I have learned from having my dogs that there is quite a few human medicines that dogs can take. Vets very seldom tell you about these medicines unless you ask because their practice would get no monetary benefit if everyone started just giving their dogs medicine they may already have in the medicine cabinet. Medicine you buy from the vet is quite expensive. There are other places you can get medicine from online once you know the name and amount you can give a dog. I buy Heartguard and Frontline Plus from Petshed or Budget Pet Care; they are reasonable and I’ve never had a problem with either. You have to shop around online, because some places are more economical than others.
I have two dogs, GG who is 17 years old and Mason who is 12. GG and Mason both have allergies, so I give them about a ¼ tsp of Benadryl once a day. The Benadryl has to be children’s, without any flavor to it. It makes them drowsy just like it does to humans, so I try to wait until the evening so they can rest peacefully. I live in Florida now, so I’m going to give it to them twice a day. Benadryl does help with the itchiness they have and keeps me from saying, “Stop licking,” a hundred times a day.
I am a fanatic about making sure GG poops on a daily basis, and, while giving her pumpkin helps because it’s rich in fiber, it doesn’t always work. I checked online and found that dogs can take Metamucil. I spoke to the vet and got the okay for her to have ¼ tsp of Metamucil. I buy the granules that you mix with water. I use a little plastic spoon, put a ¼ on a tsp, mix it with water, and stir it with my finger. Here comes the hard part, getting her to take it. When I can’t get her to take it from the spoon I have to follow her around because, on occasion, I’ve found it in a corner of a room where she’s spit it out. I try to mix it with her food, but she puts the pieces of chicken that have the Metamucil on it, on the floor. Actually, she puts any pieces of food that she smells pumpkin or Metamucil on, on the floor. She’s not eating it. It’s hit and miss giving Metamucil to her. The best way I’ve found is to give her something she actually likes, such as hamburger or steak, then she does eat the medicine. It’s trying, but I know she needs to go just like we do, and as we get older we sometimes need a little help. Once she has pooped, I give her a break from taking either pumpkin or Metamucil as long as she has a poop that I feel is a good amount. I know I’m weird when it comes to her.
Mason is our problem child and that’s an understatement to describe him. He’s more like a child that wasn’t disciplined and just does what he wants. He’s a good dog when he wants to be. Otherwise, we are constantly calling his name all day for something and it’s not for anything good. A few months ago, he started being unable to sleep in the bedroom. GG sleeps at the foot of the bed, but Mason he has to sleep at the head of the bed on a pillow next to me. He started that when my spouse was in Afghanistan; I guess he felt he was the man of the house. Anyway, about four months ago he started just staring at the wall in the bedroom, then he’d get up and try to hit GG in the head, then he’d go in the living room and come back to the bedroom just back and forth until my spouse (I wasn’t getting up with him) would get up and go into the living room. They would lay on the couch and he’d fall fast asleep. That’s been four months and my spouse hasn’t been in our bed since. We can’t figure out what his problem is, it even happens if my spouse takes him in the guest room; he will not go to sleep. We took him to the vet and asked about Melatonin. He said he could have 1mg of unflavored Melatonin. It’s not the pet Melatonin, but the human version. He sleeps for about 15 minutes and then he starts, then my spouse is back to the living room. We thought maybe it’s shadows from the television, but he’s like this whether the television is off or on. We have decided that we are just going to have to buy an air mattress and we all sleep in the living room if we ever want to sleep together again. If anyone has any ideas, please send them my way. I would like to sleep with my spouse again in my lifetime.
Pets, just like children, have their quirks. Mason has more quirks than some adults, but we love him. My biggest headache with GG is picking her up and down on the bed. She thinks it’s a game that we have to play after she eats. They are both a handful, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Retirement and Dogs 