Now I'm really worried. Archer is over today. He and Ami got into a tussle over a bone. Initially Ami had Archer pinned to the ground but then positions reversed and sheet had Ami by the neck and wouldn't let go. I tried to kick him off until Wayne came running and picked Archer up on the air.

As Ami. Now the front bottom tooth (right central incisor) next to the other tooth (right lateral incisor) is displaced forward 90°. So it looks like a spear sticking out of his gum. Now it's entirely possible that when he had Archer pinned, his tooth got caught on the prongs of Archer's fence collar. Or the metal buckle or tags on Archer. But I'm just a bit suspicious and anxious as to why his teeth are sincerely so vulnerable. I'm thinking about Ashleigh and Mishka and that gum line cancer he had.

But there's more. The intermittent limp on front leg. Then this morning he wouldn't put weight on right hind leg for a bit. But he had just come in from outside and he often gets ice balls between his toes. And then he was walking fine. Except. After the risks with Archer, he won't put weight on right .back leg

But... Then there's the back thing in suspicious of, sometimes when he gets up, he humid is back like a camel, something's even humping like he's mounting a dog except this seems totally involuntary movement.

And his weight. He's been overweight a bit for several years, very had wanted him to lose 5-10 pounds. I feed Victor hi pro plus which is high protein and high calorie. So I'm the past year, I've really cut his portions - slightly less than 2/3 cup breakfast and dinner, half a cheese stick from Wayne after breakfast, a frozen beef bone in the evening. And a final tablespoon of two of kibble before bed along with a third of chicken strip. These measures are all reduced from what he was getting a year ago. I say this because now it seems I can feel Ami's ribs without putting. As well as his shoulder architecture. But it bags me that I've been trying to get weight of and not being successful and now, suddenly seems to be working.

So I'm a worried Mama. Not enough to call emergency vet, though I want to, Ami seems comfortable at the moment, no bleeding. Breathing seems within normal limits. Wayne listened to his chest because he initially thought his breathing was a bit raggedly - then I told him the tenancy of Siberians to get spontaneous pneumothorax. Which of when the stethoscope came out.

Yep.i be a worried Mama.

Welp. Fed them dinner. Ami was eager and first up. Ate with relish, no problem.

But he arrived on 3 legs. Not weight bearing at all. Sigh. Highly suspicious of CCL injury

You may want to have the tooth looked at or pulled depending on how far out it sticks. If it is able to protrude from his closed lips there's risk of drying out and decaying. I wouldn't be too concerned with anything too crazy going on because of the tooth. Any basic under gumline tarter can weaken things. Bones and chewing can do great things to clean the surface of teeth but under the gums and tight to the gum line can really only be handled with brushing or cleanings at the vet. Weight loss, tooth issues, leg weakness, if he started peeing a ton you could potentially be dealing with diabetes. Weight loss is what tipped us off for kenzi. I just thought her teeth were having issues because she was old and had a spider bite earlier in the year, which spider bites have very long lasting effects that go far beyond the bite zone.

I've been trying to get weight off kye as well. He was 88 a few months ago which is too much for his bad hips. Husband insists that I'm starving him and he's lost too much weight. Thinks he can see ribs. Took to vet for check. He's lost 2 pounds. Hardly wasting away for a dog who was 68 pounds and actually emaciated when we got him.

Limps are worth having checked out. What seemed like a simple limp was what tipped us off to keno's cancer. Doubt that is the case for Ami but it's nice to know what they are dealing with. In-laws dog tore ACL a few months ago. Too old for surgery, but knowing let them change her routine to assist in healing which she has done well enough.

We have an appointment Friday. He is begining to bear weight on the hind leg. Outside he walks almost normally, also in house on carpets. Limps to completely raising the leg on the wood or vinyl floors. I put down towels for him to walk on and that's effective.

That tooth - fairly certain it is gonna have to come out. Besides, I want dental x rays to assess the jaw in the area. Just for piece of mind. I also forgot, he has a fistful of porcupine quills in there last June. Don't know if that weakened the ligaments out s fraction of I've left in, causing inflammation to loosen those teeth or just plan getting lowest teeth caught on metal collar tags/ buckles/fenced collar prongs. The tooth is one of the small lower incisors so it doesn't protrude out of the mouth. I have to move his tongue to see it.

Also the limp on the front right leg that is intermittent, while I suspect Lyme, I work about nice cancer since Keno but, that, too, was a site of porcupine quills.

Upshot. Waiting somewhat anxiously for Fridays appointment.

So. Jenn. I paid attention to Ami's water intake and peeing today after your thoughts re diabetes. Nope. This boy is a camel!

With his porcupine and lyme history it's very likely you are seeing arthritis and inflammation in the joints and the cold just doesn't help things. Kenzi was practically lame in her hips at 5 years old with arthritis so age is of little factor. It's not the number or miles that gets them, but how hard the miles are. With keno and the cancer there was swelling around the site. It was more like he had rolled the ankle than just limping with no other signs of anything. I wouldn't worry too deeply about cancer. Something torn or pulled is possible in the hind leg. Front could be weather related or just getting tired from picking up the slack for the rear leg. Tooth things just happen. Kenzi had lost teeth I didn't even know about before she was diabetic so sometimes they just fall out. A whole host of non-life-threatening reasons can be behind it. Curious what your vet will say tomorrow.

He's definitely walking a lot better. On front AND back. He's actually better outside in the cold. And we are having significant cold at the moment. Particularly after he's been laughing on the snow. I consider it a whole body ice pack for him.

We shall see tomorrow. Curious as to whether I'll see my usual very or the new guy she just hired. Can't decide if I want a different set of eyes or the gal I trust.

Good luck Amy, I really hope it’s nothing serious

Welp. Definitely Lyme positive again. So back on doxy.

And piglet#1 not only has not lost weight, he's gained another 8 pounds!!! They want me to switch from Victor Hi pro plus to a senior food. Sort of mentioned Hills but didn't push it. Kept calling Ami an "old dog" which was a bit of a heads up

As for the hind leg: no evidence of CCL damage. Both drawer test and one other, forget what, were negative, the joint is sturdy. What he did discuss was arthritis. Said he's a big dog carrying excess weight. And with history of Lyme, like to get arthritis earlier. Also did some manipulations for hip arthritis, no clicks heard. (Huh... Just telling husband about this and he said that's a test they do on babies when they're born. Did not know that.)

What he did describe was a change in musculature that indicates arthritis. I thought he was going to say atrophy but not that. He says there is overgrowth of muscle just forward of the hips in response to a forward shift of weight when arthritis is present. Then he used that"old dog" phrase and said he "is 8 years old," .

Glad there is nothing apparently serious wrong but, somehow, with Ami's forever puppy disposition, I don't think of job as old. When we got home today, he ran up to the garage, back down and up a snow bank, around and around a couple of times, down the snow bank, leaped over Z'ev, back up to the garage, back down and leaped over Z'ev again (Zev is just standing there, puzzled, wondering what's going on)

So so he's getting Doxy, Dasuquin continues, he wanted to give me an NSAID but i still have almost all of the carprofen from Z'ev's problem a while back. Given the big boy's explosion of energy and that he jumped up on the bed several times last night and this morning, jumped up into the 4Runner multiple times in our various stops, I think I will forgo the carprofen for the moment.

Question for you all:  Ami gets a beef bone in the evening for gnawing. Of late, a lot of them have been marrow bones and others have had a lot of fat. What do you think about switching from beef bones to a chicken drumstick? Other suggestions for chewing(calories and cost are a factor.)

And. Should I just fed less of his Victor hi pro plus or switch to a senior weight control food? Any suggestions (cracked corn gives him pudding poop.)

This is what I've had Sasha on for a couple of years now, it's dropped her from almost 60 to 53.7 pounds giving her a cup in the am and another in the evening. (( It's Fromm Weight Management Gold if the link doesn't work )) It's $56.45 for 33 lbs but I seldom use a bag a month, end up skipping a month on the auto-order every now and then.

Where are you buying it for that price? Amazon wants 60 something, chewy doesnt carry it.

Ive been looking at senior food and noticed it wasnt a whole lot different from what i already feed. High protein low carb low fat

Welp. Looks like Amazon and chewy are on Fromm's naughty list. But. My go to farm/seed store store where I started with Victor also carriers the Fromm. Victor also makes s weight management food similar to the fromm. Gonna have to do some thinking.

Emily - the big thing I'm seeing is lower fat content. With the Victor, the hi pro plus had strong 20% fat where the weight management has 10%. Plus the weight management has L-carnitine. I need to be able to walk them at a brisk pace and I'm cutting all their treats in half. They'll still get everything they do now but half the amount. And something about the bones. I may just have to thae them and trim them of all fat.

amymeme wrote:

Where are you buying it for that price? Amazon wants 60 something, chewy doesnt carry it.

I get it from Gofromm.com.

And I'm not awake enough to make any more comments. Mostly I'm trying to get the house and me warm. We had a predicted low of 31 and are at 26 and nothing down here is equipped to handle this type of temperature. I know that's nothing to you all but I don't have anything that resembles cold weather clothing!

25°.  In Texas?!!? Grab every piece of fabric you've got. Fill a jug with hot water (if pipes aren't frozen) and climb into bed with some dog treats and pile all that fabric on top of you. See if you can't get that pack of yours to snuggle up and keep you warm!

Its supposed to snow wherever jerrys sister lives and shes in the houston area. But speaking of texas and nothing dog related that ice storm accident in ft worth was insane.

My 2cents worth - it's noon and we haven't come above freezing yet. We aren't getting enough sunlight through the overcast to do anything for my batteries so I've had the genny on all night and most of the day. I'll switch to my laptop so I can shut the tower down but I'll have to run the genny tonight since I have exposed pipes (everyone does down here) I've had to leave the tap on a trickle - the genny is so that the water pump keeps up enough pressure so I can have a trickle!)
They're saying we can expect the coldest temps here since 1989 ... a few years back we had a cold stretch that stayed around for three days, never got above freezing and there was no PVC within 300 miles - it just got bought as soon as anyone could get any.
Predicted high today 51 predicted low is 32 - currently 30 ... I am not impressed.
@amymeme I wish the dogs would cuddle, three dogs and three cats and only one of the kittens tries to stay warm using me as a heater. Definitely a "Two dog night"

It's been cold, here, too. Low of 5° last night, 8° when I got up. But, were supposed to warm up a trifle starting today. Meaning a high of 20° and overnight low of 15°

I have faucets trickling upstairs. Some idiot ran the supply lines in the unheated eave!!!

Of course, ice looked for an alternate route through heated spaces and haven't found an alternative. I did wrap with heat tape but down to low single digits and below, a drop-in faucet is cheap insurance.

Our weatherman is out of his blinking tree!! True more often than not though.

Predicted high for today 52 - we didn't even break 40, the dogs water bowl outside is still solid ice; predicted low for tonight 30 and we're already at 28 and the sun's barely gone down. Gonna be another COLD! night.

I have two working faucets in the trailer, one in the kitchen which is a short run from the pressure tank and one in the front bathroom which is a long exposed run - both running a small stream.

What's really scary is that we've been running several degrees below our predicted low and they're predicting 16 for Sunday night!

What do you do for heat?!!?

amymeme wrote:

What do you do for heat?!!?

I have a propane heater similar to this. When it gets as cold as it's been for the past couple of nights it doesn't do more than keep it warm. I run it on low (one panel) at night, there's a fire danger but it's enough to keep the house from freezing. Today I've had it on high for most of the day and still have cold feet!
Very old house trailer and the wind goes right through it and besides being cold, the winds been kicking up real good - gusting 15-20.

We used a propane mt buddy by mr heater in the camper. Ot would keep half the camper warm and anything liquid on the cold side would freeze.

@aljones any regulation on indoor burning. They sell a kit for about $100 that turns a steel barrel into a wood stove. Its very popular with the offgridders here.

In sept we lost power for 26 hours during a big wet snowstorm and by the time the power came back on it was 37 f inside the house.

Stay warm there is another storm on the way. Supposed to hit here tues/Wed and with the jet stream it may end up hitting texas.

This has gone beyond funny!  It was 22 at 06:00 this morning and it's 23 now, projected high is 38 ... I don't think we're gonna make it.  Projected low for tonight keeps dropping,  it started off the day at 22 and is now down to 12.

I don't know (and can't find) what our historical low is but I think we're gonna beat it tonight.

If you don't think this is cold for us, we have two warming centers in operation.  People live in containers and thin walled wood "houses" and nothing prepares people who are used to a low of maybe 30 for temps like we're seeing.


Just a little picture for you all.

For as cold as it gets youd be shocked how many people choose to live in tents or put up those prefab steel garage type things or shipping containers. Our high today was also 12 but it was so much colder in denver... i ALMOST feel bad for the homeless ppl. So my house isnt insulated at all except in the roof. Walls are about a foot thick of log and morter

But i totally get it because i grew up in Florida where it doesn't get cold. Also 12 up here and 12 in texas are 2 totally different things in houston 40 was freezing and here 40 is sandals tshirt and shorts weather. We dont have the damp cold.

Something we do that makes a huge improvement that you can do is hang towels or heavy blankets over the windows.

So, Al, at this point I'm wondering if you're gonna be safe? I'm past worrying about your comfort.

And. Your vehicle? Antifreeze level?

Though you did live in up upstate NY so should have some remnants of how to live with significant cold...