ruthless Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 (edited) Trixie got diagnosed with geriatric idiopathic vestibular disease yesterday. I have to give her antibiotics twice a day but she's kind of off her food. She's eating a little bit, but not gobbling it down like she usually would. OH tried putting them at the back of her tongue last night but she kept coughing them back up. Does anyone have any tricks? I have to give her two AB caps in the morning and one at night and anti nausea tabs 4 times a day. Edited August 24, 2011 by ruthless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I would put them at the back of throat. Is your technique for this good? Often it is just technique and practice, if they are coughing it up maybe you didn't put it in the right spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 When giving tablets ..you need to poke them down OVER the back of the tongue . if you put them in a knob of butter .. cold and hard ..they slide down easier , and don't 'stick'..causing irritation and coughing . You can also make some jelly ... only 1/2 the amount of water ... and very quickly poke the capsules in a teaspoon sized bit ..then drop that down OVER the tongue. poor old Trixie- an undignified and confusing time . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Also ( I have never done it), but you could smear a bit of vegemite on your finger, to make her not mind your finger being in her mouth. I just usually put tablets in a bit of mince, but if she's off her food then that wont work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabs Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Put them in a pat of magarine. If she wont take that then just drop the pat down the back of her throat and they will slide down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 I found the butter/margarine concept a bit too gross, but a triangle of Laughing Cow did the trick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Glad they're going down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I found the butter/margarine concept a bit too gross, but a triangle of Laughing Cow did the trick! Glad you found a solution Just wanted to ask / check though: was hereditary ataxia ruled out? If you don't see any improvement in her, then you may want to check for this as HA was/is often mistaken for VD. VD is reasonably common in AST / APBT though, I just thought I'd mention the HA in case. How old is she now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Maybe 5? They did say she was very young to have it. Thanks for the heads up, I'll mention it to the vet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Try rolling the tablets in Philly cheese or pate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 (edited) Maybe 5? They did say she was very young to have it. Thanks for the heads up, I'll mention it to the vet I hope for you that its NOT HA, but it is worth being aware of when you are dealing with a problem of this nature. 5ish is around when symptoms can start to manifest in AST. Here are a couple of links with some info: http://www.amstaff.org/Health%20Committee.html http://maubras.marine.free.fr/communiqueSTCA1en.htm http://maubras.marine.free.fr/communiqueSTCA2en.htm If you are on any of the AST forums you should be able to find old topics on this. ETA: Unless your vet is very knowledgeable of AST, then I'd expect them not to know much about HA in the breed... I'd go armed with info to show them. And there is a test now that can be done to see if the dog is ataxia affected, carrier or clear. Edited August 4, 2011 by zayda_asher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Thanks, I forwarded your links to the vet. There's no mention of nausea, only the staggering and loss of balance and flicking eyes. Do you know anyone in Australia whose dog has had it? Are the discussions on the LAST about testing or people's experience in dealing with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Thanks, I forwarded your links to the vet. There's no mention of nausea, only the staggering and loss of balance and flicking eyes. Do you know anyone in Australia whose dog has had it? Are the discussions on the LAST about testing or people's experience in dealing with it? I believe that there can be nausea because of the balance issues etc. Don't quote me on that though, because I haven't seen it in action for myself. There are dogs in Aus that have had it, but as with a lot of things many people don't talk about it. There is a lot of discussion on the LAST re: the development of the test, subsequent testing and what is known about the disease in general (not personal) terms, I think you may also find a story from one of the US memebers about her ataxic dog in one of those threads... you'll have to search back through to find them though. If you can't find the post I can dig up the members details so you can PM them. I can also point you to a couple of other international forums that would have info if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 From the vet Although I do not have any experience with this condition, in the literature that I have looked up with regards to this condition in my opinion does not entirely resemble what Trixie has developed. The reason I think so is that this cerebellar ataxia is reportedly a progressive and gradual development of signs but Trixie is not showing any signs which involve other areas of her brain (other than her vestibular system) such as the cerebellum. Instead, Trixie has had also a sudden acute onset of these signs. However I understand that each different patient may present different conditions differently so we can not definitively rule this condition out completely without further investigation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ons Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 pate does the trick even with the most difficult of pill tablets. And lucky the cheap Don pate does the trick, Hope a solution for Trixie's problems are found and that she feels better soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 From the vet Although I do not have any experience with this condition, in the literature that I have looked up with regards to this condition in my opinion does not entirely resemble what Trixie has developed. The reason I think so is that this cerebellar ataxia is reportedly a progressive and gradual development of signs but Trixie is not showing any signs which involve other areas of her brain (other than her vestibular system) such as the cerebellum. Instead, Trixie has had also a sudden acute onset of these signs. However I understand that each different patient may present different conditions differently so we can not definitively rule this condition out completely without further investigation. Good to hear, hopefully you see improvement in her condition! Let us know how you go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Try rolling the tablets in Philly cheese or pate. Or peanut butter . . . it has the advantage of keeping form many months and not needing refrigeration. Dogs love it. I generally give a little dob of P'nut butter to each my dogs at once . . . the dog getting no meds gets it first. Then dog #2 is greedy to get hers too and doesn't notice the pill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I just put it in a square of cheese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) Apart from a slight head tilt, she seems to be back to her old self again! Edited August 24, 2011 by ruthless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Apart from a slight head tilt, she seems to be back to her old self again! Aww! Good to hear she is back on form! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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