Tam & co the great winter escape

[nabsim]

My eldest Ridgeback was diagnosed with a heart murmur when he was a couple of years old, I was pretty devastated as part of choosing the breed was their endurance. I cant remember the reason for that visit, I'd seen no signs of anything up with him. I took the next few weeks carefully, but still there were no signs, so I took him out running, 6 - 8 miles 2 or 3 times a week, then in winter we would go out in the dark with my mountain bike and some serious lights. He was fine. When he was about 7 or 8 at another vets visit the different vet said there was no sign of a heart murmur. Was there ever one? Do vets just like to scare us? We'll never know, cancer took him 2 years ago at 11 years old.

Not always straight forward. I was born with a heart murmur that has never affected me that I am aware. It seems mine only shows up when I am run down or Ill, at other times it has never shown up on tests etc anyway

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

I'm at a different practice altogether now, my current Ridgeback has back issues, the practice owner suspects an enlarged disc and he has been on expensive anti inflammatories for a year, at a 6 month review I saw a more junior vet who in her words had had Ridgebacks in the family all her life. She asked a very strange question. "Has his bark changed recently" I said I didnt know as he doesn't bark very often. Since then he has barked and it isn't such a "big boy" bark. She said the nerves to the back legs and the nerves to their voice boxes are the longest in the body. (I know, not very logical) But again, contradicting thoughts from the vets but the more junior vet seems to be on the right track.

 

[Northernraider]

what are the tablets called?

Vetmedin ...5 mg. One quarter twice a day

 

[Gina M]

I'm at a different practice altogether now, my current Ridgeback has back issues, the practice owner suspects an enlarged disc and he has been on expensive anti inflammatories for a year, at a 6 month review I saw a more junior vet who in her words had had Ridgebacks in the family all her life. She asked a very strange question. "Has his bark changed recently" I said I didnt know as he doesn't bark very often. Since then he has barked and it isn't such a "big boy" bark. She said the nerves to the back legs and the nerves to their voice boxes are the longest in the body. (I know, not very logical) But again, contradicting thoughts from the vets but the more junior vet seems to be on the right track.

They usually are, I found that out at my Vets too.

Gina

 

[Just smiffy]

Yeah the problem is ive known for a few years that he had a heart murmur ...its never bothered him or me until he took those two funny turns. Now im constantly paranoid and worried hes overdoing it. Dogs will just plod on and try to please ... he's always on the go and he loves a good chase and a bark at other dogs. Now i feel im constantly watching him and how much hes panting etc ... Im confused as to how these tablets will prove anything either way and im worried in case he needs them for the rest of his life

Humans or animals it’s quality of life more then quantity I prefer….

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[Val 3 dogs]

My thohughts Tam that you may or may not want to hear, so take them on board or ignore them as you choose:
Find out if Vetmedin has any side effects with long term use. Way up the pro's and cons of that information.
Decide which would make you and Milo happiest
A. A life full of running, swiimming and playing with his chums but possibly having to rest a bit sooner or more often than he does at present but of his own choice.
B. A life where he is not allowed to run and play and is kept on a lead to prevent him from "overdoing it".
My thoughts are with you. I know you love all three of your dogs very .very much.

 

[Gina M]

My thohughts Tam that you may or may not want to hear, so take them on board or ignore them as you choose:
Find out if Vetmedin has any side effects with long term use. Way up the pro's and cons of that information.
Decide which would make you and Milo happiest
A. A life full of running, swiimming and playing with his chums but possibly having to rest a bit sooner or more often than he does at present but of his own choice.
B. A life where he is not allowed to run and play and is kept on a lead to prevent him from "overdoing it".
My thoughts are with you. I know you love all three of your dogs very .very muc.

 

[Minxy]

But my point was, I believed the first vet, but now have my doubts. Getting him checked was the right thing to do for sure. I guess you have to let him carry on like a mad man/dog and see if there any recurrences on the meds.

Heart murmurs can resolve themselves (ie disappear) as dogs (and humans) get older so it doesn't mean that the original diagnosis was wrong, just that your dog 'grew out of it'.

 

[Val 3 dogs]

Ps. Ask the vet the questions you are confused about. If he/she is a decent vet they will do their best to explain.
If getting to speak again face to face is a problem, why not see what "Vets on line" have to say about your questions?

 

[Val 3 dogs]

I know I would have kept my Stanley on a lead I'm afraid, in order to have him with me for longer.

Gina

All our circomstances and those of our dogs are different, we can only do what we believe to be best at the time.
I am very sorry that it seems you lost Stanley, my heart goes out to you but I am sure you gave him the very best life you felt able to and he loved you with all his heart and soul for that.

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[Minxy]

I'm at a different practice altogether now, my current Ridgeback has back issues, the practice owner suspects an enlarged disc and he has been on expensive anti inflammatories for a year,

You can ask for a prescription (usually between £12 and £15) for up to 6 months' worth of treatment so that you can buy the meds yourself from one of the online pharmacies, that's what we do and it's saved us thousands of pounds on meds for our dogs over the years compared to buying from the vet.

As an example Lily is on Onsior tablets which costs us 52p-59p each depending on who we get them from, if we bought them from the vet they would be the equivalent of £2.50 each, so 30 days supply would've been £75, with a prescription costing £12.50 and at £17.70 meds (at 59p) that comes to £30.20 which is less than half the cost for just one month, multiply that by 6 months it would be £12.50 for the prescription and £106.20 for the tablets which comes to £118.70 compared to £450 from the vets, a difference of £331.30!

at a 6 month review I saw a more junior vet who in her words had had Ridgebacks in the family all her life. She asked a very strange question. "Has his bark changed recently" I said I didnt know as he doesn't bark very often. Since then he has barked and it isn't such a "big boy" bark. She said the nerves to the back legs and the nerves to their voice boxes are the longest in the body. (I know, not very logical) But again, contradicting thoughts from the vets but the more junior vet seems to be on the right track.

That actually makes sense to me as our Lily has a major issue with the nerves in her upper back which is why she can't do anything at all now except move her neck/head and bark (although we 'think' there's some movement coming back to her rear legs but it's still very early days yet). At first she was barking like mad 'demanding' things but now she's virtually lost her bark, we thought it might be because she's done it so much that she's lost her 'voice' but as it's still not come back I suspect it's down to damage to the 'voice' nerve too, whilst it's a blessing not to have the very, very loud barking which drove us to distraction I'd love her to get it back and buy some ear plugs.

 

[Northernraider]

My thohughts Tam that you may or may not want to hear, so take them on board or ignore them as you choose:
Find out if Vetmedin has any side effects with long term use. Way up the pro's and cons of that information.
Decide which would make you and Milo happiest
A. A life full of running, swiimming and playing with his chums but possibly having to rest a bit sooner or more often than he does at present but of his own choice.
B. A life where he is not allowed to run and play and is kept on a lead to prevent him from "overdoing it".
My thoughts are with you. I know you love all three of your dogs very .very much.

Ive no intention of always keeping him on the lead etc ...that wouldn't be fair to him. Im just worried that he doesn't know when to stop.

Ps. Ask the vet the questions you are confused about. If he/she is a decent vet they will do their best to explain.
If getting to speak again face to face is a problem, why not see what "Vets on line" have to say about your questions?

I googled the drugs this morning after seeing the vet. I can see what they are meant to do. My thoughts are he may or may not have had another episode without the pills so im not sure how taking them will be conclusive either way. But im suspecting if he doesn't have another one that the vet will then decide just to keep giving him the pills. Which he may or may not need

But not sure what the alternative is bar not giving him them and seeing if he has another one.

And if course theres still the chance he could have one even with the pills.

 

[Swifter]

I have no knowledge of these medical conditions with your dog or the drugs involved in treating any potential problems.
What I do know is you are the most caring owner any dog could ever wish for and I am sure the little rascal will be just fine

 

[Val 3 dogs]

Ive no intention of always keeping him on the lead etc ...that wouldn't be fair to him. Im just worried that he doesn't know when to stop.

I googled the drugs this morning after seeing the vet. I can see what they are meant to do. My thoughts are he may or may not have had another episode without the pills so im not sure how taking them will be conclusive either way. But im suspecting if he doesn't have another one that the vet will then decide just to keep giving him the pills. Which he may or may not need

But not sure what the alternative is bar not giving him them and seeing if he has another one.

And if course theres still the chance he could have one even with the pills.

Re "just worried that he doesn't know when to stop".
Dogs live in the now, unlike us they don't think " I'd better not chase after Jade coz I've already done enough today"
He will chase her or the passing rabbit until he thinks "bother my legs aren't working " or "my chest hurts" or "Im scared I can't breath properly".
I know that my horse would slow down, even walk during a race when his heart became stressed, (subsequently after research by an equine cardiologist using the then latest equipment (and a generous grant) his "murmur" proved to be a faulty heart valve).
At these times I would jump off and walk or run beside him.When he felt suitably recovered he would nudge me with his head and I would remount and he would once again continue racing.
Over the course of 100 miles with a front runner one could do this and still be in the race, but his heart condition never affected his legs or caused him to fall, although over time he "hit his wall earlier and his recovery time became longer.
Milo's heart condition obviously affects him differently and without knowing the basic cause of the murmur imo it will be impossible to know whether further episodes are having an increasingly adverse effect on his heart only time will tell.
In deapth veterinary research into his individual condition is probably not available and if it were would cost an arm and a leg.
Possibly over time fatigue caused by the condition might slow him down but I don't visualise Milo wanting to be a sedate gentleman for quite a while yet.
It will be constantly on your mind I am sure but I don't know that either of you have any alternative than to try and get used to it.
Veterinary science and medicine is making huge steps forward all the time. Newly qualified vets can often have more current knowledge than some of the older ones but the ilder ones have a wealth of past experience.....
I don't envy your position Tam, love and hugs to both you and Milo and all your doggy family.

 

[Gina M]

I have no knowledge of these medical conditions with your dog or the drugs involved in treating any potential problems.
What I do know is you are the most caring owner any dog could ever wish for and I am sure the little rascal will be just fine

I agree, those pups are very lucky to have found Tam

Gina

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[Northernraider]

We are up in Arbroath now , will stay one night up here and tomorrow night somewhere else. Nice sunny day . Might get the drone up for a photo or 2.

 

[Figaro]

Hope Milo recovers from this episode, let's hope it doesn't happen again
How's the motorhome running now after the work done ?
Are you happy with it now

 

[15edward]

Our collie cross from a very young age showed great stress and took ages to recover from exercise. Went blue round the gills- oxygen uptake issue we have concluded since vets found nothing with his heart. We made the decision not to subject him to tests, explorations etc which we felt would be very intrusive. We decided his quality of life was paramount. We do the monitoring of his exercise. His favourite game is football - he can’t have more than 5 minutes. Neither can run frantically round the trampoline while the grandson jumps much as he would love to. But he still has runs still has his frapps which do mean he’s panting fir the next hour
its a balance we think between him enjoying his lifeand running til he dies. I think we are shortening his life but I hope he’ll enjoy it

 

[Northernraider]

Hope Milo recovers from this episode, let's hope it doesn't happen again
How's the motorhome running now after the work done ?
Are you happy with it now

Yeah it seems to run good other than the rattle which i think is here to stay.

 

[Northernraider]

I've parked up here for years at Arbroath but theres now a sign allocating a specific area( basically the most uneven area) for motorhome parking and only 24 hours and vans must be 4 metres apart. Needless to say no one is paying any attention to it and there are currently 5 vans parked beyond the dedicated area. In the dedicated area there are 2 vans that have clearly been here for days if not weeks . So i can see this bit being banned before long.

Too windy for the drone today .

Few pics from the harbour and town

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[jockaneezer]

Nice one Tam, I am fond of an Arbroath smokie mind !

 

[Northernraider]

There's about 15 vans here now , few Germans and french arrived. The 4 metre rule has gone right out the window

Not sure why the council bothered with that idea to be honest and no idea if they monitor it or not either. Hopefully not


Its a popular spot this and the bit they've allocated was never going to be enough.

Im sure campra was interfering up here ...i really hope this mad idea wasn't theirs as ive been parking up here for over 25 years without problems. ...as have many.

 

[Northernraider]

 

[Adam b]

It’s one of our favourite spots but with all the new motorhomers since covid its just gets too crowded, drove past one Friday last summer & there was over 30 vans. & the place was a tip.
i can see the council banning vans altogether.

 

[corconx]

Trouble is it’s happening everywhere since Covid. Everyone now wants one. I think we’ve had the best times both here and abroad. France was packed too. We just got back from 8 weeks away. Did find some quieter spots.

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[Gina M]

Ela, Jade and Milo looking so content

Gina

 

[Lenny HB]

there are 2 vans that have clearly been here for days if not weeks . So i can see this bit being banned before long.

Bloody idiots they really wind me, they have not got a clue about the problems they cause for the rest of us.

 

[Northernraider]

Bloody idiots they really wind me, they have not got a clue about the problems they cause for the rest of us.

Theres also what i assume to be travellers. 1 motorhome and 1 caravan .. they have parked on the grass near the football ground , generators , tables and chairs out , dog cages ...they have between about 10 or 12 dogs. I saw a woman with a clipboard at them earlier writing down the registration numbers etc ...think theyve been here a while going by recent comments on park 4 night

 

[Trev45]

There's about 15 vans here now , few Germans and french arrived. The 4 metre rule has gone right out the window

Not sure why the council bothered with that idea to be honest and no idea if they monitor it or not either. Hopefully not


Its a popular spot this and the bit they've allocated was never going to be enough.

Im sure campra was interfering up here ...i really hope this mad idea wasn't theirs as ive been parking up here for over 25 years without problems. ...as have many.

Sounds like you have dropped on a FLT rally.

 

[Northernraider]

Sounds like you have dropped on a FLT rally.

Another 3 have driven in since i wrote my last post.

Im moving tomorrow anyway but there just isn't enough proper places being created to cover the obvious demand.

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