Da Nose

Sniffn

Rio doing one of the things he enjoys doing at the Riverview off-leash park.

Radar Ears

Even when he's asleep, Rio's radar ears are on the alert for sounds of treats.

Supplemental Information

Rio takes a number of medicines and supplements each day.

In the morning he gets gabapentin for his lumbar sacral disease; Tang-kuai, a chinese herb to balance his yin and yang; Glyco-Flex III for his joints.

In the afternoon he gets Previcox for his limp, Tang-kuai, Glyco-Flex and Standard Process Whole Body Support, vitamin supplement powder.





The gabapentin is $4 for 90 pills. The Previcox is $81 for 20 days. The Standard Process Whole Body Support is $51 for a month supply. I get the Tang-Kuai for $60 for 500 tablets (250 day supply). The Glyco-Flex is $57 + shipping for 120 day supply. He also gets 4 squirts of salmon oil which is $32 for 32 oz. That's about $7.03 per day. Or $211 per month. Or $2,532 per year. The cost of being healthy can be high but it's worth it when you see Rio feeling better.

Energy

Rio had a lot more energy on Monday morning which made for a brisk walk on a very very cold day. He had so much energy I thought he was going to explode. He's still limping but he is moving well.

We ordered pizza for dinner and Rio hovered until he got some crusts.

An oldie but a goodie:

Glad that day was over

Grant is down with a sore throat. He doesn't get sick often. That meant I am on walking duty until he feels better.

On Saturday afternoon Rio and I went on a sunny walk. We stopped by to visit with a lady who lives up some stairs. Rio really really didn't want to go up the stairs but he did it. It turned out that she had 10 of her grandchildren with her so Rio had some extra attention. On the way down the stairs Rio decided to jump down the last group and when he stopped he was holding up his back right leg. Yikes! I was worried that he had broken it. I checked it out and nothing seemed to cause him pain. In a minute he was walking down the street.

Then on the way home we were walking up a small alley that runs behind our house on a tiny sidewalk. There was a lady on the sidewalk next to a red Chevy pickup truck. As we were passing her a pit bull type dog bolted out of an open door and ran straight towards Rio.

Rio really really really doesn't like dogs in his face and both were growling and getting quite agitated. Rio was on his leash but the other dog wasn't even wearing a collar. The owner came out and I told him to get his dog off my dog or I would kick his dog. The guy got really ignorant and said he would kick me. He told me to be on my way.

The nerve. That's exactly what I was trying to do, peacefully, when his uncollared vicious dog attacked Rio. I was so tempted to call Animal Control but I think this guy is the kind of jerk who would escalate things.

I hate that I have to be super defensive just walking around my house. I was glad Rio was wearing his coat because it provided him extra protection.

That and Rio's pain is back. I really was glad when this day was over. Rio, who lives in the now, was fine once we were back home.

Still Limping

For a while it looked like the homeopathic remedy was doing the trick. Rio was limping but he didn't appear to be in pain. Until Friday when we went for our afternoon walk. Rio was limping so badly I wanted to go home, but he pressed on, but without his usual energy.

I decided to give the medicine a try. The Dr. prescribed Previcox, which is a canine NSAID to help with arthritis. We'll see if that helps.