new from europe (arthritis and vetoryl?) - Ian, Flynn and Enya have passed

yes another non-winter winter.........................
a few days of nightly frost and that was it.
lots of rain and wind forecasted the next days. 10+C.
how is henry doing? loving his beach walks?
enya wants out, so off we go.
[in the rain, bleeeh!]

I was reading about the storms in the UK - not good. They've had some nasty flooding already this year. I'm guessing you're getting some of the same storms :(
We've just had around 6" of snow today, which is good as our driveway was a skating rink thanks to the recent thaw / freeze. I took Henry to the beach the other day and the frozen sea ice was making lots of noise so Henry was barking at it :)

I've stayed in contact with Tracy over in Scotland and they have been getting it hard this year. Had a bad one last night, knocked down trees and did damage to buildings.
We've been so much milder than normal, although got snow and ice last night, but going to warm up tomorrow, then freezing again by end of this coming week.
Sure makes it hard for dog walking when it does that freeze/thaw/freeze stuff!

@henry...barking at sea monsters, i hope you scared them away!
i think the weather is off everywhere...strong el nino or climate change?
i guess both.
i would love some snow, so you can send some to us.
it isn't even cooling down at night. very sticky.
although freeze/thaw/freeze weather isn't very desirable too.
i hope at least the energy bill will be low this year.

How is Enya doing? How's the weather been?

enya is doing fine, still some mild cushing symptoms, but hardly any progress. her 14 th birthday is may 2.
mentally; she is still missing her brother. doesn't want into the van anymore without him, so we are walking in the neighborhood.
she still manages 30-40 minute walks in a slower pace.
she once injured her left front leg and that leg has arthritis, so she is pretty stiff in the morning. she is on a nsaid painkiller every day now.
but since i missed walking longer distances, training a dog etc. i found a new one on the internet.
not a planned litter, mom is a belgian sheperd malinois and dad a blue merle border collie. his name is midas, born jan. 6th 2016.
i only had to pay for the id. chip, shots and worm stuff and european passport.
enya hates him but i knew this would happen, so i seperate them in the house. and seperate walks too.
i hope the link will work. here he is 6 weeks old.
i will upload new ones soon.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...pscsxugh6o.jpg

we had a warm winter again. this week it is 15C [60F] and wet. bulbs are blooming [almost done], green grass, so spring it is.

Oh my goodness but isn't Midas adorable!! Such a cutie. What is it about a puppy that just brings so much joy to our lives.

Sorry to hear that Enya is having the stiffness from arthritis. Hope the meds are helping with that.

We are having a bloody cold April here, snow, 13cm the other day!! Word is though that summer should hit around the end of April, so we might skip spring almost completely here.

So sorry to hear about Enya's arthritis. Hamish suffered a bit in his last year and I had to take him to the vets a few times for a pain shot. He also had some acupuncture treatments which worked well if he stayed calm enough for the needles to stay put (so not often!!). I also gave him some glucosamine / chrondrotin pills which had something to do with New Zealand if I remember correctly - I'll try to find the details as they did seem to help, and they had a very doggy friendly smell so he loved taking them.

Oh my, little Midas is absolutely adorable. Do you think Enya will accept him at some point?

So jealous to hear of your Spring. We never seem to get it here. By the time the snow disappears the temperatures are starting to get silly :(
We had lovely Springs in the UK - the farm where we lived was a carpet of yellow daffodils.

@sharlene 13 cm of snow in april.........................not what you expect in spring.
and straight from winter-summer......must be weird!

@mc davis yes spring in the uk is lovely!
i can understand you miss the uk climate.
like sharlene going from inches of snow straight into summer temperatures must be weird.
the nsaid pills do work for the arthritis, but she sometimes refuses to take the pill and then she is a bit lame in the morning.


@ both; i don't think enya will accept midas , he is too bouncy and active for her.
he is wearing me out too ha, ha!
after all he is a working dog.
trying to upload more recent pics to photobucket.

We're supposed to get around 10cm of snow at the weekend :eek:

Oh the joys of a bouncy puppy. I spend my walks telling people that Henry is friendly, but may bounce over their dog to get to them!

10 cm of snow in april, brrrr!
o, yeh, bouncy puppies and bouncy henry, they are a lot alike.
midas loves teenage girls. they think he is cute and want to cuddle him.
maybe they should meet in england, then they can run around together.

last year july 22th i had to say goodbye to my ian.
in the same awful heat as we have now. 30+C/100+F.
i do miss him a lot as does his sister enya. i want to visit his grave, but it is a long trip and i don't have airco in my old car.
enya is doing pretty well. i still think she does have some mild form of cushing's, but it progressing at a snails pace luckily. she is 14 years old now and as long as she is doing well, i am not going to treat her.
my new dog midas is 6 months old now and already a big boy of 25 kilo. i will upload a pic soon.

Hi, just wondering how you decided to treat your dog that had arthritis and cushings and if you have any suggestions. My 14-15 year old dog probably has both and I don't really know what to do. I'm strongly considering stopping treatment, though it makes me sad to think there is nothing I can do. How did you come to realize your dog also had arthritis? Thanks a bunch.

Iris, sending you huge and loving hugs, Lori

So sorry about Ian and glad to hear that Enya continues to do well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by randomguy

Hi, just wondering how you decided to treat your dog that had arthritis and cushings and if you have any suggestions. My 14-15 year old dog probably has both and I don't really know what to do. I'm strongly considering stopping treatment, though it makes me sad to think there is nothing I can do. How did you come to realize your dog also had arthritis? Thanks a bunch.

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after the first capsules of vetoryl he became lame and his right wrist was 2x as big as before. he was in pain, because the vetoryl unmasked his underlying arthritis. he was a bordercollie and has worked with sheep and cows, so his joints were not 100% anymore. he had all the symptoms of cushing's including the rare ones. no treatment meant going downhill very fast and i had to let him go. if your dog is tolerating vetoryl fine, i won't stop the treatment unless your dog shows signs of joint inflammation too and is in pain. your dog is already 14/15 years old and you can try out how he is doing without the vetoryl if his arthritis is bothering him. quality of life should be our nr. 1 priority.

@ lori and joan; thank you!

So hard to believe that it's been a year since you said goodbye to Ian. Hugs to both you and Enya from Henry and me.

I'm pleased to hear that Enya is doing well, but the heat must be a nightmare for her. How is she with Midas now?

thank you, yes 1 year already, seems like yesterday. enya and i are not tolerating the heat very well. no airco in the house.
midas is far too energetic for enya, so i walk them seperately and the same way indoors. she hates him and goes after him ha, ha! she is the boss lady.
how is henry doing? still practising escape artist stuff?

Do you think Midas will start to calm down as he gets a bit older or will it take a few years?
I have no expectations of Henry calming down..... ever ;) I'm keeping everything crossed as I still haven't had an opportunity to try a ruffwear harness on him (no local suppliers) but I did get a thin dog collar which I use to attach his current harness to his collar. I used a piece of string the first week - got some odd looks from people we met!

i have no idea if and when midas will ever calm down, maybe he is related to henry?
okay, let people think what they want. double security is very important in keeping henry from escaping out of his harness.
how is your weather doing. over here it is hot and humid. so it is too crowded at the beach for us. do you and henry go to the beach often in summer?

Henry needs all the help he can get, that escape artist!!

Gosh a year already. :(
Well Midas will keep you on your toes for sure. Good on Enya to let him know whose the boss in the house. :)

Our weather is absolutely horrible at the moment. The temperatures are in the 30s to start with, then there's 80% humidity, so spending more than 5 minutes outdoors is unbearable. We've taken Henry to the beach a couple of evenings, but it's even too hot there at the moment too :(

How is Midas with the heat?

@ mc davis;you guys do have exactly the same weather we have. i am not a happy person. midas couldn't care less. he loves every kind of weather. running till his tongue drops on the floor. i have to watch him not overdoing it in this temp.
no beach for us too. i hope your and our temp. will drop soon [but i doubt it], so we can visit the beach again......... stay cool everyone.

@ sharlene; yes midas is a hand full of energy. i think i am too old for a dog like him. no more puppies for me anymore. a one or 2 year old rescue will do. i do see a lot of them on facebook. so many people buying the wrong kind of dog. [and breeders selling them to the wrong persons]

last post was 1 1/2 years ago.
enya turned 15 1/2 november 2.
still going strong for her age.
midas is becoming a good detection/snifferdog.
he is very high maintenance pfft!
i do everything apart from each other.
strolling with enya and running 100 miles an hour with midas......
tomorrow will be 15/16 C, pretty hot for november.

Good to hear from you, Iris! Also good to hear Enya is going strong and that her new brother is keeping you busy! Don't wait so long next time to give us a holler with what's up in your world.

Hugs,
Leslie

“Ditto” to everything Leslie just said! Thanks so much for stopping by, Iris — we miss you!

Marianne

@ leslie and marianne, i do read the new posts on the forum a couple of times a week to stay in touch with my cushing's family.
learning new things about the disease.
almost 4 years ago flynn died, and ian passed 2 1/2 years ago.
i will update sooner next time....

Good to hear from you Iris. Like you I try to drop in from time to time to keep up with everyone, and I'm pleased to read that things are going well with Enya and Midas, albeit separately. I hope the weather is being kind to you. We had a chilly January with not much snow, but we've had snow today so February is expected to be snowy and chilly. Good thing Henry loves the snow!

good to hear from you too.
enya is still doing well for her age.
and midas is a handfull pffft.
we had a few days of snow in december. both dogs loved it.
pleased to hear that henry loves the snow too.
otherwise we are having another hot winter with a lot of rain lately.
around 7-10 C.
next week will be colder with some frost at night.
i would love some snow for the dogs to play in.

That seems so strange for you to have that warm of a winter Again!

How old is Midas now?

Well we are getting a cold spell with lots of snow next week so maybe you will too.

I've been looking at pictures of the North East of England and they have had quite a bit of snow over the last few weeks. At the moment they have more than us!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by molly muffin

That seems so strange for you to have that warm of a winter Again!

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yes sharlene, only [mostly] non frost winters for us now.
next week will be colder though with up to -7C at night.
how is your weather up north?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mcdavis

How old is Midas now?

Well we are getting a cold spell with lots of snow next week so maybe you will too.

I've been looking at pictures of the North East of England and they have had quite a bit of snow over the last few weeks. At the moment they have more than us!!

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midas turned 2 january 6 th. time flies......
yes the temp. will be as low as -7C at night next week.
i heard that scotland had a lot of snow, saw pictures on facebook. beautiful landscape.
a friend in austria has 2 meters of snow. living in a small village and snowed in.
they run a bed and breakfast inn, but can hardly feed the guests.
well they came to austria for the snow, so they got what they wished for ha, ha!
have to walk the dogs in some wet snow now.......

tried to upload some photo's. my old pc is very slow. 3x midas, 1x enya.

What lovely photos Iris! Gosh Midas is all grown up. enya is looking pretty good too.

thank you sharlene.
enya's picture is not a very recent one.
her pot belly is gone now.
no smartphone or digital camera present over here.
so i have to wait till others make pictures of my dogs.

sadly i had to say goodbye to enya last wednesday.
she was 16 years old and had never been ill in her life.
but last months we thought she had an uti.
she got 2 different types of antibiotics, but it didn't help.
she collapsed and we saw a tumor in her bladder and one on her spleen on the ultrasound.
so i had to let her go.
she was born in my hands and now she died in my hands............

Oh Iris, I’m so very sorry. My goodness, 16 years spent together — I know you will miss Enya dearly. Thank you so much for telling us what has happened, though, so we can add Enya to our honored list of dearly departed companions. What a dog-worthy life, if only it could have continued on even longer. But what a comfort for Enya that your loving face was her first vision when she came into this world, and your parting gift to her when she made her passage.

I’m keeping you in my thoughts, and I send you my sincere sympathy over your loss. Always in loving memory of your dear girl ~
Marianne

I'm so sorry for your loss of your sweet Enya, Iris.