Realizing your most beloved furry child is aging and changing is difficult...Once one realizes what is going on with their senior pup, the pacing, getting disoriented or stuck in strange places in your home, you can start to help your pup if this is caught early, with various herbs and brain vitamins....
Here are a couple of videos talking about this subject...Please do research so that you can do as much as you can to help your senior pup if this is developing.
I found this lady, Eileen Anderson on YouTube when looking for information about this. I then was lead to her book on Amazon, which I have purchased, have read, and am using some of her suggestions, with adding some of the vitamins to Michael's food....I do highly recommend her book.
Dr. Jeff Nichol discusses these issues...
Matt Williams discussing how he and his wife helped their ShiTzu with Canine Cognitive Dysfunction....
On the morning of December 30, Michael started behaving really strangely, walking sort of funny and I could tell immediately something was not right! He was having some kind of muscle spasm in his shoulders area and was obviously in pain....I called Hawthorne Vet right away and they had time to see us in a couple of hours, so until then, we went back home, and I massaged his shoulders gently and helped him relax.
By the time we got to the Hawthorne Vet a couple hours later, he was much more himself again with the spasms now at bay. Dr. Cornelia Wagner checked him out and did some acupuncture for him. He does pretty well with this and she turns down the lights with some lovely meditative music and he & I proceeded to relax on my coat on the floor....
We went home with some remedies and told no jumping!
The problem seems to occur after he eats in the morning...then the spasms in his shoulder got wild and I used the heating pad to give him to relief along with gentle massage of his neck and shoulder area.
It’s been
over two years since Michael has had his teeth professionally cleaned.
I used to brush his teeth almost every day, and over the past several
months and all the emotional/mental exhaustion I have been dealing with I have
gotten to about once a week and that’s proven now problematic for Michelangelo.
I noticed a
few months ago it was looking pretty scary in there, even though I was trying
to brush his teeth more and more – with natural dogs toothpaste….anyway, he was
seen back in October I believe, and it was established then he would need some
teeth to come out and now time has fast-forwarded to March 2013 and he has an
infection in his gums and has to have four to five teeth removed.
At the age
we believe him to be (roughly about ten years of age), he had to have the
Senior Blood Work done before he can be Ok’d for the sleepy-time anesthesia of
surgery, which we just did this past week (the cost for this pre-op visit/work
broke down as follows:
$20.00 Technicians Fee
$129.00 Senior Profile
$28.30 Clavamox
Tablets 125mg Rx (for the infection in gums)
$177.30 which I paid CASH for from
the money I made from selling my amazing antique amber ring ($110) and other jewelry, stuff, purses and things….
($300 was my
total sales at Expo two weeks ago. I paid $100 to storage and that was damn
near it…..)
Michael's tests all came back with flying colors, and an appointment date is set -- this coming MONDAY MARCH 18th --
and we have the antibiotics on hand to be administered starting two days before
the “surgery” – meaning a good old fashioned teeth cleaning, some teeth pulling. Here is how the cost breaks down:
$403.20 Teeth
Cleaning, includes the whole process
$20-$160 PER tooth extracted!!! Meaning the big boy molars in the back
would be the more expensive ones…..She said 4 to 5 teeth will come out!
$350 Lets
just use that figure for the extractions….a couple small and a couple molars
$723 This is the low
end ball park I’m thinking…
It’s not
cheap, but I take Michael to one of the best vet clinics in Portland, in my
opinion – the Hawthorne Vet Clinic
at 1431 SE 23rd Avenue off of Hawthorne, where he has had
naturopathic care for his allergic reaction to flea bites (get your animals ON
and keep them on COMFORTIS!) with herbs and also acupuncture. Yep.
Michelangelo has had acupuncture!!!
His doctor
has told me a couple of times, that small dogs, for some reason, usually have
bad teeth…Much like large dogs have joint issues….for small dogs, it seems to
be teeth.
Well, I’m a
flat broke starving artist woman who just this past August lost her house to
the bank after a year + fight over a loan modification with wells fargo.
This makes
it hard for me to apply for "care credit", for myself (who is also in great need
of surgery, on my torn shoulder muscle….) OR my pup due to the foreclosure and
lack of employment! I’m stuck between a
rock and a hard place right now, seeing that I have a medical condition that
requires surgery on my shoulder, I have been unable to do the kinds of work I
normally do/would apply for due to this injury…Positions and jobs such as
waitressing, catering, dog walking, house cleaning, etc. etc. etc. I can hardly pick up a gallon of milk with my
right arm much less pull my pants on without struggle, drive my car without
pain, and the like….
Nathan IS
working thank GOD, and his income pays our rent, phone bills, gasoline, car
insurance, and whatever else we are needing, food, etc….after these bills, we
are just paycheck to paycheck like a lot of people here at the “starving artist
asylum” we like to jokingly call it – Milepost 5…
Nathan is
applying for the care credit for the amount of $1000. We will update you
as soon as we know what he is approved for. The care credit will allow us six months to pay without interest.
I have been trying to sell my camera, my mom’s van, mylaptop,promote my services,
etc…to no real avail….any income I get goes directly to paying on our bills, or
my physical therapy appointments, also, so no real savings for us right now
with me out of work.
I got the
bright idea to do a super quick shout out for help – a SUPER FABULOUS
FUNDRAISER for Michael to get his surgery, and for people to get super awesome
gifts of art, and love from us in return or trade if you like…..This is our
“indigogo” we just haven’t had time to “go global” with that and wanted to just
ask the peeps who know and love us and Tibbs if they have even $5-$10 to spare
and share, we have gifts of art and love for you….
Here is what
we have for you!!!
For Gifts of
$5-$10 Signed Portrait of Sir Tibbs
OR Your
choice of these framed Penny Michelle photographs and more
$15-$25 Michelangelo Original Paw Art Painting
My Rock Stars & Starlets are currently at ROSCOE'S at SE Stark & 81st Avenue
$30-$50 a Rock Star
or Starlet of your choice
$50-$100 Pet and/or Family Portrait Session at Your Home with a Book and
Video for you to share. You can see all kinds of samples of my works
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Seems like aaaaggges since we have posted new pictures and fun stories about our adventures! Here it is, FREEEZING cold outside and almost time for Christmas!
This time of year is a big adjustment for us....We definitely prefer the sunshine and warmth of summer...Our walks get shorter in the winter, cuz I don't really like the rain and being soaked and filthy...But we make the best of it and walk lots more on days when it's not wet outside...
Here I am on Thanksgiving day after feasting on some yummy stuff: carrots, sweet potatoes, and organic chicken! YUM!!!
Workin' a little puppy kong action! (Trader Joe's peanut butter treat inside!!)
Hangin' out with our friend Dennis for some lap cuddle...
Michaelangelo has friends and fans everywhere! This is his new friend Gilly, whom he loves to kiss! I do believe Michael misses his kitties he used to live with, Shadow, Rhaja, Pumpkin Pie, and Turzia, oh and there was Moochie Pon for a little while too...
I've been feeding Michael "real" food like chicken, sweet potatoes, eggs, for a long time now, and of course, he occasionally steals a piece of pizza, or sandwich or some other such "human" food item off my plate as to heartily annoy me for about 3 minutes. He knows what he likes, and I tell you, it's damn near everything!!
Going to a holistic vet, and having the tendencies toward more "health" food eating than "fast food", it makes sense to feed my animal which I consider pretty darn important, as well as I can, since dog food is mostly, let's face it people, crap....
My vet was telling me about what he feeds his dogs, and wrote some things down for me and told me to go check out "Meat for Cats and Dogs" and so I did. Michael of course went bananas when we went into the place! One of the guys there (whose name sadly is escaping me right now) gave me quite a lot of information about the raw diet idea for dogs, and talked to me about all my options since I was a newbie there. I finally settled on what seems like the best deal for Michael. He of course LOVES it and is doing backflips to get the food in the morning, and night. He's having nearly no dog kibble - which has been Innova for the past couple of years. When I recently found out Proctor & Gamble bought Innova in addition to other supposedly "higher level" dog food, I was pretty disappointed with that, even though they say "nothing's changed in the processing of the food"... I don't believe it's all that great anyway, and now, I'm seeing in just a few days how Michael seems more "cut" where the doctor showed me he wanted to see him a bit more "trim"....Hhhhhhmm. It's supposed to be perfect for them and their health in everyway. I'm pretty happy with it so far and I appreciate that I dont actually have to handle any raw meat myself personally as it's not something I've ever liked to do (even though I have grown up and do at times eat some meat). The food we're going with is Nature's Variety Instinct and comes in a super tight zip lock freezer bag, and you just take out the required amount (based on your dog's weight) for a dat at a time, leave in the fridge to thaw for a few hours, and they get real meat, real vegetables, and so, yeah! I'm quite happy so far and we'll keep on I do believe.
Check out this testimony from a Meat client who turned her pup's life around by changing the diet to raw!
Part of the fun of summer is all the people and dogs we meet out and about on walks and hikes! The kids, of course come running when they see Michael, and he goes running for them! They offer their treasured toys and trinkets to share with us, and they follow us half way down the street long after we've said our goodbyes! I love the little green disco ball christmas tree ornament and told her I had one just like it!
This sweet little group of kids we've met four or five times before, Michael never seems to forget anyone! He's friends with everyone, so we hang out for a while and visit, and the kids each talking to me about different things at the same time, it's hilarious. Next time, I will HAVE to get video! Their grandpa just smiled & laughed as he watched us all being silly/loud/funny/crazy for about 15 minutes or so but didn't really talk much. The children have a lot better english than their "grampy", as they called him.
Wow. This little guy! He's gonna be a truck driver, he says.... Kids really are fascinated with Michael and I think love him even MORE so because not only is he one really handsome and friendly dog, he's pretty small for such a powerful hunter dog!! Ah how we love to see our shadow...Thank goodness summer eventually comes!
Recently my mom needed to find a safe, warm, loving place for me to have a sleepover, because she and her friends had a film festival thingy to go to in Seattle, and pups had to stay home.
So my mom was calling around all over the place to find a puppy place that pups could spend the night. All she found were places with cages! And she found out that I was a little tiny bit overdue for my every-3-years Rabies vaccination. My mom is not a big huge fan of having me go through things I might not have to for the sake of western medicine and opts for holistic health care whenever possible (see her posts about our Hawthrorne Vets!) but Rabies is required by law, so off to get the Rabies we went...
As much as I love my amazing doctor I didn't want to have any more anything done after my teeth cleaning recently!! But it went just fine. My mom is a bit of a wimp, though. She had one of the vet assistants come in and hold me while Dr. Yale administered the shot.
My mom found this lovely lady and her family in Seattle through a friend of a friend offering a warm cozy place for pups to camp out for the night!! I could not believe my luck!! I got to go stay with a big sweet pup called Riggs, and Bridit, her husband and their two super fun kids who played with me for hours and wore me out! (here's a picture Bridgit sent my mom of me zonked out!) My mom made a really cool video of her and her friends' trip to Seattle, she loves taking pictures you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/littlemississues#p/u/0/i3RuxgXMQE8
I love bumping into a group of kids in the park!!! My mom says "kids" and I just run for 'em! Kids like to cuddle and they seem to giggle a lot when they get to pet me! I take all the lovin' I can find!!
and here's the big, the bold, the beautiful Katey, who recently saved Jeff here from these two bullies attacking him in our park here...She's our hero!
Always fun making new friends! and My mom is a little behind on posthing but has more photos and a really cute video of me and all my friends is in the works! So come back soon!
![Remember Me?: Loving and Caring for a Dog with Canine Cognitive Dysfunction by [Anderson, Eileen]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51S0TFliO5L.jpg)
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As much as I love my amazing doctor I didn't want to have any more anything done after my teeth cleaning recently!! But it went just fine. My mom is a bit of a wimp, though. She had one of the vet assistants come in and hold me while Dr. Yale administered the shot. 
