oscarsmum

Its been a while since I've visited here. Just had a (very) quick catch up and wanted to say so sorry and give hugs to those who have lost their loved ones... For those who "know" Oscar - he's doing well, pretty good actually - he's been on Rimadyl for a while now (had to come off Metacam around May time, due to upset stomach), but touch wood the Rimadyl seems to be doing him good, with no (visible) side effects. Here is a pic of him, (taken a couple of months ago, when we had sun) under his specially fashioned sun shade Take care x

Happy Birthday - hope you have a great day!

Aww she's beautiful :wub: - congratulations

So sorry for your loss Run free at the bridge gorgeous boy :wub:

Run free sweetheart . I despair of the world sometimes

Sending positive thoughts for you

I know but 14OZ!!!! Can you imagine :ohmy:

Thank goodness you do!! I feel pretty now

thank you My name is Rachel, I am a dizzy donut! 1/4oz yes!

Yes that's what it said to do, for the first ten days, then lower the dosage to 1 x 14oz per day.....

Not in the slightest , but then again, I've never had any problem sneaking anything into Oscar's food - he's in that much of a hurry to gollup it down, he wouldn't notice if you snuck a brick in there!! (the stuff I bought is orange flavoured....)

I guess there are loads of places to buy it, I got mine from Here It was really quick delivery Quote Kimba's Mum "You wouldn't think this dog had major problems with his elbow and sometimes didn't want to go for a quick walk round the block would you???" Errm nope!! That's brill evidence

Thanks everyone Can't get online at home at the moment I'm not being unrealistic, thinking that I can get Oscar back to being a puppy, but there is still definite improvement there; just more smooth, abit quicker, more mobility and flexibility. I'm so pleased

Belated Happy First Anniversary :flowers: Great pics - the cottage(?) looks lovely and cosy.... is it for hire?

yaaaay! Congratulations Snoopy on your fab new forever home

Brill pics - you can tell you had a great holiday!

Run free at the bridge beautiful big Bear 's for you

Run free at the bridge little one Please pass on my sympathies to Grandma Squirrel

It could be the Metacam, the collar, the Synflex, the rhus tox, the green lipped mussel, the cod liver oil, or a combination of all of them but yesterday and today, for the first time, I can see a slight improvement in Oscar's walking I'm not wanting to speak too soon, but there is a definite change - his strides are more regular and smoother and perhaps even a tiny bit quicker! Please keep your fingers and paws crossed that this improvement continues. I'm thinking we'll carry on with this combination for another few days then maybe try to isolate which it is (although is it too early for the Synflex to be working? He had two 14oz doses on Sat, two on Sun and two today....

Gorgeous beasts!

Sending Aggie and her pal lots of good thoughts, hope they got over the experience very soon

sending positive thoughts to Bow and Grandma Squirrel

Poor Fin sending positive healing thoughts

Thanks so much for all your feedback It really helps. I had a long talk with the vet this morning and we've decided to stick with the Metacam for another week and start adding the Synflex (vet had me read out the ingredients and mgs and said it would be fine and that it had a good high doseage of glucosamine compared to some alternatives on the market). I'm going by the bottle and double dosing for the first ten days. If by this time next week there's still no improvement, then the vet said he thinks we should switch to Rimadyl. Before definitely going down this road, I will also talk to him about the Zubrin and Cartrophen to see whether these might be options for us. I'm still really hoping that the Metacam might start working soon, though the vet said that you do see some improvement in "most" dogs within 7 days. Re the hydrotherapy; I've heard really good reports about this, and although I'm concerned about possibly stressing Oscar, I can't say I know that he's actually scared of water, perhaps more just that he's had very limited exposure to it.... only one way to find out I suppose!! Thanks again fugees

Oscar has been on the Metacam for 6 days now. The vet said to give it a week to see any improvement; there has been absolutely no improvement as far as I can tell, and if anything he seems abit worse I'm gutted as I was sort of pinning my hopes on Metacam being some kind of miracle cure (silly me) (He's been wearing a magnetic collar since Tuesday too). I'm also putting him back on the Rhus Tox as I thought there was a slight improvement when he was on this... The vet has indicated that the next step would be to switch to Rimadyl. I bought some Synflex, but haven't started him on this yet as didn't want to start giving him too many different things at the same time, and therefore be unsure which (if any) were having an effect. So, would you try the Synflex before the Rimadyl, or just go straight for the Rimadyl? I'm really confused and just want to do the best for him. Could I perhaps just try Metacam (or Rimadyl) and Synflex together - would there be any harm to him in this (although again, the only reluctance would be the possibility of not knowing what's working and what's not...) Oscar is happy in himself, still got his normal personality, but is just very unstable on his legs, the only way I can describe is that he walks really gingerly and his gait seems out of sinc (eg two small steps with a front leg, then the rest normal, then two steps and a stumble with a back leg ) Its awful to see him like this and breaks my heart, but despite that, he does seem to enjoy his walks if that makes sense, he's still got a keen interest in sniffing and other dogs, its just all done at a much slower and wobblier pace. We still have playtimes, where he pounces at me, then wanders around the lounge with lots of barking and sneezing He really doesn't seem "in pain" but obviously things are far from right. Oscar is (allegedly ) 16 and a bit years old. Apart from his legs, in every other way he has a clean bill of health from the vet. Hydrotherapy has been mentioned a couple of times, my only worry about that is whether it would stress him out. Since we've had him, he's only been in the sea once (up to his knees) and had two baths (in the garden with watering cans and sponges). I'm worried that the experience would be really stressful for him (although the benefits may outweigh this...?) I'm really confused, and probably thinking about it all too much, going round in circles with it. I'm sorry for waffling. I know I keep putting up threads like this, but I really could do with some of your opinions. I know its our decision at the end of the day, but would appreciate it if you could please put yourself in the situation and tell me what you'd do....