Rusty hurt himself playing and also has acid reflux.

[Rusty’s Owner]

Rusty started drooling a scary amount of drool(Puddles were continuous) Thursday and Rusty was in pain and crying the next day in the morning, which is why I took him to vet, I wiped his face where it was wet but it was continuously drool without stopping and crying in pain. Teeth and gums were good. 5pm to 10:00 am of non stop drool and crying in pain. He vomited 1 time(yellow foam) before drool started as well.

Rusty Never drools, not one bit even for food. He looked SO unwell and sick and painful to move around from his joints from overplaying with my other dogs(he did fall on his side a few times hard from jumping at my other dogs to play), which I think was him sore from the day before.

So acid reflux and joints are sore from overplay vet thinks as well as
now Rusty’s middle of his spine to the very end was sore(didn’t make any noise of pain, but the look in his eyes squinting like ‘ouch’), he had laser therapy today for it and it was very likely from him falling hard when he overplayed with my other dogs the day before non stop drooling.

I already added another Joint supplement to help him heal, started him on it the night we noticed his joints were more sore. Which seems to work, he seems a little better each day, although last night more drool started but not for long and not as much, which is the acid reflux.

Because of the spine being sore from the fall during playing with my other dogs, his back leg has seemed to be weak a few times I noticed, but not all the time. Thankfully he can still use all 4 legs.

This was the very first time he has ever drooled(and it was TONS of puddles), and first time he has cried in pain.

They are such a worry, but such great dogs and think they are big dogs that can play no matter what.

It’s crazy how they hide their pain/sore spots and still want to continue playing. He still is trying to play with my other dogs.

I will definitely not let him overplay, and limit when they all want to go crazy playing. Although we can’t stop them from falling and getting hurt unfortunately. That can happen so easily.

For Rusty, the drooling was a sign of pain, and also acid reflux.

I hope we caught it early and he can heal fast! The laser therapy should definitely help him heal faster and lessen the pain/sore back.

We have never been in this kind of situation where a dog is in pain, drooling and crying!

I sure hope he heals fast since we caught it quick hopefully.

A couple questions:

For those who have done laser therapy for the dogs, how long does it take to see improvement in the sore areas of pain??

Do you find it heals them after 1-2 laser treatments, or 1 treatment and they are pain free in a week??

We get laser treatment for him as a maintenance/preventative but not yet has it been needed until now for pain/sore areas.

 

[Mavis]

Rusty started drooling a scary amount of drool(Puddles were continuous) Thursday and Rusty was in pain and crying the next day in the morning, which is why I took him to vet, I wiped his face where it was wet but it was continuously drool without stopping and crying in pain. Teeth and gums were good. 5pm to 10:00 am of non stop drool and crying in pain. He vomited 1 time(yellow foam) before drool started as well.

Rusty Never drools, not one bit even for food. He looked SO unwell and sick and painful to move around from his joints from overplaying with my other dogs(he did fall on his side a few times hard from jumping at my other dogs to play), which I think was him sore from the day before.

So acid reflux and joints are sore from overplay vet thinks as well as
now Rusty’s middle of his spine to the very end was sore(didn’t make any noise of pain, but the look in his eyes squinting like ‘ouch’), he had laser therapy today for it and it was very likely from him falling hard when he overplayed with my other dogs the day before non stop drooling.

I already added another Joint supplement to help him heal, started him on it the night we noticed his joints were more sore. Which seems to work, he seems a little better each day, although last night more drool started but not for long and not as much, which is the acid reflux.

Because of the spine being sore from the fall during playing with my other dogs, his back leg has seemed to be weak a few times I noticed, but not all the time. Thankfully he can still use all 4 legs.

This was the very first time he has ever drooled(and it was TONS of puddles), and first time he has cried in pain.

They are such a worry, but such great dogs and think they are big dogs that can play no matter what.

It’s crazy how they hide their pain/sore spots and still want to continue playing. He still is trying to play with my other dogs.

I will definitely not let him overplay, and limit when they all want to go crazy playing. Although we can’t stop them from falling and getting hurt unfortunately. That can happen so easily.

For Rusty, the drooling was a sign of pain, and also acid reflux.

I hope we caught it early and he can heal fast! The laser therapy should definitely help him heal faster and lessen the pain/sore back.

We have never been in this kind of situation where a dog is in pain, drooling and crying!

I sure hope he heals fast since we caught it quick hopefully.

A couple questions:

For those who have done laser therapy for the dogs, how long does it take to see improvement in the sore areas of pain??

Do you find it heals them after 1-2 laser treatments, or 1 treatment and they are pain free in a week??

We get laser treatment for him as a maintenance/preventative but not yet has it been needed until now for pain/sore areas.

I'm so sorry about Rusty. It sounds like he is getting over whatever was the matter. Hopefully every day will be an improvement until he is 100%. I get concerned, too, about how hard they can play. Petey is only 10 lbs., and they really do at it. He got a scratched eye last year that required a vet visit, but luckily, that has been the worst of it. I love them having fun, but they're little maniacs sometimes. Good luck with Rusty.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

I'm so sorry about Rusty. It sounds like he is getting over whatever was the matter. Hopefully every day will be an improvement until he is 100%. I get concerned, too, about how hard they can play. Petey is only 10 lbs., and they really do at it. He got a scratched eye last year that required a vet visit, but luckily, that has been the worst of it. I love them having fun, but they're little maniacs sometimes. Good luck with Rusty.

Thank you,
Well Rusty is so sensitive, and he is 22 lb my other dogs are 75 lb. They are gentle with him, but he thinks he is a big dog, but it was a loud bang on the hard floor when he fell a few times, joints are one thing, but I’m extra worried as it’s affecting his spine. That has been my biggest fear all along for health issues is the IVDD and him hiring his back.
They are such a worry at times.

He also has Acid Reflux as well as the sore back and joints. I have never seen Rusty in pain like that, or the drooling for over 14-15 hrs. So scary!

I thought Petey weighed more than Jelly or the same. Glad his scratched eye healed, I’m sure his eye was very sore, but once someone gets hurt, it’s extra worry.
How is Petey’s back??

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

Rusty still sore, but slowly improving, I was told to not let him play at all, but was never told how long before he can play again.

He can still use all 4 legs thankfully, but isn’t painful when I touch his spine gently or when he moves around.
When I pick him up to put him on the couch to cuddle, he moans a bit, I’m very careful but also worried when I pick him up he will be sore.

Since it was just from Rusty overplay and he fell on his side and it effected his spine, wasn’t from a slipped/herniated disc.

Do you think 2 weeks of no play is long enough? How long should I rest him for?
He really wants to play, so it’s hard keeping him quiet, especially when my other dogs are playing.

I’m still giving him Joint supplements and CBD oil for pain/inflammation and to keep his seizures away.

@Jeffc how long did you have to keep Miles from playing when he flared up?
Do you think 2-3 weeks for Rusty of no play is enough cause it was mild flare up?

 

[Jeffc]

Rusty still sore, but slowly improving, I was told to not let him play at all, but was never told how long before he can play again.

He can still use all 4 legs thankfully, but isn’t painful when I touch his spine gently or when he moves around.
When I pick him up to put him on the couch to cuddle, he moans a bit, I’m very careful but also worried when I pick him up he will be sore.

Since it was just from Rusty overplay and he fell on his side and it effected his spine, wasn’t from a slipped/herniated disc.

Do you think 2 weeks of no play is long enough? How long should I rest him for?
He really wants to play, so it’s hard keeping him quiet, especially when my other dogs are playing.

I’m still giving him Joint supplements and CBD oil for pain/inflammation and to keep his seizures away.

@Jeffc how long did you have to keep Miles from playing when he flared up?
Do you think 2-3 weeks for Rusty of no play is enough cause it was mild flare up?

They recommended 4 weeks. We are sorry to hear that Rusty had a flare up. Hopefully he will heal up quickly.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

They recommended 4 weeks. We are sorry to hear that Rusty had a flare up. Hopefully he will heal up quickly.

Thank you for your response, Rusty’s IVDD didn’t flare up he just hurt his spine from falling hard when he played with my other dogs(which is unavoidable in most dogs when playing) since it’s not a herniated disc, Rusty should recover quicker, I was just curious how long of strict rest of no playing Miles had to do for approximately how long to no play for(hoping 2-3 weeks is enough for Rusty since it’s not severe).

I know Rusty is sore, not super painful, but not himself, I wasn't sure if I should keep him quiet and no play for 4 weeks or try for only 2-3 weeks.

Was Miles healed and able to play after the 4 weeks?


How is Miles doing now?

 

[Jeffc]

We officially did 6 weeks of rest and no play. He did two weeks before we went out to Colorado and had the MRI done and then an additional 4 weeks at the neurologist’s request. It so hard to keep them resting because clearly they don’t understand!
Miles has been doing great! We truly believe his health is attributed to the changes we have made to his diet and supplements with your advice. We are very grateful to have “met” you and the opportunity to tap into your knowledge! It has been incredibly helpful! We sure hope Rusty gets to feeling better quickly!

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

We officially did 6 weeks of rest and no play. He did two weeks before we went out to Colorado and had the MRI done and then an additional 4 weeks at the neurologist’s request. It so hard to keep them resting because clearly they don’t understand!
Miles has been doing great! We truly believe his health is attributed to the changes we have made to his diet and supplements with your advice. We are very grateful to have “met” you and the opportunity to tap into your knowledge! It has been incredibly helpful! We sure hope Rusty gets to feeling better quickly!

6 weeks is a long time for not playing for Miles!

Great to hear Miles is doing really good, and the new food and supplements have made him improve

Yes for sure it’s so hard to keep them from playing. Rusty wanted to race around a couple nights ago, I had to stop him but it was good to see him want to play.


Today he seemed sore , he just wants to sleep, he doesn’t really want to cuddle on the couch much since he has sore spine(he always loves to cuddle on the couch in the blanket every night before bed ).

The laser therapy session is tomorrow for Rusty, so hopefully he will continue to improve with the extra joint supplements as well as premium diet.
I increased his CBD oil for pain by a little bit, but it’s still less than the recommended amount he can have.

Maybe the good food and supplements made it so Rusty didn’t get effected severely.

I think I’m gonna not let him play for 3-4 weeks(easier said than done when they want to play with each other), and hope he improves.
I wouldn’t have thought playing with my other dogs gently would have caused a hard fall to effect his spine like this.

Rusty’s Acid reflux seems to be managed with his diet and supplements so far. Just need to get his spine healed.
The Acid Reflux is genetic I’m 99% sure.

Thank you for the well wishes for Rusty to heal

 

[Mavis]

Thank you,
Well Rusty is so sensitive, and he is 22 lb my other dogs are 75 lb. They are gentle with him, but he thinks he is a big dog, but it was a loud bang on the hard floor when he fell a few times, joints are one thing, but I’m extra worried as it’s affecting his spine. That has been my biggest fear all along for health issues is the IVDD and him hiring his back.
They are such a worry at times.

He also has Acid Reflux as well as the sore back and joints. I have never seen Rusty in pain like that, or the drooling for over 14-15 hrs. So scary!

I thought Petey weighed more than Jelly or the same. Glad his scratched eye healed, I’m sure his eye was very sore, but once someone gets hurt, it’s extra worry.
How is Petey’s back??

I'm so sorry about Rusty. These dogs are a terrible worry, for sure! Have you seen any improvement.

Petey's back has virtually healed since we got Jelly (over a year now). Petey races the fence because of the neighbors' dogs on the other sides and Jelly follows behind. I think this just encourages Petey to be frisky, and ever since he's gotten so much exercise, he's only had maybe 2-3 episodes during that entire time - quite a miracle. If he races particularly long and hard, I'll give him a half dose of gabapentin and rimadyl as a preventative. It seems to be working.

We switched last week to Nature's Logic. I think I fried their stomachs because we were out of the Orijen and didn't mix it to transition them. They both have very unusually loose stool, although not to the point of diaharrhea yet. They don't seem to like it as much but I'm more concerned about its healthfulness than their pleasure. We mix it with a little RR and a couple of tablespoons of wet Fromm to keep their interest. We did that when we were feeding Orijen, too.

Best of luck with Rusty. I hope he is improving.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

I'm so sorry about Rusty. These dogs are a terrible worry, for sure! Have you seen any improvement.

Petey's back has virtually healed since we got Jelly (over a year now). Petey races the fence because of the neighbors' dogs on the other sides and Jelly follows behind. I think this just encourages Petey to be frisky, and ever since he's gotten so much exercise, he's only had maybe 2-3 episodes during that entire time - quite a miracle. If he races particularly long and hard, I'll give him a half dose of gabapentin and rimadyl as a preventative. It seems to be working.

We switched last week to Nature's Logic. I think I fried their stomachs because we were out of the Orijen and didn't mix it to transition them. They both have very unusually loose stool, although not to the point of diaharrhea yet. They don't seem to like it as much but I'm more concerned about its healthfulness than their pleasure. We mix it with a little RR and a couple of tablespoons of wet Fromm to keep their interest. We did that when we were feeding Orijen, too.

Best of luck with Rusty. I hope he is improving.

His acid reflux has been managed thru a supplement thankfully so far.
No more drooling in the last 5 days, which I think drooling was him in pain, so that’s a good thing.

I think he improved, then he moans when I pick him up to carry him upstairs. He has been sleeping so much and not wanting to cuddle, which I think is from being sore.
Rusty the other night raced around upstairs i quickly stopped him but that was enough to ‘tweak’ his spine more(laser therapy session was today, she examined his spine of where is sore and if its improving, but him wanting to play the other night is what made him more sore). She said he Tweaked it.

Laser therapy she believes will improve him within the next 2-4 times of laser treatment, so she is gonna do it again on Thursday and then 1 time next week and we will see from there of how he improved.

I really think having him on premium food and supplements maybe have made this fall not do much damage to his spine. He needs to rest for another 2 weeks probably before letting him play again as I want him to fully heal.


That’s great Petey has been doing better since playing with Jelly. Hopefully he continues to do well.

For the digestion issue, it probably was from cold Turkey transition, some dogs it doesn’t effect much and some it does effect a little bit.
It should return to normal soon, maybe add a tablespoon of pumpkin for each of them and it should help.
Natures logic is a really good food and is the next step up from Orijen, but Natures logic does have probiotics in it so that’s a really good thing.

What protein did you get of Natures logic? Not the chicken?
If they are used to the other proteins from Orijen, if you try the same protein in the Natires Logic to start it should be fine, but I would still give them pumpkin until their digestion is back to normal.

That’s good your still giving them the RR food that they like and do well on.

Hopefully their digestion improves and with Rotating proteins after a while they will be more interested in it.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

@Mavis and @Jeffc

Rusty update:

Laser for sure really helps with the pain and inflammation and healing, I already have noticed Rusty isnt doing the “knuckling” I think it’s called where his paw is upside down, I haven’t seen him do that in the last few days, hoping it stops fully. I don’t think his back leg is as week if it even still is(haven’t noticed it being week in the last couple days).

He wants to play still, last weekend he tried to play and ran around , I stopped him but that tweaked his spine and made it even worse the laser therapy person said, he doesn’t seem in pain like he initially was, and the Acid Reflux is managed with supplement, no flare ups(knock on wood).

He has been getting it done for the past 2 weeks and also this coming week will be 3 weeks of 2 days per week, then we are hoping he can play without hurting his spine more next weekend, and the laser we will start working up to only 1 time per month over time after he is 100%. He was getting it 1 day per month for maintenance. I still am giving him the joint supplements as well as his premium fresh food.

He also likes to Roll around fast on the carpet, so I’m trying to stop that too as he can hurt it more by dropping and rolling on the carpet, and he wants to play with my 1 other dog, but I want him to heal. I only take him for 1 small walk every night NOT a long walk until he is fully healed. We are hoping he will be healed by next weekend. Or at least allowed to play a little bit.

But now the problem is he is following the other dog downstairs when we go out as he has to stay home with her cause the other dog(we had 2 other dogs and also Rusty), so the older one with cancer is not with us anymore(had to be put down 4 days ago).
Rusty knows he is NOT allowed to do stairs since he was a pup, but he is following the 1 other dog downstairs looking for the other dog when we came home yesterday! The stairs IS blocked BUT the other dog knows how to move it.
I know the stairs can make his spine worse, so I have to find a solution for the stairs issue!

I am hoping he is gonna continue to improve and be able to play soon!

 

[Jeffc]

@Mavis and @Jeffc

Rusty update:

Laser for sure really helps with the pain and inflammation and healing, I already have noticed Rusty isnt doing the “knuckling” I think it’s called where his paw is upside down, I haven’t seen him do that in the last few days, hoping it stops fully. I don’t think his back leg is as week if it even still is(haven’t noticed it being week in the last couple days).

He wants to play still, last weekend he tried to play and ran around , I stopped him but that tweaked his spine and made it even worse the laser therapy person said, he doesn’t seem in pain like he initially was, and the Acid Reflux is managed with supplement, no flare ups(knock on wood).

He has been getting it done for the past 2 weeks and also this coming week will be 3 weeks of 2 days per week, then we are hoping he can play without hurting his spine more next weekend, and the laser we will start working up to only 1 time per month over time after he is 100%. He was getting it 1 day per month for maintenance. I still am giving him the joint supplements as well as his premium fresh food.

He also likes to Roll around fast on the carpet, so I’m trying to stop that too as he can hurt it more by dropping and rolling on the carpet, and he wants to play with my 1 other dog, but I want him to heal. I only take him for 1 small walk every night NOT a long walk until he is fully healed. We are hoping he will be healed by next weekend. Or at least allowed to play a little bit.

But now the problem is he is following the other dog downstairs when we go out as he has to stay home with her cause the other dog(we had 2 other dogs and also Rusty), so the older one with cancer is not with us anymore(had to be put down 4 days ago).
Rusty knows he is NOT allowed to do stairs since he was a pup, but he is following the 1 other dog downstairs looking for the other dog when we came home yesterday! The stairs IS blocked BUT the other dog knows how to move it.
I know the stairs can make his spine worse, so I have to find a solution for the stairs issue!

I am hoping he is gonna continue to improve and be able to play soon!

Sorry to hear about your other dog. We are glad to hear Rusty is improving.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

@Mavis and @Jeffc

A very good update today regarding Rusty’s sore spine, the laser therapy session was this morning, she examines him each time and today she said he is NOT sore at all like he initially was and his back legs aren’t ‘weak’ like they were and he only did the knuckling of his paw 1 time in the past week and that was today.

I’m truly amazed at how quick the laser therapy helped him heal.

He will get laser treatment Friday and we are hoping he can play a little bit this coming weekend as it’s very hard to keep him calm(he tried racing around while she was here).

She does the laser therapy and the acupuncture too, it seemed to help improve him quicker than we thought, we will now work our way up to 1 time per month over the next while to make sure nothing goes sideways or worsens in the next few weeks to month before doing it only once a month like we did for maintenance before he had a sore spine.

It’s just a matter of him not being stressed/confused from my other dog not being here so he doesn’t break out in hives Anymore from that. And to make sure he doesn’t follow the 1 other dog downstairs when we aren’t home.

He will continue to get the joint supplements and omegas for anti inflammatory to help improve his spine and prevent further issues(and of course the premium fresh food really helps too). Maybe with the good food it didn’t effect him as bad.