Wherein Toby gets better
You probably know that last summer Toby had liver failure. The vet said it might have been caused by him taking aspirin, which I had been giving him for a year or so, for his arthritis. Therefore, we switched him to Deramaxx, a NSAID for dogs. He was able to do four or five months on just 25mg/day, ¼ of a pill.
Meanwhile, V had moved in. Toby started pacing more, and panting more heavily. I attributed this to V and Harley being here, making the old blind dog nervous. And so I didn’t do anything but just suffered with him. (It is in no way easy to watch and hear a dog apparently in distress with nothing you can do about it but hope the person causing his distress leaves soon.) Then the cold weather set in. Toby got stiffer and paced more, so I upped his dose to 50mg/day. Pacing, and heavy panting when it is not hot are, after all, signs of pain in dogs.
Two weeks ago V moved out. Toby was calm for a day or so, then the panting and pacing got worse than ever. He would spend literally hours each day pacing until he collapsed from exhaustion. I thought the changing weather was making him ever more sore, and upped his Deramaxx to 75mg/day. Then a few days later I started to split it between am and pm, although you are only supposed to give it once a day. It seemed that the morning dose would help throughout the day but by suppertime it would wear off and he would begin pacing, and pace continuously until 11 or 12:00 at night. I would go to bed and lay there with the light on (I always have the light on when he is awake to show him where I am in the house, until he lays down for sleep.) for an hour, crying and thinking that something must be done. Then Toby would wake up at 3-4-5 am to go out, and pace for another 40 minutes to an hour before he laid back down to sleep again.
So I started to think about putting him down. I can’t let my ancient dog live in so much pain, and it seemed I could do nothing about the pain, no matter how much pain medicine I gave him. I cried for several days thinking about it. I’d try to call the vet to ask if they would do a house call for euthanasia and each time had to hang up before their phone even rang as I would be crying too hard to speak. During the day Toby would seem fine, and I’d be hopeful, then at night the whole thing would start over again and I’d be in despair thinking I HAVE to do it.
This went on for just a few days, maybe 3 or 4. Then Saturday morning Toby pooped in the house at 5:00 am, walking through it in his pacing and getting it all over the entire house. I put him outside while I cleaned up (took an hour!). He had very soft stool the rest of the day, and even pooped in the house again that night when I walked in the door from a pet sitting visit. Luckily he didn’t walk in it this time so it was a quick and easy clean up. But I knew that the soft stool was from the drug, and in desperation went online to see what, if anything, I could do for side effects.
While reading various pages I finally got directed to the Deramaxx website, and at the end of one of the pages I found a list of side effects. Guess what one is? RESTLESSNESS!!!! Also, depression. I sat there with my jaw hanging open. Do you mean to tell me it has not been pain at all but the drug itself that is causing my dog to literally pace until he drops?? Why did the vet not tell me of this possibility? Why did I blindly accept the vet’s opinion that this was better for him than aspirin? Why did I not look it up myself long before now?? (Actually, I think I did but as none of the side effects seemed very bad [aside from the sudden death one] I probably didn’t notice them at the time, aside from the stomach problems all NSAIDS can cause, and which seem to be what people worry about the most.)
But Toby had tolerated aspirin for a year before now with no stomach problems. And believe me, I kept a sharp eye on him for just such a thing. But he was never nauseous, never had dark stool (indicating internal bleeding), never even had soft stool or diarrhea.
So I thought about things for a long time that night. I pondered how Toby had never had a problem with aspirin. I thought about how I had found out the very first time that he needed a pain medicine - he had REFUSED to move one night when I wanted him to go out to pee before bedtime. Refused! To Move! He was NOT pacing. I thought about the vet saying aspirin might have caused his liver failure. MIGHT. And how I had never really thought this to be the case, as Toby had eaten the entire frozen shoulder blade of a pig, and then gotten sick a few hours later, and still had the bones in his belly two days later when I took him to the vet. And how he had had a similar problem a few days before that upon eating a frozen deer bone, only that time the symptoms had gone away over night. I also thought about the fact that this drug costs me about 80$/30 pills and aspirin is what, 5$ for a bottle of 100?
So, I decided to do an experiment and stop the Deramaxx completely. I would allow Toby several days or a week to get all of it out of his system (one dog drug page I read advises a week but if he really hurts I won’t make him wait that long) and then give him aspirin again as needed.
That was Saturday night. Toby had already had the 75mg split between two meals that day, but I was not going to give him any more. That night he went to bed without pacing and slept through the night. I couldn’t attribute this to not having the drug in him though, but rather I figured he was simply exhausted from pacing (and pooping!) all day. Sunday morning we got up pretty early since I had sits to do at 8:00. Toby paced from about 7:00 am until 11:00 am. I was only gone an hour but I am pretty sure he paced the whole time as he was up and moving when I came in the door at 9, and I had parked in the driveway (not using the garage door) so I don’t think he knew I was home. Anyway he paced until his hips literally collapsed under him, and then he slept until 3:00 pm.
After that I started noticing things he was doing that he hadn’t been doing for a long time. Like, when we go outside he is interested in whatever thing that is laying in the yard (or at the park) that is a different color than the ground. He sniffs items when before he had just plodded along. When he lays down in the house he grooms his feet a bit or sniffs around at himself. He wagged his tail for me! Not the half-hearted wag or two he has been doing for a long time, but full-on tail wagging, the very reason I called my business Toby’s Tailwag. He gets up every so often to come and see what I am doing, if I have treats to offer him or a dish he might lick. All these things are normal doggy activities, but Toby has done none of them in so long. I thought he was just old and getting ready to die any minute! Now I think the Deramaxx was depressing him and also affecting his central nervous system causing all the pacing. He slept through the night again last night, and he did not pace AT ALL the rest of the day once he had collapsed at 11:00.
This morning he did pace for about 30 minutes before I left for work, and possibly much longer; as I was gone for 5 hours I can’t tell. But I took him over to the park for a walk before I left and he was good. Interested and not seeming in very much pain. In fact if anything I think he is more comfortable now than he was on the pain medicine, with so much less pacing his poor old hips are getting some rest instead of going until they collapse and are too sore to get up again. Toby sometimes struggles a bit to get up but he is able to do it. Part of the reason I was thinking he needed put down was his inability to get back up when he had collapsed. But now I think he was just worn out and sore. Also, already his appetite is better. He had been starting to not be interested in his food, which for Toby is unheard of, although I do know it is a sign the dog is getting ready to die and I just expected that was it. He is 16 years old after all, an almost unheard of age for a lab. (I tell people he passed his expiration date years ago!)
We are only halfway through day two of the no-Deramaxx experiment, but I am overjoyed with the results thus far and wanted to share with you, people who have loved him from afar for so long, the good news. He may not last much longer, but if his life can be even just this much better until then, I am GLAD!
Meanwhile, V had moved in. Toby started pacing more, and panting more heavily. I attributed this to V and Harley being here, making the old blind dog nervous. And so I didn’t do anything but just suffered with him. (It is in no way easy to watch and hear a dog apparently in distress with nothing you can do about it but hope the person causing his distress leaves soon.) Then the cold weather set in. Toby got stiffer and paced more, so I upped his dose to 50mg/day. Pacing, and heavy panting when it is not hot are, after all, signs of pain in dogs.
Two weeks ago V moved out. Toby was calm for a day or so, then the panting and pacing got worse than ever. He would spend literally hours each day pacing until he collapsed from exhaustion. I thought the changing weather was making him ever more sore, and upped his Deramaxx to 75mg/day. Then a few days later I started to split it between am and pm, although you are only supposed to give it once a day. It seemed that the morning dose would help throughout the day but by suppertime it would wear off and he would begin pacing, and pace continuously until 11 or 12:00 at night. I would go to bed and lay there with the light on (I always have the light on when he is awake to show him where I am in the house, until he lays down for sleep.) for an hour, crying and thinking that something must be done. Then Toby would wake up at 3-4-5 am to go out, and pace for another 40 minutes to an hour before he laid back down to sleep again.
So I started to think about putting him down. I can’t let my ancient dog live in so much pain, and it seemed I could do nothing about the pain, no matter how much pain medicine I gave him. I cried for several days thinking about it. I’d try to call the vet to ask if they would do a house call for euthanasia and each time had to hang up before their phone even rang as I would be crying too hard to speak. During the day Toby would seem fine, and I’d be hopeful, then at night the whole thing would start over again and I’d be in despair thinking I HAVE to do it.
This went on for just a few days, maybe 3 or 4. Then Saturday morning Toby pooped in the house at 5:00 am, walking through it in his pacing and getting it all over the entire house. I put him outside while I cleaned up (took an hour!). He had very soft stool the rest of the day, and even pooped in the house again that night when I walked in the door from a pet sitting visit. Luckily he didn’t walk in it this time so it was a quick and easy clean up. But I knew that the soft stool was from the drug, and in desperation went online to see what, if anything, I could do for side effects.
While reading various pages I finally got directed to the Deramaxx website, and at the end of one of the pages I found a list of side effects. Guess what one is? RESTLESSNESS!!!! Also, depression. I sat there with my jaw hanging open. Do you mean to tell me it has not been pain at all but the drug itself that is causing my dog to literally pace until he drops?? Why did the vet not tell me of this possibility? Why did I blindly accept the vet’s opinion that this was better for him than aspirin? Why did I not look it up myself long before now?? (Actually, I think I did but as none of the side effects seemed very bad [aside from the sudden death one] I probably didn’t notice them at the time, aside from the stomach problems all NSAIDS can cause, and which seem to be what people worry about the most.)
But Toby had tolerated aspirin for a year before now with no stomach problems. And believe me, I kept a sharp eye on him for just such a thing. But he was never nauseous, never had dark stool (indicating internal bleeding), never even had soft stool or diarrhea.
So I thought about things for a long time that night. I pondered how Toby had never had a problem with aspirin. I thought about how I had found out the very first time that he needed a pain medicine - he had REFUSED to move one night when I wanted him to go out to pee before bedtime. Refused! To Move! He was NOT pacing. I thought about the vet saying aspirin might have caused his liver failure. MIGHT. And how I had never really thought this to be the case, as Toby had eaten the entire frozen shoulder blade of a pig, and then gotten sick a few hours later, and still had the bones in his belly two days later when I took him to the vet. And how he had had a similar problem a few days before that upon eating a frozen deer bone, only that time the symptoms had gone away over night. I also thought about the fact that this drug costs me about 80$/30 pills and aspirin is what, 5$ for a bottle of 100?
So, I decided to do an experiment and stop the Deramaxx completely. I would allow Toby several days or a week to get all of it out of his system (one dog drug page I read advises a week but if he really hurts I won’t make him wait that long) and then give him aspirin again as needed.
That was Saturday night. Toby had already had the 75mg split between two meals that day, but I was not going to give him any more. That night he went to bed without pacing and slept through the night. I couldn’t attribute this to not having the drug in him though, but rather I figured he was simply exhausted from pacing (and pooping!) all day. Sunday morning we got up pretty early since I had sits to do at 8:00. Toby paced from about 7:00 am until 11:00 am. I was only gone an hour but I am pretty sure he paced the whole time as he was up and moving when I came in the door at 9, and I had parked in the driveway (not using the garage door) so I don’t think he knew I was home. Anyway he paced until his hips literally collapsed under him, and then he slept until 3:00 pm.
After that I started noticing things he was doing that he hadn’t been doing for a long time. Like, when we go outside he is interested in whatever thing that is laying in the yard (or at the park) that is a different color than the ground. He sniffs items when before he had just plodded along. When he lays down in the house he grooms his feet a bit or sniffs around at himself. He wagged his tail for me! Not the half-hearted wag or two he has been doing for a long time, but full-on tail wagging, the very reason I called my business Toby’s Tailwag. He gets up every so often to come and see what I am doing, if I have treats to offer him or a dish he might lick. All these things are normal doggy activities, but Toby has done none of them in so long. I thought he was just old and getting ready to die any minute! Now I think the Deramaxx was depressing him and also affecting his central nervous system causing all the pacing. He slept through the night again last night, and he did not pace AT ALL the rest of the day once he had collapsed at 11:00.
This morning he did pace for about 30 minutes before I left for work, and possibly much longer; as I was gone for 5 hours I can’t tell. But I took him over to the park for a walk before I left and he was good. Interested and not seeming in very much pain. In fact if anything I think he is more comfortable now than he was on the pain medicine, with so much less pacing his poor old hips are getting some rest instead of going until they collapse and are too sore to get up again. Toby sometimes struggles a bit to get up but he is able to do it. Part of the reason I was thinking he needed put down was his inability to get back up when he had collapsed. But now I think he was just worn out and sore. Also, already his appetite is better. He had been starting to not be interested in his food, which for Toby is unheard of, although I do know it is a sign the dog is getting ready to die and I just expected that was it. He is 16 years old after all, an almost unheard of age for a lab. (I tell people he passed his expiration date years ago!)
We are only halfway through day two of the no-Deramaxx experiment, but I am overjoyed with the results thus far and wanted to share with you, people who have loved him from afar for so long, the good news. He may not last much longer, but if his life can be even just this much better until then, I am GLAD!