oh, annnnd of course have been talking to the PT regarding support, like bandages, braces and such of course. Found out Manni stumbles, trips and falls with the things.

" I have never seen Meg put a paw on the ground", so sayeth Ruby Roo DaBear! So, there's that. As long as Meg has a WABBIT in front of her, well, I just see her flying through the air! 

CharlieBear does have issues with his good front paw: so much so that I did not want to admit this BUT texted the head of neuro TWO SATURDAYs ago because I thought (despite ALL the pain/nerve meds he is on )that he had a new bony bump (yes, THAT kind of bump) near his wrist on his good leg and was not walking well at all. The neuro was at the Vet School when I texted and because he knew I was a BIT anxious (cue the horror music) he told me to head on in. He felt the bump, too. Upshot, we had x-rays done and he, the surgeon, and the radiologists all came to the conclusion that there were no real issues but that Charlie likely had arthritis. In his good leg. Sooooooooooooo.....once EmmaBear gets everything straightened away, CharlieBear will be going back. In the meantime, because CharlieBear is ALREADY on all the meds he could possible be on, we just added an additional dose of amantadine. Which helped a lot. Supposedly has no sedative properties (hard to tell with the Pancake DaBear but...) The additional dose is to be used for a few weeks only and then we will back down from it again. 

The upshot is that the head of neuro called me neurotic (as I said, "Maybe I am being neurotic but...") He said, "Oh, there is no doubt that you are neurotic but you could be neurotic AND CharlieBear could also have something going on..." I told him it was a complement coming from him. He did say it takes one to know one...And so it goes. 

I would really love to explore Adequan and CBD oil (of course, I live in Georgia so there is VERY little chance of the second...). Meanwhile, of the two, which do you believe Meg benefits from more: acupuncture or laser? We have not been offered either choice yet And, if Meg needs to move from a rainy place to one where the sun shines most days. she would be more than welcome at the DaBears HQ (Ruby Roo's vote notwithstanding.) 

I know for a fact that animals with arthritis are just as prone to be affected by the weather conditions as humans are, although my experience here is more with horses than dogs, but why should that be any different.

Clare, when you say that Meg has been on Metacam throughout: I've only just now talked to the vet about it who said that it is a possibility for Manni at this point. I am not quite ready to do that because I feel that I rob myself (and him) of the possibility to intervene medically if there is something more acute. I feel like most days he's getting around ok, but he was also a little more lively when on Metacam. Did you decide to do that on x-rays alone, or was Meg limping, or what made you decide? Also: do you give something for the stomach with it? I had Manni on two, well, something like Pepcid while he was on Metacam, but I know that this can also have long-term effects, so that, too, I think makes things more difficult. what's your take??

We've done acupuncture and laser as well but I am not the biggest fan of laser, at least. But then that's just me.