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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 20, 2018 15:12:03 GMT -7
Hi,
Dr. Mossine got back to me! She did the original surgery. Dogwood Veterinary Referral is a great place (up in MIchigan) if you're anywhere in the Midwest. They respond to e-mail too, which is wonderful.
I think we convinced each other Luna is just BORED! She has nothing to do in the house, no toys, nothing to jump on, nothing to bite.
Doctor said we should do 5 minute walks 3-4 times a day! That will be a huge help and upgrade over only once a day. We took her out for a 3 minute walk and she did well once again (acted normal). She went into her cage almost without a treat, she knows the routine now. There's no bringing her back home from a walk otherwise, she just wants to keep going, that's the old Luna!
Our plan for now is to do three 5 minute walks a day, timed with her eating (30 minutes before a meal). I think we will see her be a little more perky throughout the day!
In regards of things to bite on, Doc still wants us to wait, and if Luna has kongs, she'd like us to make sure she doesn't move her neck too much. That's interesting because Luna does full on body shakes (with neck) during the day to wake herself up, I can't really stop that (lol), and Luna feels comfortable doing those motions I guess. I like Dr. Mossine because she is very careful.
We've successfully replaced Luna's peanut butter kong treats with frozen carrot kibble sized bites, too. She scratches the freezer for her peanut butter, but now gets a small frozen cooked carrot and she is happy with that - lol.
Reuben
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Post by Romy & Frankie on Jul 20, 2018 15:28:34 GMT -7
I think giving her short but more frequent walks will help keep her from being bored also.
It really is hard to find something to chew on that doesn't move the neck to much. When my Frankie eats his kong, he lays down and sort of holds it between his front feet. There is not much neck movement so Luna should be okay if she eats it like this. I love kongs because it can keep them occupied for quite a while.
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 20, 2018 15:43:14 GMT -7
Question about the neuropathy. I see Luna bite her hind legs too occasionally, but I don't know what the definition of excess is. I thought dogs do this (maybe they do feel some slight nerve pain after walks or movement). Both of my beagles bit their legs (as if there was a bug).
Thanks for the info!
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PaulaM
Moderator. 
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
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Post by PaulaM on Jul 21, 2018 10:11:08 GMT -7
Reuben, neuropathic pain is usually when a dog's legs are paralyzed. Luna can walk. Everyone has experienced numbness or pins and needles tingling in your legs when sitting in a bad position for too long a time. Your dog can be feeling abnormal nerve sensations that are mild pins and needles to quite painful burning, on-fire feeling that makes them bite to stop the pain. These are abnormal signals explaining why a paralyzed dog can feel this neuropathic pain. An owner would need to stay on top of observing for any more signs of chewing on body parts as this can lead to death. Immediately put a e-collar on or a lengthwise folded towel and secured closed with duct tape. Get to a vet for a medicine that can help to control these very painful sensations. The name of the drug is called gabapentin. Would you consider helping another trying to make decisions… We have a directory where you can share surgical info. Here is where you can share your dog's info: dodgerslist.boards.net/board/10/guidelines-postingState: Hospital: Address: Cost: Date of surgery: What was included in cost (MRI?, days stay, ER? PT? meds for home, sling, etc.) Comments: |
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 21, 2018 16:03:28 GMT -7
OK, thanks for the definition! We're using the North States Super Yard 3 in 1 (expandable) gate to block the couch in the one room that has couches that she's able to go to. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALOT5AG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1The gate is super sturdy and configurable, you can add unlimited number of panels (in pairs) and configure where the gate should be. It locks into place, Luna hasn't even tested trying to bump into it or anything. She does get a little jealous when you go inside and she can't come in, though. 
Also, we use these to block her from thinking about jumping on the fireplace: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M0OPR6P/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 We gave her 3 five minute walks today. After coming home and eating she does go back to sleep pretty quickly lol, but she's moving well on walks (she's trotting most of the time, gets to 0.3 miles in 5 minutes). Luna also holds the Kong with her front feet, but they don't last too long with her - we only put a little Peanut Butter near the top and freeze it - she probably cleans it out in 1 minute. We haven't given her Kong's Peanut Butter since out of cage time, she tarted to resist it while on medicine and the first night out of the cage she was allowed to have 2-3 of them (not a lot of PB in each) and she threw up the next morning. She hasn't thrown up since (or during cage time either), and we've basically swapped Peanut Butter for frozen carrots at this point. NOTE: Kong's Peanut Butter consistency and color seems to have changed in the last month, we're not sure if it's related to her throwing up or resisting it when she was on medication. Still, there doesn't seem to be anything to make her curious/play, she's definitely going to be a bored dog other than walks, but she's happy to go on walks and sleep/relax on the deck/in the house I think. I'm thinking we should move up to 1 ten minute walk and 1 five minute walk a day (from three 5 minute walks), next week. |
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PaulaM
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Post by PaulaM on Jul 22, 2018 10:06:53 GMT -7
Your family has really made some nice improvements to keep Luna safe from herself of jumping on things!
Let us know how the increase in walks goes next week.
You can soak a portion of Luna's regular meal amount. Then smoosh the hydrated kibble into the Kong and freeeze. This way Luna will have to work for at least some of her dinner! And it will take her much, much longer to eat that portion of her meal. I bet the Kong brand peanut butter comes with all kinds of preservatives and those mysterious acronym ingredients. Peanut butter is high in oils/high in calories, so a good idea to only use a small amount if you are to use it.
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 23, 2018 5:23:03 GMT -7
Good idea about the kibble. We usually soak her kibble because she has some gum disease starting that we're waiting for all this stuff to clear before she sees "the dentist" (lol). She had the H3N2 flu late last year (from the doggy daycare) so she keeps fighting these things off before she's stable enough to get her teeth cleaned.
Luna usually doesn't go on 3 walks a day, when we gave her 3 five minute walks it seemed to tire her out (lol). I actually go 0.3 miles, because when she's trotting she gets there in 5 minutes. When she's busy smelling flowers/eating weeds, it sometimes takes her 10 minutes. I bought a refurbished Garmin GPS watch to measure distance.
Today, we're going to try an 0.5 mile walk (which would be maybe 8 minutes in trotting). Since she doesn't always trot, I suspect this will take 15 minutes or so.
About the neuropathy stuff, for a long time Luna would sleep on the couch with my mom (or me) and she'd wake up and bark really loud once if you accidentally touched her foot while she slept.
Last night Luna woke up and was biting her hind leg for a few seconds. I touched it to try and massage it and she did the same bark at me (fake bite/snap) and then went back to sleep.
Are we sure neuropathy doesn't exist in dogs that aren't paralyzed? It seems like it could still be the nerves/spinal problems. Perhaps it's always in that one leg, the tingling sensation, not enough to bite her foot off but always exists? She takes Dosequein daily for joint problems, she has had a couple incidents of running around with her right hind leg up when she was younger.
Luna is a show dog, her parents were award winning show beagles, the breeder said he doesn't have any disease in any of his dogs (I asked him about that when Luna first had her running around with 3 legs problem). She did fall off the couch (the headrest) when she was a few months old, that I attributed to the back leg issue...
Thanks!
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Marjorie
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Member since 2011. Surgery & Conservative
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Post by Marjorie on Jul 23, 2018 5:57:00 GMT -7
Neuropathy is pain which presents when damage has occurred to the nervous system. Luna's damaged disc was pressing on the spine which caused pain but she didn't present with nerve damage and was walking before her surgery. I don't recall reading of any cases of neuropathy caused by IVDD in a dog that could still walk. However, there can be other causes for neuropathy than IVDD. If you're concerned about neuropathy, do speak to your vet about it. The medication that treats neuropathy is Gabapentin.
Standing or walking with one leg held up, not wanting to bear weight on a leg, is a sign of pain. Should you see that again or any other sign of pain, you would need to immediately crate Luna until she could be seen by a vet to determine whether she was having another disc episode.
Some dogs just don't like their feet touched, my Jeremy being one of them. I spoke to his holistic vet about it and she said that many dogs are like that and there doesn't necessarily have to be a reason for it.
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 24, 2018 5:00:00 GMT -7
The last 2 days Luna has gotten up at 7AM with a growling stomach and went outside to eat grass (lol). I think both times, she's been fed a little dry food (5-7 pieces) around midnight because she's sniffing for a snack.
I'm not sure if this is an after affect of taking so much medication and maybe she needs some probiotics. Yesterday she didn't eat breakfast until 10 or so, she's disinterested in food this morning again (probably because of her stomach).
We did an 0.5 mile (10 minute) and 0.3 mile (5 minute) walk yesterday, she did fine - but when coming home she gets bored pretty quickly and goes back to sleep.
I still catch her waking up sometimes and biting her back legs, before going back to sleep.
She also seems to "plop down" faster/harder when trying to find a place to sleep. Like she doesn't have a lot of strength in her front legs when trying to lie down and just "fall" to the floor. Her sleeping positions (front arms) are different than before surgery too.
I guess I have a slight worry because before surgery she was kind of slow moving like this too but would appear "fine" on walks, her personality still seems like that (slow/depressed/tired in the house).
We just came back from our 0.5 mile walk this morning and she went straight to her bed and laid down (skipped water/food).
Post by Reuben & Luna July 23:
The vet, when doing deep pain test before being referred to surgeon elsewhere, noticed one toe on back right did not respond very well to deep pain. It took a lot of pressure before Luna yelped (the other toes, she pulled her paw back).
Surgeon just did paw deep pain test (not each toe, when I watched them), they did not register deep pain (from paw).
We went on a 10 minute walk today (0.5 miles). She trotted at her full speed the whole way. I'm not sure based on the Doctor's recommendation of 3-4 five minute walks/day last week, if we should do another walk today or not - we're supposed to increment 5 minutes every week.
I think we'll try to skip a second walk today and do 10 minutes again tomorrow, although I think she can handle a 10 minute and 5 minute walk - she's still just a bored/sleepy dog the rest of the day. She used to have a lot of toys to play with, couches to jump on, and other dogs (she'd go to doggy daycare for a couple hours every few days).
Thanks!
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PaulaM
Moderator.
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Post by PaulaM on Jul 24, 2018 8:09:43 GMT -7
Reuben, for your peace of mind, on the next vet visit, bring up your concerns. A vet who can examine and touch Luna and knows her medical hisotry is the best one to address the things you bring up. They may be nothing at all to worry over and that would be good to know.
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 24, 2018 9:08:10 GMT -7
OK we will.
I gave Luna a little treat toy with some dryfood in it and she was happy to play and try to figure it out. I think she's super super bored at home (depressed look, always sleeping). I really need toys ASAP lol, mom is hesitant to try the wet food/frozen in a kong/similar treat toy because she thinks it needs a lot of cleaning afterwards? I don't know about that.
Luna has/had at least 100 toys/stuffed animals, I'd always buy a new one before visiting. It's a shock to her to not be allowed to play with anything, lol. I have to imagine other IVDD dogs are in similar situations - what are they allowed to do? lol.
Does anyone shop on doctor foster and smith's site, or have other toy ideas for IVDD dogs from amazon? When she was a puppy I bought her this tree toy with little squirrels hiding inside, those were fun for her to figure out. I think a lot of her toys nowadays she pounced on, dug on top of to make noise, bit them, and swung them back and forth (play killing). She would also carry them in her mouth around the house. She also really wants to bite something; Dogwood has said no for now. They also said Kongs are OK if they're not moving their neck too much - they are being cautious! Luna shakes her whole body when waking up sometimes, can't do much about that lol. Luna did usually eat kongs like a baby drinking a bottle (both paws on the ground holding it, head tilted to side).
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Post by Romy & Frankie on Jul 24, 2018 14:04:26 GMT -7
When my Frankie ate his Kong he would eat up every single thing in there. It wasn't hard to clean up at all. Probably worth a try. It does keep them occupied, especially when things are frozen.
I had that tree toy with squirrels also. Frankie got bored with it after a while but one of my cats loves to swat the squirrels around!
Killing toys needs to be avoided forever. Too much shaking of the neck. Chewing should be alright later on.
Puzzle toys should be fun for Luna especially the ones that they need to figure out how to get food out of.
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 24, 2018 15:50:51 GMT -7
It's tough to tell which toys she shook and which she just pounced on. I'm not sure if pouncing is allowed, but she still digs out of frustration now (like into her beds). She also likes to "make her bed" by patting everything down. When she gets up nowadays she might shake her full body/head to wake up (you know as if they're shaking water off them); I can't really stop that and that's definitely a lot of neck movement!
The doctor is very cautious, which I like. She also said Luna's other discs currently look healthy and her C2/C3 should scar to be stronger than it ever was. I guess with beagles and long short dogs it's the C2/C3 disc (neck). I've stopped her from running/leaping a bit out of happiness a couple times. She used to run circles around the yard at full speed after walks, then sleep on the couch all day. I read that she can eventually be allowed to jog in a straight line if she doesn't make abrupt stops or zig zag (maybe in the future, but I don't see her doing that since we can't control her movements well if she's allowed to move fast). I feel like we're really limiting her show of happiness for the sake of her life (which I'm OK with), but it's hard to think she has (hopefully) another 5-7 years of not being allowed to show her happiness much, before she departs this world - if that makes sense. I let her trot at higher speeds on walks (but it's not a jog or run for her).
She did like rolling the toy around to get the food out, but curiously that was one of her least favorites toys out of her collection before ivddd diagnosis and surgery (BIVDD) - lol. Always ignored. Feels sad that is the only thing she's gotten so far and she was happy to have it out.
Our other beagle had a favorite toy he'd sleep on, he was cremated with that one. I wonder if she's going to be allowed to pounce/dig on a toy again.
Feel free to watch these videos of when Luna was younger, first day home:
Playing with a ball by herself (at age 1):
Riding (dangerously) in the convertible with me, on her hind legs:
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Post by Michelle & Keira on Jul 25, 2018 4:16:01 GMT -7
Hi Reuben, it’s so soon after surgery, so it makes sense to really limit her playful behaviour. Yes you will feel like you are the buzzkill ruining all of her fun! I waited a month or so after our last surgery before I gave my dog some toys to play with. Everything needs to be done gradually, and overtime once you are more certain that she has recovered well, you will relax a bit more and allow her to do more within reason. As my surgeon said to me, at the end of the day you do need to allow them to be dogs and live a little.
You can only do so much. All dogs shake their bodies, roll on their backs and joyfully shake that squeaky toy like crazy. Just do the best you can!
Take care,
Michelle
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 25, 2018 5:30:34 GMT -7
Hi Michelle,
Yesterday Luna stole someone's shoe, other than that an incredibly boring day for her (sleeping 20 hours and walking around super slowly).
This morning after eating she decided to jog around and leap a bit like a bunny in the house. I tried to calm her down. She then stole someone's shoe again and ran away with it.
The vet called back yesterday and I just said she seems incredibly sleepy/bored. He did mention some questions are still best left for the neurologist, but he says this far out from surgery there likely isn't any pain related symptoms that she would be displaying.
Today is exactly 1 month since her surgery. I am hesitant to say she is starting to feel a little bit like the rascal Luna that is more of a bother than a good girl, lol - but we want that girl back.
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Post by Julie & Perry on Jul 25, 2018 9:14:40 GMT -7
I know it's hard, but Luna did have a major operation. Some of this boredom/ tiredness may well simply be Luna still healing.
As time goes by you'll get more comfortable with what's OK for Luna to do and what's not.
Have you ever tried hiding small treats around the house and helping Luna "find" them? Or having someone hide and having Luna discover them? How about rolling a ball that she can catch?
Does Luna like the water? You could get a children's wading pool for her to splash in and some floating toys. She can still have a good life. Just a little different.
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 25, 2018 9:56:58 GMT -7
Yes, I think some of it is actually she's still healing - after the walk yesterday she went right to her bed and laid down. She also wasn't feeling well, eating grass on the walk that day though. Luna loves to find things that she thinks she shouldn't have (i.e. if you give her a shoe she doesn't care, if she finds a shoe, it's different). In that ball video above she found that baseball in a glove, in a location away from her other toys - and thought it was the best thing ever lol. I have rolled balls before, she wasn't as interested then, nowadays she might pounce on it. The thing is she likes to run away after "stealing" something. For instance, the golf balls when I'm outside, she'll bite them if I'm putting and jog inside - knowing when she drops it, she'll get a treat. My yard has steps in it though (patio/etc) that I need to fix before she can visit. I know we all talk about no steps, no furniture/etc. The surgeon also said going down steps is worse than going up them (the pressure it puts on the spine), but if she absolutely has to go down steps - on a leash and slowly. What are your guys thoughts on a single step outside? We take Luna out the backyard deck --> ramp --> lawn --> fence gate to go on walks - this is going to be difficult for mom come winter time. I put a heattrak mat on their deck to melt snow and give Luna a spot to go to the bathroom on the deck in winter. I wonder if a single step out the front door if done slowly is "OK" in occasional situations? The documentation I got from Dogwood said no more stairs, which sounds a little different than 1 step. Doc was OK with a 6-8" step into the living room (but we made a ramp anyway). Luna, when she was allowed to jump at my house (lol):   She likes to steal golf balls |
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Post by Romy & Frankie on Jul 25, 2018 13:41:10 GMT -7
It is best not to have any type of stairs or step. That being said, if a ramp cannot be used and she needs to go down one small step from time to time it is probably okay. That may be what your Mom needs to best care for Luna.
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 25, 2018 17:50:08 GMT -7
Took Luna on her 2nd walk today (0.3 miles, took her about 10 minutes though). She walks fine on the walk and wants to keep going. When we pick her up and bring her home, she slowly walks back to her bed and just lays there.
I can't tell if she's in muscle pain, depressed that she has to come back home, or both, but she's done this twice on her 2nd walks of the day.
My gut feeling is she can't handle the 2nd walk for some reason, although the Doctor wanted 3-4 walks a day at 5 minutes each. We're in the 2nd week of walks so we were supposed to upgrade to 10 minutes (which we did) - so we're doing a 10 minute in the AM and a 5 minute in the evening. Her 5 minute walks sometimes do take 8-9 minutes because she spends a lot of time sniffing weeds and doing beagle-y things other than walking, lol. I stop them at 0.3 miles. Her 10 minute walks I stop at 0.5 miles. Luna and I used to take 60-90 minute walks together, I don't think I want her to ever do that again, but she really loves to walk - but after those walks she would sleep all day, and that made sense, lol.
I think I'm going to try and go back to Cleveland for half of Saturday and all of Sunday to take care of errands (my yard is a mess although I've recruited kids, professionals, parents/etc. to try and upkeep it while I've been gone, lol). The $50 amazon gift cards to the kids are starting to add up. Anyway that will give Luna a chance to have a break from exercise (1.5 days of no walks) until she tries a 15 minute walk. I think we will only do one walk a day next week at 15 minutes.
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Post by Julie & Perry on Jul 25, 2018 21:25:41 GMT -7
Reuben, it's awesome you're taking the time and making the effort to help Luna and your family!!
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 26, 2018 5:00:23 GMT -7
It's taken a toll in a few ways, lol. I think the blankets on the floor (and memory foam beds that Luna isn't using at night time) aren't doing well for her back, I would know as I'm sleeping next to her every night on the floor and my back hurts - lol.  We took away her circle beds with bolstered sides because she goes on her back and struggles to get out of that. She still goes on her back on the ground, not as easily, and she uses her head/neck to prop herself which may not be good (holds her neck to the side when on her back). Can we "cheat" with furniture and get things like memory foam pads that fold themselves into a small thing like this? Luna misses pushing up against something (she pushes up against me at night now, on the floor). I think she might take to this because it looks like a couch, if it's only 4" off the floor I wonder if it's OK for her to use? This one looks too high, but it's just an example. I inquired to the surgeons!
I would be worried she tries to jump off the top or sides, but if that could be prevented I wonder if this would be attractive to her and good for her back. |
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PaulaM
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Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,552
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Post by PaulaM on Jul 26, 2018 8:45:50 GMT -7
Reuben, a more straight firmer bolster backed dog bed may be what Luna needs to push against to best get up from lying on her back without so much struggle? A Google search for "orthopedic dog beds" yields many. An example might be the Frisco Orthopedic Textured Plush Bolster Sofa Dog Bed or something similar  Memory foam is used specifically with a disc episode so as to eliminate pressure points to the skin when a dog has be be in a recovery suite while the disc heals. Luna can now sleep on anything that feels good to her, doesn't have to be specifically a memory foam mattress as she is not confined to a small recovery area now. Luna has long legs so one footstep down from the normal kind of dog bed is not jumping as it would be for our short legged doxies. The jarring thing to the disc is jumping in air upwards and jumping downwards to impact to the floor. Maybe Dr. Swainson's will help you more in being able to find the right kind of dog bed for Luna. |
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 26, 2018 10:28:00 GMT -7
Thanks! I have bought 4 memory foam/ortho beds and she ignores them most of the day for the rugs on the floor, the floor, or the carpet with blankets. I think she could use that backing bolster bed. We did use memory foam bed in her crate time, she seemed to like it a lot, but outside the crate - she kind of ignores them (even if we put a blanket on it).
We have bolster circle beds that she used to sleep on her back with, but she struggles to get up from, she squirms and you can see the struggle lol (this is also how she herniated her disc at the end, doing this maneuver). She yelped 3 times and then went into a constant roar. So we're scared/hesitant to let her get into that kind of position again lol (although she still sleeps on her back, but it's tougher without anything bolstering her).
Yes, she has long legs. I forget how long until she's sleeping on her back with front legs fully extended.
It's been a month, I still sometimes, but rarely, think about those yelping/roaring noises. Knowing myself (lol), I thought I'd be thinking about them all the time, but it does make me very sad to remember them occasionally. I think given more time those haunting noises will not come up very much in my brain lol.
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PaulaM
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Post by PaulaM on Jul 26, 2018 17:19:28 GMT -7
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 26, 2018 18:12:09 GMT -7
Thanks! I did read that essay a couple weeks ago.
The way Luna moves in the house and reacts seems like she's aged very quickly. Instead of hopping up and jogging to me when I come home, she stays in the spot she's laying down/sleeping but wags her tail slowly. She also gives me the whale eyes (not moving her head but looking around). She also used to run to me and try to jump on me, and scream at the top of her lungs over and over. It's way more subdued nowadays.
In general it doesn't seem like she has any neck pain (she shakes her full body, looks up/twists side to side for other reasons), but her personality is still not back. The times she's acted bad, that is the old Luna and she's feeling "good" I think but it's been rare. I do feel like her neck feels stiff, but I'm not grabbing it with full force or anything, and I definitely don't remember what it felt like pre-operation. When the doctor was doing her discharge examination, Luna ducked/tucked her neck down when he was applying force to it. When he let go, she kept her head/neck in that odd position. Doc wondered why, but she eventually returned to normal and sniffing around the room/walking/wagging her tail/wanting to play (looking "normal"). She doesn't really act like that at home, she usually tries to act "healthy" at the doctor's I've noticed lol.
She still likes to be petted, she will walk up to you and fall down to the side to be petted. Often she gets up and moves a few feet to fall back down though (to sleep/relax). I can't tell right now if this is how she is going to be or if she will return back to being a little more energetic. I know it's still soon after surgery (1 month), but she's just sleeping a lot and lethargic is probably the word other than when she goes on walks! She yawns a lot, but this is how she's always been (either anxiety related or just a sleepy girl lol). When she's sleeping and yawning I at least feel like she's probably more just bored than perhaps in pain/tired for other reasons.
For example when I leave the house, she usually runs to the front door to see me off. This time when I opened the front door, I waited about 10 seconds and saw her slowly making her way to the door - lol. These actions were what indicated to us something was wrong with her (pre-surgery) and she's still acting that way. The only major (outward, of course) thing different is there are no yelps anymore, but she's still sort of "out there", not reacting much to anything. I think I read somewhere the healing process is exactly reverse to that of what lead up to the event. I hope her personality starts to come back more, my mom has accepted Luna is going to sleep all day, eat, go back to bed, go on a walk, and immediately go back to bed - but I have not yet, something seems off there - especially when she shows glimpses of her old self for short periods every couple days.
Although the doctors mentioned her neck was pretty much scarred/healed after 17 days or so, I think she's still dealing with "something", mental, physical or both.
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 27, 2018 6:43:15 GMT -7
Here is a short video of Luna on her walk this morning. She moved briskly for 10 minutes and reached 0.4+ miles. She also stopped in the garden on her way back to smell the egg plants and other fruits. There is a 2x4 barrier but I let her step over and down slowly. Not being allowed to do too much the last couple months, she seemed to have fun getting lost in the garden. 
I'm headed home Saturday AM for the weekend, and my mom asked if she could give Luna her normal small walk. I said nope, she's not ready for that yet (it's a 15-20 minute walk). So mom said "But why not, she wants to go farther." When my parents make statements like that, I don't feel like leaving/releasing control back to them just yet. All I could say is just because she wants to do something, doesn't mean that she should do it. I've planned to release full control back to my parents (lol) once I get Luna back on her 20+ minute walk schedules where she can go on a walk and not need a van pickup anymore. My parents understand the doctor's orders, it is aggravating how often they try to manipulate them though. I'm an impatient person but I see as my parents have gotten older, they are a combination of lazy and very impatient - lol. Also I think a product of age is being conservative and not liking change, i.e. having a couch moved a few inches or feet type thing. I've gotten through those tough reorganization of their house battles (lol) to the point she's fairly safe now. Refactoring is a big part of my job (programmer); I do it on a daily basis, I'm used to nothing ever being "complete", constantly changing something to get it better/etc. that I forget most people aren't like that. |
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Mary & Mila
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Post by Mary & Mila on Jul 27, 2018 8:10:12 GMT -7
Wow look at Luna go !!! Loving her walk, great to see this after her surgery.
Thanks for sharing this Reuben.
Mary
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 28, 2018 15:44:29 GMT -7
You're welcome!
Well, Luna is still fairly lethargic compared to her previous personality. I'm worried she's dealing with something (but she no other signs of pain). She's just slow moving and slow reacting, her personality is not nearly as energetic the majority of the time. This is how she was when she was dealing with her disc pain before it herniated/ruptured pre-surgery (lethargic, but she was on tramadol and methacarbamol muscle relaxant then, so we chalked it up to that); the difference now is she was yelping 4-5 times a day before the incident that needed surgery (usually when getting up from a nap). She was walking fine a week before the incident too, so not much "seems" different than when she was struggling other than there is no yelping going on right now (thank God).
I'm not sure how much of this is related to her new environment (no toys, no chew toys, no couches lol) and how much is still recovery from her surgery. If she's feeling OK, I thikn we can accept this as her life (although it seems depressing for her to sleep this much and not react the same anymore - like if I come downstairs after a shower she'd run and greet me at the staircase - now she stays wherever she is laying and doesn't move, but wags her tail); I wonder if that feisty girl personality is ever going to come back someday.
I'm home now and took care a bunch of outdoor yard errands. Mom gave her a walk tonight (first time since Luna's surgery for mom, I've been walking Luna each time so far) with Dad picking them up. I'll be back there Monday to give Luna a 15 minute walk and see how she does. She's usually going straight back to her sleeping location and laying there after a walk.
Mom and Dad live 2.5 hours away, I thikn I'll go back the next 2 weeks so I can "leave" her with the capability of doing 20+ minute walks. At that point, I think Mom can take her on a walk and not need a van pickup.
Is a good long term goal doing 3 walks a day 15-20 minutes each?
Thanks!
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PaulaM
Moderator.
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,552
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Post by PaulaM on Jul 29, 2018 9:10:28 GMT -7
Reuben, eventually when fully achieving back her normal stamina, a walk could be a fast paced walk of even up to an hour in length that a 7 year old would love.
Exercising the core muscles helps to strengthen them. Core muscle support the back... a good thing!!
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Post by Reuben & Luna on Jul 29, 2018 17:39:54 GMT -7
She used to love 40-60 minute walks with me. We would hit 3 miles often. Mom wouldn't be happy I was taking her on walks that long, but Luna knows where she's at and often tried to go farther every time (lol). Like if there was a turn to go home, she'd purposefully take the "other" turn. Eventually, when she thought it was long enough, she'd start to go home and not stop. This is actually how I knew Luna had something going on (that ended up being the H3N2 flu!) last year, she seemed disconcerted on our walks, walking to the road, back to the sidewalk, back to the road, back to the sidewalk every house. I think I notice differences with Luna more than my parents, maybe because my parents live with her and I don't - but mom thinks Luna's condition right now is "normal" but it still isn't, her personality is communicating something is still off with her.
Tonight I'm just thinking about how when Luna visited my house, she'd walk quickly to her "toy" locatoin, find the new toy I left there, then run into the living room to play with it. She'd also react quickly and follow me around the house. There's a small chance she got "used" to me like she gets used to my parents, because I lived with her for 45 days straight. We'll see how she reacts tomorrow morning when I come back to give her a 15 minute walk.
Mom said after her short (5 minute) walk this morning she went into her "run around the house" mode that she had trouble stopping. At least, we konw Luna was happy there. I told mom it's up to her (mom) to decide how she wants Luna to live; we should try to keep Luna calm, give her favorite treat to try and get her to stop running (she used to do that for 10 seconds after walks, even in my backyard, at full speed - seemingly to tire herself out after a walk, then come inside and sleep). I told her well later on in life if Luna hurt/basically killed herself while running, at least we'd know she died happy (lol). Mom is the type to stay in the left lane 5 miles ahead of the turn so I'd expect her to lean much more towards the safe/boring life. I've been talking to her about how she does need to walk more than before, and lose a little weight. Mom used to give her a 15 minute and 30 minute walk a day. I said we should try to get to 3 walks if we can (it's tough for mom though, she's approaching 70 and has osteoporosis, she's broken a hip without even falling!).
I think it starts to come to that, we have to let a dog live like a dog (but I like to be as safe as possible, at the same time I can't see Luna being depressed like tihs for the next 5-7 years).
In my mind, safe is give her more time to heal, even wait until next year to start letting her "play" a little more, whatever that means - and in the mean time occupy her mind with interactive toys and exercise via walks.
I bought a couple slow eating kibble dishes from chewy.com to see if she can just have "fun" with those, and a huge Kong treat dispenser that we can fill with dry food for her to play to try and get the food out. I thikn i also bought a puzzle toy to see if she will be interested in having to work a little harder for her food.
I wonder if I should also try hiding kibble inside things in random parts of the house and see if she'll play hide and seek.
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