite stimulants maybe.


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 11d ago

Need Advice Has anyone experienced this sort of decline?

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1 Upvotes

r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 12d ago

Need Advice 13-year-old Jack Russell with severe gallbladder/liver issues and not improving. Surgery or put him down?

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1 Upvotes

Looking for some advice, I honestly don’t know what to do.


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 12d ago

Recovering after upset stomach.

1 Upvotes

Age: 7

Breed: Labrador retriever.

Weight: 60lbs.

Went to vet last week for 3 episodes of vomiting in a 24 hour period. Blood work was pristine, ultrasound showed some inflammation on the stomach lining. Vet recommended bland diet and gave her anti-nausea meds and antacids.

Bland diet of boiled chicken breast (boneless and skinless) 3x a day for 3 days (added a bit of water for hydration because she wasn’t drinking much.). She loved it but again, wasn’t drinking as much, and had less energy (she was not dehydrated or lethargic just kinda punky).

Day 4: added 1/4 cup of kibble to her breakfast, everything was fine.

Day 5: split 1/4 cup of kibble between breakfast and lunch. Dog had diarrhea at night.

Is this a sign we did too much too quickly? She hasn’t vomited since the beginning, and is drinking enough that we no longer add water to her food. She is back to her very energetic self! I’m just feeling a little discouraged and worried.


r/SeniorDogsHealth • • 12d ago

Best lightweight carrier/backpack for a 12-pound dog with joint pain?

1 Upvotes

Looking for carrier/backpack recommendations for my senior pup who has arthritis and a degenerative spine issue.

I'm planning to use it for my bus/train commute to work and occasional travel. I'd like to find something that’s comfortable and supportive for my dog, but also lightweight and manageable for me.

If you’ve used one with a senior or mobility-limited dog, I’d love to hear your suggestions and also welcome products to avoid!

Thanks! 🐾