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Vivitonin

Nicki

Moderator
Does anyone have any experience of having an older dog on Vivitonin?

Rupert has just been started on this, he's been having a few problems and we've ruled out most physical problems, although he's having more tests next week.

We are considering Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome {doggie equivalent of Alzheimers} and although there is another more specific drug for that {Selgian}, we are trying this first as he's not showing that many symptoms.

Rupert will be 11 on Monday - and we're hoping to have many more years with him...
 
Hi Nicki!

I am going back a few years now, approx 15 to be precise but my old lad Charlie was put on vivitonin, he had MVD and also emphasyma, it was prescribed for him to help oxygenate his blood better due to the MVD and did seem to give him a better quality of life for quite some time. Hope this is of use to you??

Should mention it was quite a new drug at the time??!!

Hugs to all!!
 
Thanks Cathryn - did it take long to work? Prob too long ago to remember now!!

Rupert was quite bright yesterday, I took the "Oldies and Ploddies" down the track behind the cottage and he was quite good.

He's not so good this morning, he yelped and ran across the room and seems rather unsettled. I can't find anything that could be causing pain...but it's hard to know what's going on inside.

I will take him with me to the vets in the morning and ask them to check him over again...
 
Hi Nicki,

So sorry Rupert is not feeling so good. Charlie was quite similar when he got older - same kind of thing as Rupert - he'd sometimes just yelp and run away from things for seemingly no reason. How are Rupert's sight and vision? When Charlie acted strangely, we wondered whether it was partly because he was completely deaf and mostly blind, so was living in quite an insular world.

Charlie did go on Vivitonin, and it seemed to suit him pretty well. He was on so many other drugs at the same time though, that it's difficult to know how much effect the Vivitonin had.

Good luck at the vet x
 
HI Nicki!

I see to remember that he picked up pretty quickly, after 3 or 4 days actually, it did seem to suit him well, he was on it for 2 years and I do recall the vet commenting at one visit that he was impressed with Charlie's improvement.

Sorry to hear Rupert's not feeling so good, :xfngr: that he is feeling better soon, let me know what the vet says??

All the best, :hug: to them all!!
 
Sorry to hear Rupert is not feeling well. I must say that when I hear his name I think of Rupert the Bear. I loved those stories when I was little.
I used to beg for the new Rupert the Bear book.
Pam
 
Thanks everyone - yes Rupert is known as Rupert Bear, Pam!! I used to follow the newspaper stories in the Daily Express as a child {EEK that's going back a few years!!}.

Rupert's urine sample was clear...so that rules out diabetes and kidney problems. I had a long chat with the vet about all sorts of things, and the vet gave Rupert a nice cuddle and a treat for his birthday!!

We are running with the Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome diagnosis, and will see how he goes...

There's lots of info about it on here...I haven't read it all yet, and the drug they mention isn't available over here yet...only in the US.

http://www.swiftwaterfarms.com/swiftwater/p22CanineCognitiveDysfunction.htm


Pepsi, thank you so much for posting - I often think of you.

Rupert has been totally deaf since the age of 2 {actually vaccine damage sadly}, and although his eye sight isn't quite as good as it once was, particularly at night, he can still see pretty well - well enough to see anything edible that drops on to the floor LOL

I know this yelping and running can be a symptom of Syringomyelia, which he does have, but he has an episodic form and isn't showing any of the other symptoms I would expect.

He still takes himself off behind the furniture, but wants to be in the same room as us which is a good sign.

I will update in a few weeks - but thank you all for thinking of him, he's very special {aren't they all?} but Rupert is particuarly as he's the only Cavalier we've had from a tiny puppy, also we nearly lost him 3 years ago during a severe episode of Syringo. We are grateful to have had so many happy years with him.
 
I have no experience with Vivitonin but I did have a dog (English Cocker Spaniel) who had Canine Cognitive Dysfunction (CCD). We tried her on a drug called Amipryl which when it works can apparently have wonderful results. Unfortunately, it does not work in a high percentage of dogs and my Abby was one of those. Abby's CCD progressed slowly at first and despite the CCD I felt she had a good quality of life. She still loved to go to our local Dog Park where amazingly all the other dogs, including active, energetic puppies "knew" to leave her alone to wander as she chose. Until the last month or so she was able to sleep through the night at the foot of my bed as she had for almost fourteen years. She would also curl up and nap with Hadley, our much younger Clumber Spaniel. She will have been gone for two years next week. I hope the treatments for CCD have improved in that time and that you get relief. Best of luck to you.
 
Thank you for sharing your story Phyllis, I'm glad that Abby managed to have a good quality of life.

Sadly Amipryl isn't available in the UK , but the good news is that Rupert is doing really really well on the Vivitonin, he's back to his old self!! We hope he will stay that way for many years to come...

The only side effect he seems to be having is an increase in appetite.
 
Thank you for sharing your story Phyllis, I'm glad that Abby managed to have a good quality of life.

Sadly Amipryl isn't available in the UK , but the good news is that Rupert is doing really really well on the Vivitonin, he's back to his old self!! We hope he will stay that way for many years to come...

The only side effect he seems to be having is an increase in appetite.

I am so glad to hear that Rupert is doing well on this drug Nicki!! I know that when our old lad Charlie was on it, it seemed to give him a totally new lease of life too and Yes he had an increase in appetite too! :hug: to Rupert :lotsaluv:
 
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