Traildoggie
Cathlete
Lori... a lot of big dogs get spinal stenosis. unexplained weight loss is another reason to get him checked. My dobie got stenosis... gradually lost control of his rear quarters so walking, stair climbing, got hard, and had stool incontinence. it was as if he was embarrassed.... I kept him in the laundry room with a hard floor, and he'd push his poop under the washing machine. Not good! I finally started carrying him up the stairs. I'd let him try climbing for a while but when he couldn't do it, I carried him. we didn't pursue what ever else might be wrong, he was 15-ish, really old for a dobie, and nothing to be done. it helped carrying up stairs that he weighed less. We waited too long to make the final decision, and I feel guilty about that.
Think about what length you want to go to keep chester comfortable. it's hard .... your vet should be able to give you a pretty good idea. besides, chester may not have exactly the same thing! regardless, when big dog can't move around by himself, you need to decide what you can live with..... like making a way for him to get in /out that doesn't involve steps. Chihuahua size dogs are not the challenge a big dog is.
this is NOT the friend with pancreatic ca. that person is doing OK and probably going to be one of the 20% survivors. I swear, she is bulletproof. the lady who passed is another friend who suddenly developed a strange swelling/thickening over her right shoulder about a year ago. It turned out to be a malignancy. it never responded to treatment. she was such a nice person it just hurts that she had no chance. It was relentless and never abated no matter what was done.
in addition to these issues, we are having awful eastern WA fires. it is WAY worse than the news reports are showing, awful! town after town evacuated.... Other states are having problems but there is so much here we can't even pay attention to other places like ID OR and CA.
Think about what length you want to go to keep chester comfortable. it's hard .... your vet should be able to give you a pretty good idea. besides, chester may not have exactly the same thing! regardless, when big dog can't move around by himself, you need to decide what you can live with..... like making a way for him to get in /out that doesn't involve steps. Chihuahua size dogs are not the challenge a big dog is.
this is NOT the friend with pancreatic ca. that person is doing OK and probably going to be one of the 20% survivors. I swear, she is bulletproof. the lady who passed is another friend who suddenly developed a strange swelling/thickening over her right shoulder about a year ago. It turned out to be a malignancy. it never responded to treatment. she was such a nice person it just hurts that she had no chance. It was relentless and never abated no matter what was done.
in addition to these issues, we are having awful eastern WA fires. it is WAY worse than the news reports are showing, awful! town after town evacuated.... Other states are having problems but there is so much here we can't even pay attention to other places like ID OR and CA.
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