[Jennifer]

Those of you that have poorly doggies do you ever get the feeling that all these drugs they are on could be making them worse not better and that you should just leave them alone?

Sherry is on 3 different meds now and a 4th is programmed for her in the near future and I’m starting to think she’s going to start rattling as she walks soon lol.

Until this new vet joined the surgery Sherry wasn’t on any drugs at all. Now all of a sudden it seems she’s on everything but she certainly isn’t any better than she was when she was taking nothing at all.

I’m not saying that I don’t want her to have them and that I would stop her treatment but it does make you wonder whether they really are all necessary…or am I just being silly

When I questioned the vet about the drugs he said she needed them before but because she didn't have them her body was compensating for the lack of them. Now she has them her body can relax while the drugs take over. Does that sound right?

 

[Murphys Dad]

My Maggie is now on a relatively low number of 6 types of daily meds, some twice a day. Some meds we add in as symptoms come up. Her highest was 12 meds a day. My biggest concern has been possible drug interactions -- I am fortunate in that a vet who works in my vet's clinic is very, very knowledgeable about medications and how they interact. Also, I do on-line research on every drug that is prescribed for Maggie and, if I find anything that I find disturbing, particularly in terms of side effects, I discuss it with my vet. He is very patient with me.
I think the bottom line is whether or not you trust your vet. My vet frequently consults with Maggie's internal med specialist and I appreciate that. Another thing I like about my vet is that he is open to the use of alternative therapies -- when I wanted to try Leaks No More instead of Pro-in for incontinence, I brought him all the literature I could find, he researched it himself and we decided together that it was worth a try. It ended up being much more effective than the Pro-In.
I hope this helps --

 

[Murphys Dad]

This is so saddening, that the furbabies are sick. I don't know if you guys tried this, but I know that my vet in Israel is doing acupuncture treatments on certain dogs with chronic illnesses and from the word of it, it's REALLY helpful, and in the case of a school friend's Maltese, it cured him.

 

[Jennifer]

Thanks to both of you.

I guess I shouldn't worry so much it's just that I'm not used to all these medications, I don't even take aspirin if i have a headache.

 

[Genie]

Jennifer, I'm sorry your Sherry is so sick--what is wrong with her? I know you've told us before, but I've been gone for so long I've forgotten everything! (Even had to look up my password!

) I agree with Judy about researching the meds your dog is on. And if you're unsure about the things she's taking, maybe you could ask for a second opinion about the necessity of her medications. Good luck!

 

[Jennifer]

Hi Genie, lovely to see you back I've missed your posts.

Sherry has heart disease and cancer. She had a tumour removed from her spleen in February and so far we haven't found another one yet but it is a very aggressive type of cancer and very fast growing. As for her heart disease, well I know she has a grade 6 murmour and only one side of the heart functions properly but I'm not sure of the degree of severity.

But she's doing OK and was doing OK before she even started any drugs so that was my concern really. It's all new to me and I'm learning things as I go along. My vet is wonderful and explains everything to me but I get upset easily and depressed about it.

I hope you and Shiloh are well

 

[Zookeeper]

Sometimes vets (like doctors) do tend to overprescribe. I know that happened with Cassie. She had a growth on her foot that became infected and I took her in to have it removed (new vet, there normal vet retired). Her leg was swollen at the knee and he said it wasn't from the growth.

After xrays we didn't need to check for bone cancer (scared the .... out of me!) that turned out negative, he said the swelling must be from her heart and prescribed Lasix (water pills). I really thought the swelling was from the infection and after they removed it, the swelling went down. When I mentioned this, he said that wasn't what it was from and if I stopped giving her the pills, it would come back. Well, I checked his theory and it's been a year and the swelling has never come back. So he was putting her on pills she didn't need without even doing the necessary testing.

Needless to say, we switched vets right after that.

I think sometimes our society has become so pill happy that it's the first thing everybody reaches for as a quick fix. Though in most cases, they are very necessary and do improve quality of life, there are rare occasions that they aren't needed and it's so hard to know the difference. Best of luck to sweet Sherry. I hope everything works out for her.