Stitch

I don't think it's heart as she has been checked out recently. My thinking is it's either an allergy or yes maybe the trachea although she gets a snuffly nose too. It's sort of a combination of throat and nose....not both at the same time though.

My old girl (14) has started to make sort of choking/gurgling/snorting sounds when resting. It sounds like we do when we have a gluggy throat or a blocked nose. She is not a Brachycephalic breed, but has had mild issues with her soft palate over the years. Now it is much more noticeable as she can't sleep in certain positions without making this choking noise. It must be affecting her as she often rearranges herself into a more comfortable position and the noise is reduced or stops. She does do a bit of sneezing too. I am going to take her to the vet tomorrow but I wondered if anyone has had a dog with a similar problem and if it was fixable?

Meals for Mutts Salmon & Sardine with Brown Rice & Veg was recommended here on DOL for my old girl and quite honestly she hasn't looked back since I started her on it. (I am scared to actually say that as I don't want to put the 'mocka' on her! I so hope it continues.) There are sooooo many different brands of dry dogfood available it is very difficult to know what is best for them. I used to feed all mine only BARF for many years but found they did better with dry food in the mornings and BARF at night. And of course as others have said, as they get older their preferences and also what works best for them does change. For mine, the same food given regularly is best. Sometimes we can be guilty of giving them too much variety and sometimes we can also feed them too much. I have a young boy who has been getting very picky and he is now on the end of some tough love. It is his second day on just BARF with no morning dry food and he is now looking for his next meal so problem solved with him.

What are you actually feeding them??

OK I have looked at the LAM game and I have no trouble with the basic training however we have no bikes, prams or skateboards here and no friends who have them who would be prepared to work with us.

Yes, I do drive him to beaches and parks...and no he is just the same everywhere. Not terrified, as he is quite happy to sit and look while the bike or whatever passes but just not enjoying himself and always on the lookout.

I have a very sweet dog with a fairly low drive and an anxious personality. It is very hard to get his attention when there are distractions around. We have been training for quite a long time now and he is great with sit, drop, stand, etc. but...he is still anxious when faced with anything different. Walking with him is something that both he and myself don't enjoy because he is always on the lookout. His head is constantly swivelling back and forward. I have tried training him in open areas so he can see things coming and I have tried walking him in street situations but he is not happy anywhere except partially at dog training classes and home. I am about to give up and just let him enjoy being at home but it would be so nice if I could just get him to like going on a walk. Would anyone have any insight into this problem?

Thanks for that feedback Rubiton. I am hoping that my old girl does get some benefit from these injections. I was very sorry to read about your girls passing but what a great 'innings'. As Tassie said it is a tribute to all the care and attention she got from you.

My old girl had her first Cartophen injection yesterday....one a week for 4 weeks then monthly. Vet said that in some cases you can see results after just 1 injection so I hope that is the case with her. Might be wishful thinking but I think she is moving a bit easier....time will tell! :)

I have a dog that has IBD and she LOVED the Prime Crocodile HOWEVER after a short time it brought on an IBD episode. This was because it has crushed bone in it and bone = fat which my girl can't have. I was very sorry that it didn't suit but the rep told me that they have to put the crushed bone in it...otherwise it is not classed as a 'complete' food.

Thanks for all your replies. Currently I don't have any trouble getting her to come inside as she never goes walkabout for long. She waits at the back door and stares. If she could stomp her foot I am sure she would. After your suggestion I have started tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention. She seems to appreciate that and doesn't get a fright. I will have to start combining that with a hand signal.

Not only does my old girl have IBD and arthritis but she is gradually going deaf. It depends on where she is, as to how much she can hear. eg. outside I have to be 1 or 2 metres of her before she can hear me call. Inside where it's quieter maybe 3-4 metres. I think she can hear high pitched sounds better than low. It's obviously not worrying her and I had her checked out at the vet a few months ago and it's just because she is old... nothing that can be helped. Is there anyone out there that has been through this before that might be able to give me any helpful advice on coping?

She doesn't have any known allergies to seafood but I have learnt over the years to expect the unexpected. I will go to the vet armed with all these new suggestions and see what happens. She has a memory foam bed but she prefers to sleep on human beds as she is a little bit spoilt. We have a step that she uses to get up. She has always been a good girl and has never chewed furniture etc.

I have always kept my dogs at a good weight and condition and my old girl is no exception. Because she has IBD it has sometimes been a big challenge to say the least to keep weight on her, so weight is not an issue. She has an assortment of jumpers & coats which she wears to stay warm. She is also a 'sun goddess' and loves to lie in the sun...which is good because it hasn't rained for ages now and it is still 29C during the day here. I like the sound of that Technyflex MD. I can't give her oils as it can set off the IBD. Not sure how the Technyflex would affect her???

Thanks for all your responses. I am encouraged that there is something out there that may help so I will visit the vet next week.

Hmmm, along with my old girls gut & skin problems she is having difficulty jumping up onto her favourite couch! and I'm not always around to lift her up.

My 14 year old girl is getting very stiff in the back legs/hips. Is there anything on the market now that doesn't have side effects but helps to alleviate the problem? I don't want to swap one problem for another at her stage of life.

I totally agree Sueang, Lectade has been invaluable to my lot over the years. As you would know when they are not eating it is very important they drink regularly and Lectade also replaces the electrolytes. I always keep that in the cupboard.

I am very sorry to hear your girl isn't well. Have you tried offering Lectade, syringing small amount frequently if she won't drink it herself? Got to keep the fluids up if nothing else. It has often been the only thing that my girl will have if she is very unwell....she won't drink it if she is OK.

Lisa, Hills canned I/D is still OK for my girl but Hills dry Z/D is not as I have proved it was making her extremely itchy. I have stopped feeding the Hills dry but as the canned I/D is currently the only wet food she can eat without obvious issue, I will continue to feed her that. I have also bought MfM Salmon/Rice/Veges and I am giving her about 10 little bits of it each day. At the same time I have started her on a 5 day course of Metrozine and will reassess her when the course is completed. Metrozine can be given on a permanent basis if necessary, and as she gets older I am finding that I have to give it more and more frequently....but that was when she was on the dry as well as the wet Hills. Perhaps the situation will improve now that I have dropped off the Hills dry...time will tell! Thank you to everyone here who has made suggestions/comments here...but more importantly I am sure my old girl thanks you too! We will continue to take one day at a time.

Every time I ask my local vet and also the internal medicine speciality vet to clarify the difference between IBS & IBD they all say there is no difference, that irritable bowel can be a combination of things. So if anyone here can explain that I would be interested to read it. I like Hills dog foods especially the canned I/D and my girl is still eating this product. Hills has definitely been and still is a lifesaver however my girls problem with dry food manifests itself as itchy skin & seems to be associated with the hydrolysed Hills Z/D and also hydrolysed Royal Canin hypoallergenic. Perhaps the hydrolysing process is not as good as they think Prior to Hills dry foods, she had reactions to dry foods with chicken and/or liver in them. Prior to that she had major reactions to food with bone and/or fat/oils as I have always fed BARF to my dogs. Flaxseed oil didn't go down very well at all....I remember the clean up after that one very well. I also found she couldn't handle the usual remedy for sick dogs ie. chicken & rice. It would be nice to work my way though everything and put her on an elimination diet but at her age (14) I really don't want to put her through any unnecessary pain and suffering which is what it would be if I did that. I do my best to at least have some sort of confidence in the food before I feed it to her and so I avoid all the foods etc. that have resulted in problems previously. Perhaps her immune system is such that she will react to every dry dogfood eventually. I don't know, and that's the problem, I don't know and neither do the vets.

OK I will put that on the list if the MtM doesn't agree with her...thank you.

I don't know AnimalLover. It has been a while since I last looked at Augustines diet....maybe, but I don't remember the ingredients. I am very sorry you lost your old girl. Vets say I can dose with Metrozine permanently without any side effects which I will do if things get worse. Vet also warned me that my girl could go the way yours did, something I don't want to think of at the moment. Prednisone is something I really don't want to start if I can help it. I don't give probiotics currently, I suppose I could but it sort of defeats the purpose when I have to give her Amoxyclav every so often. I have used Protexin previously, is there something else better? HW...possibly. I guess there are a LOT of dogfoods out there that could be tried. The problem is I have to put my girl through all the trials and tribulations to do so, so I want to try the most suitable ie. novel source of protein.

I haven't investigated that yet, so don't know. I do know what beans do to me thought!

Yep, every dog is different. I have bought MfM Salmon as recommended but I have gone back to the Hills I/D cans for the moment. Hoping that it doesn't contribute to the itching. I intend to only offer MfM a small amount at a time which would be my normal practice when changing dry food. Regarding the crocodile roll, Seregil, I actually spoke to the guy from the manufacturers and he said definitely NOT to transition gradually in this case. I therefore followed his advice and offered crocodile roll meal size. Maybe it might have been different if my girl had gone onto it gradually but somehow I don't think so. I do think that she just can't have bone of any type, as this is what it has been like for her previously, and possibly the fat/oil content may have been a bit high or in a different form to what she can tolerate. He also said that they have to put crushed bone in that crocodile roll to meet certain regulations when they state it is a complete and balanced diet. I said he should possibly consider producing a product without any bones that IBD dogs can eat. The manufacturer & the retailer were very helpful and I got a complete refund on the food I bought which was nice. Still leaves me with an unsolved issue though. Edited to add: Sorry Jules, forgot to say that my girl has not been able to tolerate chicken in the past and L/D has chicken flavour in it.