pippa
Well-known member
Gus will be 12 in November, but lately seems to be really 'showing his age' he still enjoys a walk but only a very short one. He was at the vet for a check up in April and all was well apart from a slight murmur. He does a LOT of sleeping lately and keeps his distance from DJ and Pippin a lot of the time. He does seem to lie in his bed or on the floor seeming to be sleeping but if I leave a room he follows me.
Last week he moved suddenly and seemed to hurt his neck, I called my vet who told me to give him some metacam (we always have some in) and see how he is in a day or two, he was fine after a couple of days so we stopped the metacam and he was ok.
He had a bit of a dodgy tummy on Weds just vomiting his poop was fine, so I starved him for 12 hours and then gave rice and carrot and he is fine now so I am going to give him chicken and rice for a few days and then gradually introduce him back to his normal dry food.
I always weigh my dogs every now and then to make sure they are maintaining a good healthy weight and Gus was always the one to watch as he would slip above the norm quicker than the others. When I weighed him last night he seems to have steadily lost weight over the last few months. I was quite shocked as the last weigh in was a month ago and while Pippin and DJ remain the same Gus has gone from 8.1 kilos to 7.5.
Should I be worried about this and bring him to the vet? Pippin is due for check up on Monday next so I was going to mention this to her anyway.
Although we had dogs at home when I was a child I don't remember much about when they got old and some of them didn't reach old age through illness.
What should I expect as Gus gets older with regard to sleeping etc and is the weight loss something to be worried about, he still has a hearty appetite and never refuses food, but as he has got less mobile I have been careful not to over feed him, although he still gets a good breakfast and dinner and some home made dog biscuits and fruit or veg treats during the day. Have I been too careful, should I increase his food a little and weigh him again in a few weeks.
He is my little man and I am finding that the more he shows his age the more I worry. Of course DJ and Pippin are 9 and they sleep a lot too, but what I notice about Gus sometimes is that the sparkle seems to be gone from his eyes when he looks at me and sometimes he just lies looking at me and seems sad...or it could be just my interpretation...I have him since he was 16 weeks and hate to see him growing old
Last week he moved suddenly and seemed to hurt his neck, I called my vet who told me to give him some metacam (we always have some in) and see how he is in a day or two, he was fine after a couple of days so we stopped the metacam and he was ok.
He had a bit of a dodgy tummy on Weds just vomiting his poop was fine, so I starved him for 12 hours and then gave rice and carrot and he is fine now so I am going to give him chicken and rice for a few days and then gradually introduce him back to his normal dry food.
I always weigh my dogs every now and then to make sure they are maintaining a good healthy weight and Gus was always the one to watch as he would slip above the norm quicker than the others. When I weighed him last night he seems to have steadily lost weight over the last few months. I was quite shocked as the last weigh in was a month ago and while Pippin and DJ remain the same Gus has gone from 8.1 kilos to 7.5.
Should I be worried about this and bring him to the vet? Pippin is due for check up on Monday next so I was going to mention this to her anyway.
Although we had dogs at home when I was a child I don't remember much about when they got old and some of them didn't reach old age through illness.
What should I expect as Gus gets older with regard to sleeping etc and is the weight loss something to be worried about, he still has a hearty appetite and never refuses food, but as he has got less mobile I have been careful not to over feed him, although he still gets a good breakfast and dinner and some home made dog biscuits and fruit or veg treats during the day. Have I been too careful, should I increase his food a little and weigh him again in a few weeks.
He is my little man and I am finding that the more he shows his age the more I worry. Of course DJ and Pippin are 9 and they sleep a lot too, but what I notice about Gus sometimes is that the sparkle seems to be gone from his eyes when he looks at me and sometimes he just lies looking at me and seems sad...or it could be just my interpretation...I have him since he was 16 weeks and hate to see him growing old