# 12 yrs old and acting differently. any thoughts?



## luke4275 (May 23, 2011)

My 12 yr old white gsh has started to act a bit differently this past month or so.
Some changes:
For years, always on the bed for nitetime sleeping even though it takes him a few tries to get up. I removed the frame, so its just a mattress and boxspring on the floor. Now he just sleeps on the carpeting of the other bedrooms.. And all he does all day is sleep.
He seems to be sucking his lips internally.. the vet says it could be self soothing?
His keenness and interest has dropped. Usually, if there were geese in the pool, he;d circle them around the pool and then chase them like a racehorse. Now he takes a look and doesnt have interest. I know his hearing is ok because as soon as I pick up the keys he runs to the door to go to his daily trip to the dog park.
With no reason , he'll yelp for a second and scurry off like he was scared. Vet thought could be neck pain, etc but we tried metacam and it still happens, no ryhme or reason why. He gets adequan, daseqin and I've had the vet come to the house to do chirporactor and acupuncture for the past year.I give him fish oil on his food. Just last week I got the impression, he's had enough of the chiro/accupuncture..And it is the adequan that really does the work anyway. I give it every 4 weeks. And I'm thinking of doing it every 3 weeks bec I notice a decline after week 3. 
I feel like he doesnt have much joy, he doesn;t interact with me much and just sleeps in one of the bedrooms.. All of his labs are normal. I was going to see a pet behaviorist, but I think when we got to the office, he'd just shiver and get nervous and the vet wouldnt be able to make a good assessment. 
I wish there were vets just for senior dogs. Any thoughts? thanks


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Has the thyroid been checked?


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## Jazy's roomy (Jun 1, 2011)

My roommates 7yr old white gsh is doing exactly the same thing. She was acting perfectly normal on Sunday but when Monday hit she started acting exactly the way your dog is now. I'm worried that it has to do with something about me moving into the house.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Seniors can "go south" quickly, so being proactive is very important with them.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

I'm thinking it sounds like he's in pain. Maybe arthritis in spine, hips, knees, or somewhere else?


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Talk to your vet, it could be a drug like Tramadol might be helpful.


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## luke4275 (May 23, 2011)

*reply*

Seems that my dog has a slipped disc at C4-5 and some synovial cysts at the same area. He has been sent to a specialist. They injected the cysts to reduce swelling and planned to repair the disc but my dog had a lot of diarrhea on the table so they held off.. Surgery for the disc will be tomorrow if diarrhea is better or reshceduled if still not better


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## luke4275 (May 23, 2011)

*Nsaids?*

It seems after 4-5 days of NSAIDS, like metacam, rimadyl, etc. my dog gets colitis, soft stool, diarrhea, etc.. Anyone have an idea for a med that might not cause this problem? I;m thinking all NSAIDS are similar in their gastric upset properties? any ideas?


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

I use a combination of supplements and chiropractic care for this type of stuff.

Did your dog have the surgery today?


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