Purple and Paws I wish I was sitting here writing a different kind of post today. But this is a blog about being a dog mom and living with a dog, and eventually, most pet owners have to go through health issues with their fur baby.
Right now it’s my turn.
Socks usually loves going on his walks. He gets two a day, a longer one in the morning and a shorter one at night. But a few months ago, I started noticing that every so often he wasn’t as enthused to head out in the morning as he typically is. He would lie down while I grabbed his poop bags and leash, plod along slowly as we walked, and just in general act like he wasn’t very thrilled to be out and about.
Then there were the days when his stomach would be grumbling and growling, which I assumed meant he was hungry. But I’d offer him treats and he’d refuse to take them.
Because this only happened occasionally, I wasn’t too concerned.
But last Friday morning, I woke up to the sounds of his stomach rumbling and Socks acting lethargic and lackluster. Once again, he wouldn’t eat any treats and when I got him out the front door, he shuffled along until I ended the walk early and headed home. When his stomach continued to growl and grumble as the morning went on, I called my vet and made an appointment to bring him in later in the afternoon.
To my shock, the scale read 70 pounds when he hopped up on it. The last time we came in, he weighed 60. Needless to say, Socks is currently on a diet and not getting any extra treats.
I talked to the vet and she suggested two things: that instead of just feeding him his dinner at 4, I split his dinner into two parts: part one at 4, part two at 8. This way he wouldn’t have such a long wait between meals. The second thing she suggested was giving him Pepcid AC 20mg every night before bed for a week.
It’s only been three days but I’m pleased to say that Socks hasn’t had any digestive issues since I started splitting up his dinner and giving him Pepcid. The plan is to continue in this vein for two weeks and then see how he’s doing.
So far so good, but I will keep you updated on what happens.