# So. Malia...my husband's heart dog



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

malia will be twelve at the end of this year...

last week, malia began to walk away from food she previously enjoyed and was eager to eat, although fish was never a favourite...because she is almost twelve....i conceded and feed her a fish grind...it's nothing more than sardines ground...so i figure it is okay..and she will eat that...

her diet includes goat, beef, lamb, rabbit, lamb liver, beef liver, beef heart, venison heart, pork ribs, pork, lamb hearts, bison kidney and foods i don't remember off hand but i feed her a good deal of different animal parts and a variety of offal, too....from different animals...

it started with the fish....now it's most food...she licks it and walks away....

she has also started to separate from us...this is a velcro dog who is always close, who whines when i don't go to the couch on her time schedule.....who loved walking, even on the treadmill...she was walking about two miles a day...now i'm lucky if she goes a half mile....

time is not the issue. i let her walk on the treadmill for thirty minutes...but they don't walk fast...about a mile an hour...

she has fatty lipomas all over her body....

time for blood work and a vet visit?


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

A vet visit probably wouldn't hurt. She is only 11 which isn't bad for a little dog. I took Chelsy in awhile ago and she ended up having a UTI . She also had an eye infection. Once we cleared up her eye issues, she felt so much better. Unfortunately they are an ongoing thing that I have to constantly treat. I put her on twice daily Tramadol for her back problems, too.

She is 14 1/2 and also no longer wants to eat by herself. I hand feed her twice a day. I know her teeth are terrible but I'm not going to anesthetize her at her age for a dental so I cater to her and hand feed her. 

I would take Malia in just for your own peace of mind. Chelsy has good days and bad days at this point so I don't hesitate to give her whatever medication she may need. Malia may have something simple that some medication can fix for awhile and make her much more comfortable. I think comfort is the primary thing with our old ladies.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i guess it is hard to see her get old almost overnight...

she has a pain tolerance i wish i had which is both good and bad.....

how do i hand feed bone....if there is nothing else wrong with her besides age.....her teeth are great...i think...


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Definitely get her in a for a well check and blood work. Keep us posted!!!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

thanks nat.....i will..

i don't know if there is anything wrong other than one day she was getting older, and last week she made the leap to old...or if there is really something going on...


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Re, I am sorry. Take her in just to be sure. It is so hard when they get older - she should have plenty of good years left but she had a really rough start didn't she? I am right with you with my 11 year old. Re it also got pretty hot here all of a sudden (well hot for us) maybe she is just reacting to the heat. Mine eat less and are basically yard decor when it gets over 75. Just a thought.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I really think you should take her in. A few months ago I thought Chelsy was on her last legs, then I took her in and now today she is having a good day and bouncing around again. They are so darn good at being stoic that we aren't always aware that something is wrong with them.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

we are taking her in on saturday...my gut tells me something isn't right.....and both honey and i thought the same thing, liz..that the weather finally turned...but it was chilly this morning when she wouldn't even come into the kitchen....

i know you're with me...we're all together as they age....it just seemed to happen overnight....we know she's been getting older and she had crappy beginnings....environmentally....

but it's like last week she was chasing bubba and the toy..and this week she is on my bed....and doesn't want to get up...

and she is only eleven and a half.....


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

AH Jeez...Im crying right now.......

Keep us updated with the vet!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Stinker my friends 13-1/2 yo pug was the same a couple of months ago. Had us worrying and wondering too. Took him in to the vet and they found 3 things - he had some bad teeth (had it taken out), his liver enzymes were way up, (he's now on milk thistle and they are back to normal), and he appears to have some problems with his spine, above the tail. 
I talked them in to putting him on Orijen, and now quite a bit of raw, they've been swimming him and restricting treats to make him lose weight and the vet put him on pain killers and steriods for his back (but has now come off them).
I was looking at him just this morning and he is looking and obviously feeling great, the smile has come back on his face and his eyes are all bright again.
I am hoping like anything your Malia has something wrong with her along these lines, something that can be addressed and treated to make the poor old girl feel happy again. Thinking of you and her.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Oh why does this keep happening to people I know lately?
I'm glad you made an appointment for Saturday, PLEASE keep us posted on things. It's never easy to watch them age. It's the one thing wrong with dogs- they grow old too fast.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

re, sorry to hear Malia isn't feeling well. Could be nothing, and hopefully it is just a change in the weather. I will keep good thoughts and healing prayers coming your way!


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

I hope everything goes well at the vets for her, big hugs from lucky and I xxx


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

well, my hope is that she has stopped liking fish and chicken and is trying to manipulate me somehow....that's my fantastic fantasy until we get to the vet.

thank you everyone. i'll let you know...


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## lily (May 16, 2011)

keep us posted xx,karen


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Keep us posted, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you guys and a fellow smushy faced loving friend


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

ok....so let's give applause to the overproctive, over reactive parents.....and say ooh rah...

when we walked into the vet's office, as soon as we saw that she had gained 3 pounds, we breathed a sigh of relief, for it means no cancer.

after that, i can handle anything from a little overfeeding to more fatty lipomas which ae now being mapped....to a pronouncement that she is fat and over forty and female post menopausal...

cut her food back a little and leave her alone. she's perfect. he doesn't even feel any arthritis in her movements, can't make her yelp in pain....and essentially threw us out

my ONLY defence is this. we put four dogs to sleep in less than two years, so we are a little bit jumpy. thank g'd our vet is not. 

thank you everyone for your concern. she's just getting old...


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Re, I am so glad. That was money well spent, now you and hubby can sleep. I might not have taken my boy in had he done this because denial is so much easier. Good for you guys. I am glad she is o.k. I am glad I didn't take her in - the fat, forty and postmenopausal would have confused me , was he talking about me or the dog (LOL)? Anyway, I am happy she is fine, back to long walks now that arthritis isn't an issue.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Oh Re...Im SOOOO glad to hear this!!! arty:

One of the only times that there is a dance because of weight gain right?!:biggrin:

And she isnt "getting old", she is just moving farther past her puppy stage!:tongue1:


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Well, thats the best answer anyone could ever have hoped for. Awesome, I'm so happy for you guys and Malia. Give the pup a steak, she can be fat for one more day.


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## mischiefgrrl (Oct 28, 2010)

So glad to hear that she's just getting older like the rest of us and not in trouble!


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## bernadettelevis (Feb 2, 2011)

I'mso happy for you!! That's great news!!


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

Hi Magicre - I know how you feel as I have 2 elderly gentlemen myself & watch their every move. I received a reprieve a few months back. My 12.5 year old Rottie has numerous fatty tumors and was walking s l o w l y . When just 2 months before his favorite speed was a trot ( inside as well as out) In fact I delayed making an appointment because I was SO afraid of what my vet would say. Finally, I remembered my promise and went in the next day. None of the tumors was interfering with a vital organ and he had some arthritis in his back legs. A few prescriptions and 2 mornings later he awakened like his old self. Coming to my bed and barking in my ear, his eyes had "that" light in them, and yes, he trotted to the back door when I groggily rolled out of the bed. I feel so relieved-we have more time. I have had some health problems & haven't been able to walk the guys in quite awhile - I took out the leashes last night & the APBT frantically wagged his tail & Rottieman wiggled his butt. I told them that today we would go for a walk-I think that I can make 1/2 a mile.

I will pray that you and your husband will also receive a reprieve and that Malia will be with you for some time to come.


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

magicre said:


> ok....so let's give applause to the overproctive, over reactive parents.....and say ooh rah...
> 
> she is fat and over forty and female post menopausal...
> 
> ...



PLEASE excuse me for not reading this post before I responded-Sorry


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## lily (May 16, 2011)

mmm fat ,over 40 sounds familiar and looks familiar everytime i look in the mirror,really pleased all ok xx,karen


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

magicre said:


> ok....so let's give applause to the overproctive, over reactive parents.....and say ooh rah...
> 
> when we walked into the vet's office, as soon as we saw that she had gained 3 pounds, we breathed a sigh of relief, for it means no cancer.
> 
> ...


I'm so glad to hear that you are just over reactive and protective parents. Makes the whole situation a TON better. But I'd be the same way....they are in fact my babies. Keep up the good work with the old girl :thumb:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

in 2008, we took two of our senior shih tzus into the vet's office, because i thought yoshi needed blood work so we could 'up' her pain meds. severe arthritis for this kid.....she was sucking in her breath....and we took her in that day....no dog of mine will suffer...but i thought we were going to increase the deramaxx or add tramadol....or switch out altogether...

bandit was lethargic and disinterested....but not enough to worry, i thought, and i thought he had pink eye.... and he was my heart dog....both of them were over 13....

not in a million years did i think i would be putting my two dogs to sleep that day.

yoshi couldn't take any more pain meds.....nor could we add any more for her liver enzymes over the years were now through the roof.....so tramadol wasn't even an option...and she was in agony....she had been in pain, which we were able to control since she was four (puppy mill dogs...gotta love 'em) but that day, she was in so much pain, she was holding her breath...

bandit, to my great surprise, had sliced a layer off his cornea.....and whilst it was treatable, he too was in agony, and the treatment for it was going to hurt him even more....and not just for a few days...but a month or more.

i never want to be surprised again...not like that...i walked in with two old farts and walked out in shock....

so.....yeah, i over react...thank g'd i have a vet who is used to it....and when a dog gets to be a certain age and starts to be disinterested in eating and begins to separate....i don't realise that it's because she might not be hungry....because we added two ounces a day to her feeding....which brings us to the over 40, fat, infertile, menopausal  that applies to dogs and humans 

thank you for your support. i'll try not to cry wolf every time this dog does something unusual...but i can no longer guarantee that, not after four dogs going down in the space of less than two years and the surprise that day when i neither expected it or wanted it...

she is the last of that pack....and i don't know if after bubba, i will get any more dogs....because they get old and they die. and i simply don't like that....too many..over my lifetime...too many....especially when we get to the senior old fartette part.

i thank everyone for their concern...and i'm glad that this time i'm just a little bit red faced and a whole lotta relieved....


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I so hope that this means I will lose interest in food, fat over 40 and menopausal as I have been peri menopausal for years according to my naturopath! Lol I'm so glad that Malia is fine and it is nothing but over protectiveness. Love ya


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

Magicre Please do NOT feel "red faced". This is the right place to express, not only your knowledge but your fears as well. Your post, though lovely, reduced me to tears. I do not know how you were able to stand the "surprise" OMG! I have said that these two are my last. My firiends say that they don't believe it-I have even been offered dogs. But through the years too many pieces of my heart have gone missing as I held each of them them in my arms and said goodbye, I don't think that I can take it anymore. 

But, use the forum - when my heart dog died in 1999 - I could not have made it except for the people on the list that I was on for only a true dog/animal lover knows what it feels like. When I have to say goodbye to these two I know that there is somewhere that I can turn for support. Hopefully neither one of us will have to do that anytime soon.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i'd rather be a little red faced and a little over reactive....than ever face that situation again. it was a first for me....i hope it's a last.

and every time we have an old dog, i say the same thing  that i'll never get another one again....when it's malia's time, bubba will be alone....he's a pug. we'll see how it affects him, since he is her love hate dog.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I am so glad she is okay! I have been where you are WAYYYY too many times. And I just keep getting older and it never gets any easier. But dogs are what gives me joy and I could never imagine life without them. Give your little old lady some extra hugs from all of us 'old ladies' here tonight!


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

I am so glad that Malia is ok. You didn't over react, you were just concerned,
and there is nothing wrong with feeling that way.

I had a scare last month with Tank, and I was very worried about him.
But thankfully he recovered. So I know what you mean.


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## lily (May 16, 2011)

we are female its in our genes to overreact with the ones we love,well in my case overreacting is second nature lol,i think im sensible with regards my dog but truth be known although i dont treat her like a baby i do watch her like a hawk but i think thats more due to the problems im having at the moment,getting old is a bummer isnt it lol,karen


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

lily said:


> we are female its in our genes to overreact with the ones we love,well in my case overreacting is second nature lol,i think im sensible with regards my dog but truth be known although i dont treat her like a baby i do watch her like a hawk but i think thats more due to the problems im having at the moment,getting old is a bummer isnt it lol,karen


my next thread is going to be....will someone PLEASE explain these so called golden years....?


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## lily (May 16, 2011)

lol,wait till your way into your golden years,believe me i work with 19 elderly they are in their twighlight years but believe me its more like the twighlight zone lol,i come home smelling of pee!!! and goodness knows what else cant repeat on here!!,i constantly repeat what i say!!,confuse all my kids names!!i constantly repeat what i say oops there i go again lol,and i feel and at times look 90 all i need are bed sores lol,so im not looking forward to my golden years but they are supposed to be the good years of less stress .slower pace ,huh whoever said that is a liar lol,karen


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

lily said:


> lol,wait till your way into your golden years,believe me i work with 19 elderly they are in their twighlight years but believe me its more like the twighlight zone lol,i come home smelling of pee!!! and goodness knows what else cant repeat on here!!,i constantly repeat what i say!!,confuse all my kids names!!i constantly repeat what i say oops there i go again lol,and i feel and at times look 90 all i need are bed sores lol,so im not looking forward to my golden years but they are supposed to be the good years of less stress .slower pace ,huh whoever said that is a liar lol,karen


it does rub off.....doesn't it?

i live in a retirement community....we got in because there is a federal law that makes them accept 20% population that isn't 55 yet....no kids....and the people here average, i'd say around 75 years of age...and they are in not so good shape, but they walk and dress themselves and go to church and play bingo and take cruises...maybe that's what the golden years are...and then i see them moving out because the stock market did what it did and their retirement funds won't carry them through to their nineties...we have them here too....

but i look around them with their little walkers and canes...and i just know that's going to be me sooner or later LOL


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## lmgakg (Jan 1, 2011)

Wow Re - I started scrolling faster and faster to see your update and finally, I was able to breathe again!!!! Yea!!! I'm sooo happy your baby girl is okay!!! No matter how much of a baby they are not - they will always be their mama's baby!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

lmgakg said:


> Wow Re - I started scrolling faster and faster to see your update and finally, I was able to breathe again!!!! Yea!!! I'm sooo happy your baby girl is okay!!! No matter how much of a baby they are not - they will always be their mama's baby!


thank you so much for caring......i guess i'd rather over react than have it happen for real...which i know is inevitable...but after that exam, i now know she's playing me and the weather is funky.....


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

so. my update.

malia has been taken off slippery elm yesterday.

other than having to have her drumstick cut into mouth sized portions, she is eating again. 

today she had two pieces of drumstick and venison. 

granted, malia is not the garbage disposal that bubba is...BUT...she is a dog who never had a problem with food until recently..when she refused chicken and the refused to eat. period.

her stool is negative. the x ray is negative. the UA is negative.

the only thing i can think of is perhaps a shard of bone nicked her stomach or intestinal lining and it hurt her to eat.. i have examined every single tooth in her head, much to her distaste....with a flashlight and magnifying glass...i notice she has lost a lower front tooth...but that's it. all of her teeth are gaw-jus.

so.

i think it's over. no vet required? he was absolutely no help, other than by accident.

he gave her an anti emetic, gi support shot....without asking me if it were okay and every piece of advise he gave..much as i love this guy....was so wrong for a raw fed dog...i had to be my own vet.

not a great experience, overall with an aging dog.


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## lily (May 16, 2011)

fantastic news ,karenx


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Re Im SOOOO glad to hear this!!:happy:

Ive been watching for this update for a while...and Im SOOO happy for you, husband and both Miss Malia and her Bubba!!:happy:


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

How wonderful! Now on to venison...............


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

This is fantastic news Re. Glad to hear that she is on the mend. Keep us posted still about her progress!


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

I've been off for a day or two. So Very Happy to learn about Malia. Hey, You probably make a darn good vet!


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

Great to hear about Princess Malia. I love her name and her corgi-ness. :biggrin:


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