# Old age problems.



## linktrek (Nov 17, 2007)

Gabriella is going to be 11 years in Oct. She was very well trained. She would sit at long distances. While she was sitting I would command her to talk. She would then bark at that long distance. But in the last 6 months she really slowed down. She stopped taking commands altogether even if she she was right in front of me. She started getting very lethargic. She always like to sleep a lot from a young dog and only got up to bark at an intruder or some other stimulus like a visitor or if I wanted to take her out. It was a normal laziness. But she got to the point where it was apparent that she entered the elderly stage of her life.
She started finding it hard to get up because of our slippery floor. She stopped getting up to greet visitors at the door. But she still got up in the morning and I never worried about her eating.
But then she got super lethargic to the point where I had to bring her food dish to her so she didn't have to go out. 
We took her to the vet. When at the vet she got very active in the waiting room when she saw the other dogs. She was so alert that I was able to get her to bark to my talk command.
Then the vet gave her to antibiotics, one for a tooth abscess and one for her skin problems. We think the antibiotics may have wiped her out because although she ate well and would get up when she saw the leash.
But it got worse when she stopped responding to the leash. She slept all day and stopped waking up. I thought I was losing her because her sleep was so deep that she wouldn't wake up even if I shook her strongly.
But she never lost her appetite. I then started giving her intensive care. I searched the internet and found her natural pain killers for pain in case she had arthritis in her hind legs. I started giving her probiotics to counter act the antibiotics. I changed her diet to what I googled as the best foods for a senior dogs. I gave her a bit of her dry food mixed with canned food, fresh broccoli, raw eggs, chicken meat, yams, and I poured her with love and attention because I thought I was losing her.
She responded and she is much more alert now and wakes up during the day. Without all the details, I now have an obesity problem. Her normal weight was 80 lbs. But at the vet she weighed 108 lbs. And with the rich diet I am using for her recovery, it probably got worse over the past two weeks. I had no choice because I was trying to save her life.
Now that I am confident she is not dying, I see that the difficulty she has getting up and even walking is obesity related more so than even arthritis. 
My question is what can I do to bring down the weight in my very inactive dog without ruining her recovery. Should I cut her portion size? I would still like her to be on this special diet I have her on. But perhaps I can start buying her some expensive kibble? Your ideas would be welcome. I am grateful to God for answering my prayers of giving her a longer senior life with me.I was crushed because I thought I was going to lose her and the pain was even greater than losing a close person. But this obesity is now a serious problem. Thanks for reading my long story.


----------



## G-bear (Oct 6, 2015)

If you have not already done so I would have her checked forfor hypothyroidism. Many of the symptoms you have listed are symptoms of hypothryroidism.


----------



## linktrek (Nov 17, 2007)

I know. But the vet didn't say anything. Is there any natural thyroid stimulants instead of synthroid?


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

It can't hurt to take some weight off the dog.


----------



## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I had great results with my old girl when I switched her to Purina Bright Minds senior dog food. I assume you had a full blood panel run, to check for any underlying issues. I agree that you should run a thyroid test, as low thyroid is very common in older Goldens who have been spayed or neutered.

You have to get the excess weight off her-that is strongly linked to shorter life spans-and is very often related to the excess weight gain.

My old girl lived to be just over 14. She was on thyroid meds for the last few years of her life, Dasuquin Advanced for her hips and joints, and roughly 2 cups a day of Purina Bright Mind with a spritz of wild salmon oil. Every day, weather permitting, we took a leashfree walk around my property, and sometimes she would even chase chipmunks or rabbits 

If you would prefer to cook for her, you might want to try this group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1651729598373140/?fref=ts


----------



## linktrek (Nov 17, 2007)

I was going to post this in the main forum because the hypothyroidism almost took my dog's life. If she stopped eating and do to the facd that she failed to wake up all day and stopped eating I would have had no choice but to call it her time.
I have a very small budget because I am disabled on SSD. The vet I took her to wanted $800 to start doing basic blood work. She mentioned nothing of hypothyroidism. 

Since Gabriella was so seriously ill and it did sound like hypothyroidism, I read about thyroid med doses and put her my wife's thyroid dose which I knew was low enough that my GR would not need to be monitored just to see if she responded. And after 4 days the miracle began. She rapidly came back to life. I won't get into too much details because it would take too long. One thing huge that happened is the the thick mucus that she had around her eyes cleared up after months of her eyes sight being compromised. 
I found a low cost clinic that was able to check he thyroid at a very reasonable price. She was tested and sure enough she had the hypothyroidism. The vet almost doubled her dose. To make a long story short she has fully recovered and is living a full life. She is just about living with the life she had when she was 2 years younger. She has developed some weakness in her hind legs. But this is no problem. She was close to death and now I have her back with her personality and in very good health. She even no longer has her intermittent diahria that she had for 2 years that I just couldn't get rid of. So the lesson I want to spread is that hypothyroidism can be a very serious illness and can be deadly if a GR owner is lacking this knowledge.


----------



## Helo's Mom (Oct 16, 2011)

I'm so happy to hear Gabriella is doing so well after being put on thyroid medicine!!! I had no idea it could be so debilitating. My Helo has been on thyroid since he came to live with me 7 years ago. This is just fantastic news after reading about how sick she was in August. You're a wonderful doggie parent!


----------



## linktrek (Nov 17, 2007)

Its so easy to be good parent because I am so deeply in love with her that I have always considered my daughter. She loves everyone. But it is obvious that she is tightly bonded to me.
BTW Helo looks like Gabriella's twin.


----------

