My dog Luna fell down the stairs twice this morning...

[malta blue]

I had posted a thread a few weeks ago about how I felt she was really starting to show her age:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7620050&mesg_id=7620050

Well, this morning, she fell down the stairs when we were headed out for the morning potty. It was like watching a train wreck. I just saw her roll and crash into the closet door at the bottom. My mom, who is visiting, called my name as she thought it was me who fell. The crash woke everyone up, at least for that moment.

But she recovered quickly and even trotted back to the house after doing her business....

After the dogs had breakfast, we all went back upstairs for the last little bit of rest. I was already back in my bed when I heard her start back up and the fall back down. I shot out of bed, and again, she seemed fine.

A friend of mine said I should start preparing myself for the inevitable. :cry:

She has her annual visit to the vet this coming Saturday.....

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

1. Poor Luna!

My elderly doggie Bandit fell down the stairs a couple of weeks ago. I brought him to the vet's and the vet told me that there is nothing really wrong with Bandit, he is just really old (17!). He did tell me to start giving Bandit 1/4 to 1/2 bottle of Ensure every day, and that does seem to be making him happier.

This is the really hard part about having pets... :cry:

[malta blue]

4. I already called the vet and am waiting for a call back.

Since she rebounded so well, I hope we do not have to go in before our already scheduled appointment, but I am going to ask if she can have an aspirin or something.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. can you keep her away from the steps?

not that its the entire problem, but it might help her if
she avoided them.

She looks good in that picture.

I can imagine how you worry.

She might be dizzy, or have slight congestive heart failure (don't worry, humans have
that all the time and live years, decades with it, its just age).

I hope your baby will do fine, glad she's going to doctor, let us know
how she does.

Take care.

[malta blue]

5. I guess I can try to keep her away from the steps

But she will be so sad when everyone goes up to bed and she is downstairs. :cry:

That picture was taken a few weeks ago when I posted my first thread about her showing her age.

I am so glad we have that appointment already set up.

[zanne]

7. Can you carry her up? nt

[malta blue]

9. I don't think she will let me.

She has always hated being lifted - she was seriously abused before I got her so I never pushed the issue.

[stuntcat]

3. What a good girl

I like her picture! :loveya:

You might have to be careful about the stairs if they're a whole story high, it sounds like she was lucky though. Animals have strong bones I think.

[malta blue]

6. She is such a good girl.....

:loveya::loveya:


I am going to try and babygate the steps - I don't think she will be very happy though. :mad:

[SOteric]

8. Oh now, don't be so quick.

If she's getting older it might just be arthritis. Her hips might be giving out under her. There are ways to accomodate her and she could still have many years ahead of her.

[malta blue]

10. That is what I am hoping for....

As long as she is not in pain, I will take care of her until the very end.

[ThomCat]

11. I hope she's healthy

and just having minor joint problems. :hug:

I hope you have a lot more time with her, and just have to carry and hold her a bit to deal with her mobility problems.

She is a beauty, and looks like a very happy dog. :)

[malta blue]

12. Me too Thom.

I am feeling so disconnected right now because I am just shocked by the reality of what MAY be. :cry:

She is a beautiful old girl, isn't she? She was smiling and her tongue was hanging out when we took our walk yesterday. She still likes to go take long walks along the bike path and meet other dogs.

:hug:

[Debau2005]

13. My 16 year old cocker also falls down the stairs

He got where he wouldn't let me help him down and he'd tumble all the way down. So now, he has his bed downstairs, and sleeps under the front window. He doesn't try to come upstairs. He has his own "room" at night under the window, and he is happy.

He is also now incontinent. So he wears diapers. My neighbors think this is a hoot, and love on him when we go out. If anyone is facing an old dog, I have found that human diapers, wrapped around his mid section, work the best. Doggie diapers are more expensive and don't do the job for a full sized dog. He actually wags his tail when I put it on, I think he believes it makes him look sexy! :hippie:

I have had people tell me to put him down, since he is old and has accidents. I ask them if they had a family member that was old and had accidents, would they make that choice? They usually shake their head and walk off....Right now he is happy and healthy for his age. He'll tell me when it's time to let go.

[malta blue]

14. Thanks for your post.

I always tell people the same thing when they mention age and incontinence. :D

We don't have the incontinence issue, but I am sure when it happens my mom will be the first to go there....

:hi:

[raccoon]

15. She's so sweet.

:hug: to you and her.

[malta blue]

16. Thank you.

She is my first dog. I adopted another one last fall, but Luna will always hold that special place in my heart.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

17. Such a sweet face

I hope the vet can help her!

[malta blue]

18. Me too DTBK.

She is such a sweet dog.

[xchrom]

19. senior dogs are a revelation, aren't they?

my old boy sport lived to fifteen -- and what a change from the street wandering teenager to senior citizen -- well loved and spoiled.

your baby may let you her now -- she may realize she needs a little help -- you might give it a go.

sport knew he had more limitations as he aged -- we battled sometimes over them -- but eventually he would let me fuss over him.

[malta blue]

22. She is 15 now and the only help she will allow is for

me to lift her hind end into the car when she knows we are going to the bike path (i.e. she sees me put the little dog's harness on, etc). Otherwise, she wants no help and will growl (she is kind of bitchy that way) if I try to lift her.

Perhaps she will let me at least walk behind her so that I can break her fall going up, or in front of her to break the fall going down.

:hug:

[xchrom]

28. oh sport growled at me for lot of things --

i did stuff for him anyway.

that walking behind her thing sounds good -- that's good thinking.





:hug:

[malta blue]

30. she can growl all she wants - I will try to help her

from now on if she will let me.

:hug:

[undeterred]

20. My (very old) dog crashes a lot too

I only have 4 steps and I try to slow him down but he seems to be in a hurry. He never breaks anything though. I guess I'll worry when he stops trying. :shrug:

[malta blue]

24. That's sort of how I look at it, I mean, she

was trotting away within 10 minutes of the falls.

[undeterred]

47. My dog has loose ligaments to begin with

so he doesn't seem like an old human who is very brittle. He's more like a little kid- He is kind of limp when he falls. He doesn't like it, but he never seems to learn not to hurry. And I let him on all the furniture to cuddle of course.

[grasswire]

21. does she have any vision problem?

I was wondering if that might have caused the fall. Her eyes look a bit cloudy, although that might just be the lighting.

Best of luck.

[malta blue]

23. She does have vision problems.

Last spring the vet said she is about 80% blind and she has lost most of her hearing too.

:cry:

This is awful.

[zonkers]

25. Uh, keep her away from the steps. & its time to make her world smaller, something

you can easily do with a dog that size. You'd be suprisd how long they will hang around. They pretty much sleep all the time anyway. My old gal hung around a long time with a good quality of life, blind, deaf and all. I felt as long as she had an appetite and still enjoyed an ear scratch, we would be there for her. MOST IMPORTANTLY, I find that old dogs do not get always get the hydration they need and this can lead to bigger problems.


Good luck. Great dog.

[malta blue]

26. I am thinking about closing her up in our family room at night.

She spends most of the day sleeping on the couch there anyway, so perhaps she won't mind sleeping on that couch at night too.

She has been eating and drinking well. She was looking very thin according to my mom when she got here about 3 weeks ago, so I have doubled her food intake. Boy, was she happy :D

She has put on a little weight, but is still thin.

She should weigh about 40-45lbs. I will see what happens at the vet on Saturday.

Thanks for your advice on the dehydration. I will make sure everyone doublechecks the water dishes.

:hi:

[Wcross]

27. Oh, poor Luna!

I hope she is going to be OK, she is such a sweet looking old girl. I remember her from other posts and hate to hear she went through the tumble(s), hopefully she will take the stairs a little slower now.
My dog Buddy is getting up there like Luna is, I have noticed him doing "old dog" things like not chasing things with the rest of the pack. He still contributes to the chase with fierce barking but he does it from the front step. He also likes to believe he is still the "alpha dog" despite his pup Larry taking over (larry is my sig picture).

[malta blue]

29. Since she was an only dog for 14 of her years,

she never really did the "pack" thing with me, but she still enjoys going for walks on the bike path and meeting new dogs. In fact, yesterday, she was so sweet with this yellow lab we came across, while the little rat terrier Egypt barked her head off and growled at it - I have GOT to get her to stop that - it's so annoying.

I am hoping she feels is not sire this evening, and am thinking about closing her up in the family room where she sleeps on the couch all day anyway. That way, she can have her couch and I know she won't be falling down the stairs in the darkness again....

[shaniqua6392]

31. Keep an assist harness on her.

They are just a harness with a handle on top and you can hold it to prevent her from falling. She may not be able to see very well any longer. Going on the steps could be tragic at this point. You will have to keep steps blocked with baby gates, but when she needs to go upstairs for the night or to go outside you can prevent her from falling with one. I take it she sleeps upstairs with you. I would assist her upstairs and then block her in. Here is a link to what I am talking about. They are a bit pricey on this site, but still a lot cheaper than a vet bill if anything happens. You could search around for a cheaper one. I just wanted to show you what I was talking about. Good luck and I hope this will help. http://www.handicappedpets.com/acc/body/index.htm

[malta blue]

32. That looks like a great idea.

Thanks for the link.

:hug:

[auburngrad82]

33. My Petey has slipped a lot lately

He's going on thirteen and over the last two months has become increasingly feeble. He still plays catch every day but he falls down a lot and has a terrible time making it up the steps to the house. He doesn't seem to be in pain but then Cattle Dogs have to be really hurting to show pain.



I recently found a pic of him when he was a year old. His face was red. Now it's almost entirely white. He plays so much that his age snuck up on us.

I'm praying that Petey goes in mid-fetch. He'd be happiest that way.

[driver8]

35. Petey is a handsome boy.

The more I learn about Cattle Dogs, the more I like them!!

[auburngrad82]

39. A few things about Cattle Dogs

They are very high energy. Petey played frisbee every day until he was almost 11 years old. He got to where he couldn't catch up to the frisbee so we switched to a ball.

They can be quite standoffish with strangers. This is a mixed blessing. They don't often jump up on strangers but then they may snap if a strange dog gets in their face. We have to be extra vigilent when we take one of our cattle dogs to the farmer's market etc.

They tend to be very intelligent. Again, this can be a mixed blessing. We have found that they tend to to well for the first 15 minutes of a training session but get bored after that and will frequently refuse to follow commands at that point. And once they learn something they don't always see the point of repeating it ad nauseum so they sometimes refuse to do what you ask. "Been there, done that" attitude.

But they are great dogs and a lot of fun. We take our youngest one to herding days in our Cattle Dog club and she does well. They always want to play and they are great fun to snuggle as well.

[driver8]

42. We used to have a Border Collie.

My wife and I adopted him from a rescue when he was 6 years old. He was not as high energy as some Borders -- we think because he had gotten used to the slow paced life he had with his previous owner. However, whenever we took him to the dog park, all he wanted to do was "work". He was obsessed with herding the other dogs into a group and then he would run around them in a circle.

He loved people, but wasn't too crazy about other dogs. Also, he was very intelligent. I wish we would have taken him to a place to do herding -- I think he would have loved it!

Our Border Collie, Cody:

IMG]

[auburngrad82]

44. I love Border Collies

but their intelligence scares me. They may be smarter than I am. A lot of Cattle Dog people call them "the evil black and white dogs" :evilgrin:

Cattle Dogs are a lot like Border Collies but I think they tend to be a little less obsessive.

As far as herding everything that moves, you haven't lived until a Cattle Dog grabs your ankle as you push a lawn mower. They don't call them "heelers" for nothing, you know. :)

[driver8]

45. Ha Ha -- "the evil black and white dogs"! That's funny.

Here are some photos on Flickr you might enjoy -- an ACD working hard!!

http://flickr.com/photos/zingpix/sets/72157600136295582/

[auburngrad82]

48. Here's one of our youngest ACD herding sheep

ACDs tend to be a lot rougher on the livestock than Border Collies. The first time Tillie herded sheep she ran the sheep into the fence so hard they broke a board.



If you ever want to investigate rescuing a Cattle Dog let me know. I help out a little with a Cattle Dog rescue and they have some beautiful dogs...

[driver8]

49. That is an awesome photo!!

I love to watch dogs work. They are so amazing.

How are ACDs with children? We have two children aged 6 and 4. We have a Shepherd mix named Buddy who is a big sweetheart and loves everyone (dogs and people). I would love to get another dog, though. (Have to convince my wife!!)

[auburngrad82]

50. Most can be very good with kids

Keep in mind that if the dog thinks the kid is doing something they shouldn't be doing they will try to stop them. Petey used to wait at the gate while I checked the mail and then would grab my hand to pull me to safety. It's a dangerous world outside the fence!

The one other thing depends on the herding drive of the dog. Some ACDs will heel kids who take off running. It's a natural instinct but some ACDs have stronger instincts than others. Those with a strong herding instinct need to be trained away from herding the kids.

Kids and dogs are a natural. And ACDs love to play frisbee, catch etc so if the kid will throw a toy the kid and the dog will probably be best friends...

[malta blue]

36. Petey is cute....

Luna was not white-faced either. That happened in the past year, and more and more I am noticing white on her shoulders, etc.

[auburngrad82]

41. It sneaks up on you, doesn't it?

We lost Pork Chop December 29th. She was a big ol' lab mix and she really didn't have a lot of white for a dog her age (12 years). Her extra large sized heart gave out. She was the sweetest dog we've ever had the pleasure of being around.



We miss her but at least we had the pleasure of her company for 12+ years.

[malta blue]

43. I remember your post about Pork Chop

They have a way of really getting into your heart and soul....

[driver8]

34. What a sweet, sweet girl. n/t

[malta blue]

37. She really is.

Even if she will find the one dead critter on the whole bike path and try to eat it.... :puke:

Yesterday she managed to find some dead thing and comes trotting back up to me with this THING hanging out of her mouth. She must really be getting old because she actually did drop it when I told her to - that never would have happened five years ago. :rofl:

[LadyoftheRabbits]

38. Aww, no!

Poor girl... what a sweet face. :loveya: I wish Luna the best. :hug:

[malta blue]

40. Thanks Lelapin.

It was so hard to actually watch it happen :( and not be able to do a damn thing about it.

I am sure all the DU love will make her feel better soon.

:hug:

[Kajsa]

46. Aww- she is so sweet!

Just look at that adorable face. ( melt)

I hope everything turns out well for her.

Sending lots of good vibes and prayers your way.

:pals:

[malta blue]

51. Melt is the right word...

When I saw her little face at the shelter 14 years ago, I was hooked.

:hug:

[Maraya1969]

52. Malta this is for you

:hug:

When the time comes Luna will be just fine. (She is absolutely adorable btw)

[malta blue]

54. Thank you.

:hug:

Luna will be fine when the time comes - me, not so sure....

[lost-in-nj]

53. Hope she is doing ok....

Did you take her to the vet or can you wait till Sat???


she is so cute.....


:hug:


lost

[malta blue]

55. Hi lost....

I think she is okay.

She went up and down a few times before I left for work, and MaltaMom is at my house caring for Little MB who is on spring break this week. Mr MB was home too for some time, and they all said she seems her normal self - snoring on the couch.

I am anxious to get home to check on her....

:hug:

[Midlodemocrat]

56. Oh, no! What a cutie pie!

Maybe she has a virus or something trivial like that. Hope she feels better!

:hug:

[malta blue]

57. I hope it is that simple.....

I am anxious to get home and check on her.

:hug:

[Haole Girl]

58. I hope it ends up just being something minor...

my older cat had trouble jumping up & it ended up being arthritis. The Vet gave us some glucosamine for cats (pills) and it seems to be helping.

In the meantime, could you assist your dog up the stairs? If you can't carry her, maybe you could use one of those harness type of leashes or something else...just to provide assistance...sorry I don't have any better ideas.

:hug:

[malta blue]

59. She is acting like nothing happened

but I think I will be keeping the stairs blocked so she has to be accompanied up and down.

We are going to the vet on Saturday.

She already eats senior food with glucosamine and chondroitin but perhaps there is a supplement.

:hug: