Xena, our 11 year old Springer Spaniel, has been diagnosed with early-stage cataracts.
Under normal circs, would be happy to take her to a specialist to see if they can be
operated on.
Problem is, having undergone TIPLO cruciate ligament surgeries in each of her hind legs
In the last five years, Xena suffers from quite serious arthritis. While powerful monthly
Liberium painkilling shots supplemented with Remedium tablets (when necessary) ease her
pain, her movement is seriously impaired and she has piled on an alarming amount of weight.
Sadly, this is a vicious circle that it is almost impossible to break.
As B and I aren’t keen on subjecting X to the stress of another operation or, indeed,
whether she might survive it, would be grateful to hear from any other AWers with experience
of caring for a visually impaired family pet.
Can’t offer any advice re the eye issue sadly Jaygee but one of my dogs started quite suddenly with arthritis in her back legs about a year ago. She is now on monthly Librela (I presume this is what you meant not Liberian?) injections coupled with Yumove. Total game changer but of course my insurance premiums have subsequently gone through the roof (my other dog is also on lifetime medicine as has Addisons Disease). Hope you can find some answers as to how to go forward.
We’ve been able to buy Yumove at our local Costco for the last few months. It is somewhat cheaper than the vet or even Amazon.
… is Yumove any good? My old dog (some sort of oodle rescued 7 years ago) is estimated to be in his 13th year which is quite a lot for a biggish dog. Anyway his agility is noticeably reducing, and he seems to be having much less movement in his back legs. I wondered if yumove might help.
Yumove smells absolutely rank but dog gobbles it down happily enough and yes, it seems to have had a positive effect on his stiff back legs
I’d never heard of it. It contains the usual grey-area supplements used by alterna-med peddlers. There is marginal evidence for hyaluronic acid and Glucosamine in some quite specific cases. It may be of some mild benefit early in the onset of arthritis where there is still reasonable cartilage in place, but will do literally nothing with severe degenerative joint disease. Many of the degenerative arthritic changes we see in dogs are straight up mechanical, with spurs of bone in the joint and very little of the remaining joint cartilage and fluid. It’s like having a square bearing in a motor and thinking it will now run smoothly because you’ve changed the viscosity of the oil by 10%.
If the dog is in pain, it needs to go onto some sort of actual anti-inflammatory, of which there are numerous available with reasonably minimal side effects. I used to tell owners to try pain relief at normal strength for a fortnight (e.g. Meloxicam) and look for a difference. That will indicate the delta you have to play with. If that makes no difference, it’s unlikely that anything south of opioids will make a difference. If it makes a difference, you try to taper back to the minimum effective dose, but at least you now know the potential improvement.
Oh, and the very first thing you do for an overweight dog with degenerative joint disease (and humans, for that matter) is drop their body weight. That’s often all that is needed.
Librela is an absolute game changer isn’t it? One of my mutts was limping for months, struggled to get up after being laid down etc, he’s now bounding around like a puppy, fortunately I’m in a position where the £72 monthly cost is affordable. I’ve never had a visually impaired dog but I did have an old dog who went stone deaf literally overnight, it didn’t bother him at all, we found hand-claps were the only way to get his attention and he lived like that for a couple of years until old age took him.
Must have been hell every time Friends came on
Can’t offer any useful advice at all. But I’m very sad to her that your poor pooch is sufferíng.
Xena? Is she a real warrior princess?
Thanks @Kaisfatdad @Feedback_File
You’re right, F, it is librela. Is your dog over seven now? That seems to be when the premiums kick up while the claim limits fall through the floor.
Not quite the warrior princess she once was, K, but she’s happy enough to jump in the car when we go out and run a bit when we go down to the farm
At the end of the day, all you can do is make them comfortable and try to love them just a tiny fraction of how much they love you.
Yes she is 10 and from age 9 you have to pay the first 20% of any claims regardless. The overriding factor for my premiums suddenly going into orbit is the fact that both dogs are on lifelong medication and in effect the premium increase pretty much reflects the cost of the medicine.
I hate insurance companies of all persuasions – all is great until you dare to make a claim and then its all small print and clauses and exceptions and no you cant claim on Tuesdays or if you were born in Rotherham ………….
No real advice to give but your tale (tail?) resonated. Our 18 year old cat is currently awaiting a result from a biopsy on a lump found yesterday. He has, over the last month or so, really started to act like a really old cat. We are not overly hopeful.
Our 10 year old dog started falling over (literally) last January. The vet recommended a scan which the local vet wanted £4,000 for. At this point, I found out that I hadn’t renewed the insurance for the last 2 years. We ended up taking the dog to Wigan where a vet did a brilliant job for less than half that and gave the dog the all clear. Some drugs later and the dog seems to have made a full recovery.
Both pets are now insured again but an 18 year cat and an 10 year old dog come with decent premiums, robust excess and still having to pay for 15% of the bill.
My boy Rollo, a Jack Russell, made it to the age of 19 last year, having had cataracts for the last 12 months or so of his life. He’d endured all sorts along the way, including advancing arthritis, and when his sight started to fail him too we made appropriate adjustments to ease his daily experience – lifting him on and off the bed before he distressed himself by falling off backwards, building a little ramp with a non-slip surface so that he could still reliably run in from the garden to the conservatory without bashing into the step, and so on. Eventually, he could see almost nothing at all, and as a consequence his pride fell and his activity level dropped even further; his quality of life was not making him a happy boy. On his terms, we bowed to the inevitable and said goodbye. Amid a lot of tears we knew we had done the right thing at the right time. I miss him every day, and always will. Be brave for your Xena when the time comes.
Never had a dog since childhood but plenty of cats. Always found their ageing-with-worsening-medical-conditions difficult if not damn near impossible to get right. Some of our beloved friends we held on for too long, a few perhaps we went a tad early with the dreaded last visit to the vet.
Hope jaygee, that decision with Xena is a long way off.
When I was growing up we had a few dogs over the years. I can only remember using a vet at the very end if they avoided any major accidents. These days it seems that vets are able to diagnose and treat so much more. I have to wonder whether all the treatment that is offered is really necessary. Our neighbour paid £4000 for an operation on her German Shepherd a month ago to fix it’s hearing. It didn’t seem to work. This weekend her beloved pet died. I can’t help thinking that she was conned out of the money which she quite probably needs. It makes me feel Vets/insurance is a racket. I hope I’m wrong. I also wish your pets the very best of health.
Here in NW London, the local vets seem to be part of a marketing mafia – sorry, chain of devoted animal lovers. When I take my aging dachshund in for his ailments and routine checkups. I’ve noticed increasingly, that consultations are increasingly a sales pitch for their monthly pet plan, or the expensive ancillary services they just happen to provide.
They even charged £25 to print off a prescription. But to be fair, they knew I was going to buy the heart pills I needed for the dog for 2/3 cheaper online. That’s because when I baulked at paying 90 quid for a month”s worth of pills, the receptionist furtively whispered that was exactly what I should do.
When I use my local vet in Berlin, the whole thing is much more brisk, less geared towards upselling and guilt-tripping clients into paying extortionate sums and instead, focusing more on the animal’s health.
I had to pay for a copy of a prescription then found it was only valid for 3 months, so any online saving was negligible, as a further copy would be required. Felt scammed.
Our 11 year old shih Tzu has had ulcers on both eyes, which means he has very little sight.
But he seems happy enough (especially when my son is around to carry him and hug him), and our walks on very familar routes appear to have great smells.
So, while he is able we keep him happy
While thinking of the next dog…. (a whippet maybe, what with me being a northern stereotype).
I have always had collies, notorious for cataracts. They have complex lenses and are not easy to fix surgically and would require multiple drops etc. My last dog had visual impairment for a long time. However, dogs’ sense of smell far outstrip humans’. Four legs are easier than two for getting around as well. He was walked along familiar routes off his lead, as usual. We stayed close and spoke to him more. He had a good couple of years but didn’t really have arthritis. We didn’t put him through an op.
As I have discovered with my own cataracts, they are a sign of getting old. I think 11 for a sprinter is quite elderly, isn’t it?
My 15 year old Jack Russel has only a vague idea of what’s going on, one eye is glazed over and the other not far behind.
It’s like the other 2 dogs know and are helping her around (I may be overthinking it, and hoping that is the case).
We also have to do the lifting up thing, and the helpful extra step outside the door.
She can still manage stairs though (muscle memory?) but only if the light is on, and always know when there’s food about.
Had a urine infection about 2 months ago (the dog, not me) and was grateful we’d kept up the (never used) Pet Insurance – even if we did have to meet the first 20% of cost, and are now not covered if it happens again.
Seems OK (if getting noticeably slower), but we are steeling ourselves for the gradual decline and the decision moment of “what’s the best thing for her”
Yes, dreading that myself.
It’s never easy, but you have to rationalise it somehow and hope you got the timing right, on the cusp between battling on bravely and having a thoroughly miserable existence. Only you can tell, and only you have the final say. It’s the ultimate trust and the toughest love.
Hi Jaygee. Ex vet here.
For a start, the arthritis is unlikely to be related to the TPLO (Tibial Plateau Levelling Osteotomy, for those paying attention), unless the cruciate ruptures had been allowed to continue for years before they were treated. The surgery cuts the tibia below the joint so the joint is unaffected., unless it was already arthritic from the rupture. The likelihood of this happening bilaterally is pretty slim. I’m guessing the arthritis is in the hips.
As to the cataracts, I wouldn’t do it. They are very common in older dogs, the majority of which get on just fine. Dogs easily compensate with their other senses. If it was a young dog, I’d do it, but in your case I’d let the old warrior enjoy the rest if her life without putting her through that.
Happy to answer any other questions.
why do men have nipples?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_lactation
Broadly for the same reason women have a clitoris. We are drawn from the same brush, before chromosomes define which side we fall.
Please don’t say it’s a decision. It’s early and I am still unwoke.
Avada kedavra! There, fully awake. I’m with you on that one.
Thanks for the clarification re TPLO/arthritis and advice re cataract surgery, @Podicle,
At the end of the day, she’s 11, horribly overweight and wheezes terribly so I fear an operation will shorten rather than improve her life. Downloaded some stuff about how to make day-to-day life easier for a visually impaired dog so hopefully that will help.
On a couple of other points, excess on dogs over 8 here is the first E300 and a max of 65% back on any claim.
Was reading in the Sunday Times a few weeks back that lots of local vets in the UK are now being bought out by big corporations who ramp up the prices.
Thankfully, while 30 kms away, the practice I take Xena and Brownie to is still independent and they are really great with them. While a lot of people have expressed concerns with Mr. Chinnery, I won’t hear a word against him
If you were a client standing in front of me I would be actively talking you out of getting the surgery done.
Had many a client who didn’t realise their dog was blind until they rearranged the furniture.
My sister’s 8-9 y.o. terrier/shi tzu cross bitch is pretty visually impaired but doesn’t seem all that bothered by it. One eye is very cataracted and probably useless.
She’ll occasionally bump into things or misjudge the steps up onto the lawn in the back garden but she just picks herself up and carries on if she stacks it. It’s probably an advantage having little short legs as there’s not so far to tumble. She no longer jumps up onto the sofa but expects to be picked up these days. Still manages the stairs in my sister’s house, when she can be bothered. Just short walks on a lead these days.
@Podicle
In fairness to Triona (our vet), she only checked X’s eyes after I noticed X was having problems catching balls I tossed to her from a few feet away and asked her to do so when I brought the dog in for her monthly librela shot
In the past, T has always been very upfront about how traumatic interventions like biopsies are, and told me the decision of whether or not to take X to an eye specialist for evaluation was something B and I needed to decide for ourselves.
Wait. Who’s B?
Belle, my wife.
Apols for not making clear
I got a renewal notice for my dog’s insurance just a couple of days ago and was horrified to learn that they now want an eye-watering £60 per month, up from an already alarming £39.99 per month.
I’ve decided to pass. Betty is 15 now and very much in the twilight of her years. She’s deaf now, her eyes are cloudy and her back legs distinctly stiff. She spends probably 22 hours a day fast asleep but when she’s awake, she’s still full of life and still loves a (short) walk and a pig’s ear. I suspect that her next trip to the vet is very likely going to be her last one but for the time being, there’s life in the old dog yet. I just wish she was a little more fastidious in her toilet habits.
Pet insurance was just ramping up as I was getting out of the industry. It has had the predictable effect of massively increasing prices and promoting over-servicing by less-scrupulous clinics.
That is exactly what would happen if the NHS is ‘reformed’ into an insurance model.
As happens already in the private health sector, given the majority are paying via insurance.
In America yes, here in France it seems not. As a lifelong believer in the NHS I was very sceptical about the whole health insurance model. But here it seems to work (whether it is long-term affordable for the French economy is highly debatable). If you are poor, it’s free. Get cancer or virtually any other serious disease, it’s free. Paying an insurance premium gets you a private room and sometimes quicker access to specialists. It doesn’t allow you to queue jump anything remotely life-,threatening, might get your knee replaced in 6 weeks instead of 12. A nation of hypochondriacs seem very happy
I’m in an Italian hospital at this very moment. Awaiting brain surgery in a couple of hours, no less. (Oh woe is me, etc. etc.). Actually not “proper” brain surgery, but laser surgery, called Gamma Knife. I have my own private room with en-suite and a flat screen telly. All completely free. The Italian healthcare system is surprisingly excellent. (And Italy too is a nation of hypochondriacs.)
Best of luck, old chum!!
Hope the transplant is successful, whoever you turn out to be afterwards.
(smiley)
There we were talking about vets’ fees and walkies and suddenly we’re in a modern Italian hospital room. As always, you are a man of surprises.
Good luck, @Gary. I hope it all goes well.
Gamma Knife?? That sounds like a track By Van Der Graaf Generator or Fever Ray.
I am pleasantly surprised about the Italian healthcare system being so good. So much for my prejudices about the efficiency of non-Scandinavian countries.
Good luck, @Gary
I hope all goes well for you, Gary.
Aw, thanks Lodes, Mike, KFD, Jaygee, Fitz for your kind thoughts. You’re lovely chaps.
I hope my new brain will be better than its predecessor, which was, quite frankly, a bit rubbish at times. Too slow and lazy.
Actually, it’s not a very risky op. The biggest risk is that it’ll leave me totes deaf 100%. (Whaddya mean “no great loss given my taste in music”??? Why I oughta…)
Wanna see the latest Italian fashion that’s gonna sweep Europe off its feet once it catches on? Here you go:
Very trendy! I could definitely see Peter Gabriel in one of those.
Fingers crossed for a slightly more successsful outcome.
Out of curiosity: are you on Sardinia? Here in Sweden, there’s a trend for hospitals to get bigger and bigger and be concentrated in the larger cities. That can mean some long journeys if you live in the countryside.
I just read that Cagliari (pop 154,000) is the largest city in Sardinia and 26th largest in Italy.
Nope, am back in Puglia (city of Bari) for this one.
I suspected as much.
I Googled,.The Metropolitan area of Bari has 1.3 million inhabitants and is thus probably a far better setting for a big, modern hospital.
Incidentally, you should be careful about putting a photo like that out in cyberspace.
I can imagine the Apex Twin, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld or any other post-modern techno combo nicking it for their next album cover..
Given that Gary’s op might take place in a theatre, I was going to pst “break a leg” but felt it might be considered rather poor form.
Glad that you’re OK
My goodness! You are handsome. Do they have to shave those beautiful locks?
Ha! I’d like to see them try!
Italian designers are so uncompromising these days…
I’d like to point out that that evil and barbaric contraption is actually screwed into my head. No glue, sellotape or stickyback plastic involved.
I should sue.
Hope it went OK @Gary and you’re on the road to recovery.
Alas I am unable to be offered the Cyber Knife as the blood leakage I have a problem with is in the chest and as you have to keep breathing and they can’t pinpoint the area it is needed.
Hope you are doing well after the surgery. That headgear looks like Weezer merch…
Thanks Hubes and Leedsboy. Just out of the theatre now and they’ve removed the evil contraption. Bit of a headache but feeling good considering. (Won’t really know full result till next MRI in six months.)
Glad to hear it…
Having mentioned the Cyber Knife I find the NHS has sent me online an appointment for spinal surgery in Leeds (I’ve had two spinal sciatic operations before) which I know nothing about.
The strange thing is the address they have used in the attached letter is the address of my previous house which I left 23 years ago. The other strange thing is that there is another person with my name and the exact same date of birth living about eight miles away, I know this because I’ve been asked if I am him when I’ve visited hospitals before. So is the appointment for him or have they made a mistake. I shall ring in the morning, most odd.
It appears I requested a referral last November and this is the follow up. I’d completely forgotten about it she did mention when I rang something about waiting 50 weeks.
You’re rght. @Leedsboy, Gary could almost be a Weezer T shirt design. It looks as though he is wearing their Flame Logo.
https://uk.weezerwebstore.com/
Maybe the medical company also produce band merch or vice versa?
Scouring the internet for one just like it, as I type.
Potential Amazon query:
“Does it come with a set of Allen Keys or do you have to supply your own?”
Is it a side-effect of the lighting/camera/monitor, or are you one of the GingerAW club along with me and Moosey?
That’s a very excellent and interesting question. I wouldn’t say ginger, though I would be proud to be considered so. But certainly red (Italians really like red hair). But also some light brown. And some dark brown. And a bit blond in the summer. And some grey round the temples. And the beard comes out white. I like to think of my hair as an enchanting kaleidoscope.
I’m more like that, too, to be honest. It starts out ginger at the roots, then becomes mousey-brown or just grey as it grows. Last time I was allowed to grow a beard (c. 1995 – Mrs F says grounds for instant divorce) it was bright ginger, though.
In my head, I think that Moosey looks like Angela Rayner.
Mrs. F is right, as she of course knows.
Bright ginger beards are crimes against humanity and just cannot be tolerated.
Is your middle name Marvin? “Brain the size of a planet…” and so on? Or are you more inclined to utter “Twenty seconds to comply!”?
I had to look up the second reference. I assume you’re referring to the evil and barbaric cyberman headgear that was screwed into my skull in what was basically nothing less than an act of medieval torture. That’s been removed and I’m now more like Adam Ant, but with two white strips of bandage on my forehead instead of one on my nose.
Actually the experience has left me feeling ever so grateful I live in a country where I can get such an excellent level of healthcare completely free of charge. Everyone, from the cleaners to the nurses to the doctors, was so lovely and kind and nice.
My doctor had a good laugh when I told him I wasn’t too bothered about becoming deaf. He said he’s used to his patients seeing deafness as “a bit more of a tragedy”. I told him I see it as “an interesting experience”. That really made him chuckle, bless him.
Spread of avaricious chains seems to be a major factor in rise of fees in the UK. Happily not (yet) a big problem in rural Ireland
Informative article about this in The Sunday Times a couple of months back but paywall-protected. Earlier article from the Grain covers much the same ground.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/sep/07/rise-in-chain-owned-vet-surgeries-in-uk-prompts-cma-review
Well it seems that our 18 year old cat is not even able to last for the results of the biopsy. He has pretty much shut down and stopped eating or drinking for the last 36 hours. Appointment at the vets this evening when my daughter is home from college and has had time to give him a cuddle.
It is miserable. Our cantankerous, super greedy (absolutely would steal the food off of your plate if you’re not concentrating) family member who has lived here longer than the kids is a shell of himself and just limply laying on the sofa unable to move himself.
Sympathies, @Leedsboy
Sounds as if his kidneys may have failed – same thing happened to the 11-y o cat we brought over to Ireland from Hong Kong.
Know it’s not much comfort but the injections are quick and painless
That’s all very well for @leedsboy and his suffering, but who will then care for the poor old moggy?
Well that made me smile so thank you @retropath2.
Phew…….
Thank you @jaygee. I’ve no experience of these things so its good to know its quick.
A thread about dying pets and we’re flung into the maelstrom that engulfs Gary’s head!?
I, for one, would like the universe to consider a minor if pertinent hesitation.
Hey, Universe – WT actual F!!! Somebody attached a metal frame to Gary’s head and fastened it on using six inch screws!!!
Then they, WT actual F, unscrewed the metal contraption and discharged Gary with the comforting words “All being well, we’ll see you in six months”.
The Universe ignores my pleas and the AfterWord goes back to discussing Jethro Tull v Genesis.
WT actual F…..!!
Did someone say brain surgery? Time for the old Mitchell and Webb favourite…
Lord Byron’s words are a beautiful summation of why dogs are so wonderful
Near this Spot
are deposited the Remains of one
who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferosity,
and all the virtues of Man without his Vices.
This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
if inscribed over human Ashes,
is but a just tribute to the Memory of
Boatswain, a Dog
who was born in Newfoundland May 1803
and died at Newstead November 18th 1808.