getting older

phillyeagles1 · 02-28-2008, 04:38 PM

hi i just happened to stumble across this forum and had a question..hopefully you guys can help..my dog is a golden retriever/chow mix and is about 9 years old. she has been taken on runs for most of her life but shes has started to get arthritis in the back of her legs so the runs have pretty much stopped. she also has epilepsy, she is on medicine and hasn't had a seizure in about a year and a half, maybe longer until today that is. she had one and was unable to move and the we thought this would be her last night. however she just recently got up and started eating and drinking and is acting fine..I guess my question is what is traditionally the life expectancy of these types of dogs and does her arthritis and epilepsy have much effect on her life span? hopefully this post wasn't too confusing.

Dog5 · 02-28-2008, 06:32 PM

Well you most definitely have a senior dog. I think it would be to your and your dog's benefit to visit your vet and come up with a senior care program for him. I can, from experience, recommend Cosequin for arthritis. My Great Pyrenees had arthritis in his back legs just like you described and the Cosequin helped immensely for a while, and it has no side effects; however, because your dog has epilepsy I would discuss giving him Cosequin or anything with your vet to make sure it's okay. You said your dog has medication for the epilepsy? Maybe there is something else...or perhaps her seizure was an isolated incident - again, talk to your vet about this. The lifespans of dogs are longer now just like humans, with the proper care. God bless!

phillyeagles1 · 02-29-2008, 09:37 AM

thank you for the reply...i will look into Cosequin..i know she is on medication for epilepsy and it really has worked well because of the long time span in between seizures..it was actually longer than i thought, about 2 years since her last one. She has been taken care of well so hopefully she still has a few more years left. the arthritis has slowed her down as expected but she honestly doesn't strike me as a dog that is close to the end....i know she is getting older but she still seems like she has a lot longer to live

Dog5 · 02-29-2008, 10:27 AM

If that's how she seems to you then you are probably right! The fact that there was such a huge gap between seizures is good, and if need be I bet they can always "tweak" her meds. And there's a lot to be done for arthritis, too - starting with the Cosequin - and continued gentle exercise.
You might also want to stop giving vaccines and just do titers - if you don't know that's a blood test that will tell you if your dog is still immune, and at 9 she undoubtedly is. I think it can be detrimental to a dog's health to give vaccine upon vaccine when the dog is already immune. I found out about titers from my vet when one of my dogs had horrible allergic reactions to his shots. He was also having seizures then. We stopped the vaccines and thank God he hasn't had a seizure in years. I do titers on all my dogs now.
Good luck and God bless!