Oh God wish I could get out to the shops for a bladdy new phone. Stupid stupid me and I wasn't even tipsy it just sort of slid off the arm of the chair and landed smack bang right into my glass of voddy and coke...first one btw I swear it was only in there a couple of seconds but the whole window was swimming in it..cleaned it out and dried it but it just won't wake up mate

Will try to get over to Asda when Chris comes home then you can ring me

Hope this is just a water infection, coz he's not "that" old is he?????

hugs matey will be thinking of you and sexy Georgie all day xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm sorry to hear this. I haven't seen the photos - is it just his tail that has lost hair? How about the rest of him? If he's drinking more, is he urinating more - any loss of bladder control? How about his overall body condition - has that changed? Tubbier? Thinner? Pot belly?

I had a look on-line - does it sound like this:

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/tail+gland+hyperplasia

tail glandan oval area of skin on the dorsal aspect of the tail in dogs centered at the level of the eighth coccygeal vertebrae which contains a large number of sebaceous and apocrine glands.

Tail gland.



tail gland hyperplasiain dogs, a spongy enlargement with alopecia and scaling of the area, usually associated with hormonal disturbances, in which the apocrine gland segment is especially hyperplastic.

Reading this thread made my heart sink for you Helena, it is horrible to see when your dog is not the same and there is something wrong but you can't put your finger on what is wrong.
Sending you the biggest hug and Georgie too.
With the tail thing, I know it is a long shot but my vet picked it up the first time I saw her, yet the other two vets had failed to pick it up, the ratty tail is apparently a big indicator for hypothyroidism. Also a lot of other symptoms, such as unable to regulate their temp etc, just wonder if a blood test would be worth it. Also if it is just mildly low it can be an indicator of other things going on in the body and as others have said a UTI.
I just guess I am hoping it is either a bad day for Georgie or something that is easily treatable.
It is the worst feeling, try to hang in there (I know you will, you are made of tough stuff) and see what the vet says.
Try not to see into the future too much, just do what you can for your beautiful boy and take each step as it comes.
Love from us all here xxxxxxxxx

Oh Helana.....so so sorry...my heart as samk for you

i know how you must feel...i was like this with my maddy..you know in your guts but then they surprise you with a little hope....i few month before we had Maddy put to rest...she had a water infection...and although he wasnt drinking massive amounts...she was tired and wee'ing her bed which wasnt like her...

we took a water specimen..and it showed she has a WI...and antbiotics helped he greatly...for a while anyway,
my thoughts and prayers are with you and Georgie xxx
is his name actually George?...cos my new boy is called George and i tend to call him Georgie

big hugs (((((( come on georgie...get up and show them))))

michele xxxxx

Feel better soon Georgie........Hope the vet can give him something to make him feel better.

Maybe he's just having an off day, my old boy had many of those in his old age

*Hugs*

(((Hugs))) to you H...I'm hoping the others are right with the water infection suggestion...oh why do they have to get old?

Every morning I'm fussing over whether Leon eats his breakfast, manages a normal walk or just a short one...it's awful, especially as he is my only one now, I don't have the others to take my mind of it.

We all know what a special boy he is and I hope and pray you have him in your life for a long while yet xxx

Thanks everybody, I was just going to reply to you all individually, and then I saw him wake up, get up, and go careering down to the bottom of the garden to bark at that 'orrible little black dog that attacked Zena that day, and when I went out there to tell him to be quiet, he wagged that skinny little tail at me, had a wee, and wandered back up to me with that tail still wagging. THEN, he's flopped down, gone upside down and Zena started playing with him Not for long, but he did have a roll and let her attack his head which she likes doing, and he seems to like it too!

Well! That was a sudden burst of energy from a dog who looked like he was on the way out lunchtime!

I'm still taking the sample in tomorrow, and will continue on to the bloods. About the thyroid activity question (sorry forgot who said it ) he already had one of those tests done a year ago and he was fine, but if needs be we'll get another one done, but quite honestly, I've been down so many roads with this boy and the vet and they have told me his immune system collapse is going to cause no end of problems, but of course, we're not going to give up on him without a fight!

Hi Lucky, thanks for that info and that picture, but his lump is actually half way down on the TOP of the tail, like a marble stuck there, and it's not gaping open like in that pic, it's just yet another lump. He's actually covered in lumps underneath and on his chest, has been for a couple of years now, and as you know a blood test in a dog will not show up cancer (like it does in humans), so the only way to go is to prod each and every one of them to get them analysed, and I already went through that with Cassie, had that lump categorised as "inconclusive" yet we knew and we were right, so really, what is the point in that, we were and still are, just happy to leave them alone. Regarding his stomach, it's not bloated, but it's solid and very hard, always has been, because of those steroids, and I would say if anything, he's lost some weight in his flanks, but it's so hard with a dog who's lived on steroids all his life, he's not the "norm" so to speak.

I'm going to work on the theory that this dog is too old for 2 walks a day now, his 40 min morning walk is all he's going to get, and give that a try. We could be wearing him out, especially after last week-end when we walked so far in the woods and all uphill to come back, plus the fact that when we got back he actually collapsed in the pool and wouldn't get up and was panting like mad. I ranted at poor Dave that we were going to lose him then coz we'd walked the socks off him, thank God we turned round to come back when we did even though Dave wanted to go further

Another thing I noticed, sometimes he refuses a treat, like just now when he woke up, he didn't want his raw carrot to take outside, and yesterday he did the same, and usually Georgie is a right old dustin, especially when the treats come out, and that's been going on for a few days now on and off, that's what's making me think like this, and making me know he's feeling off colour but without any outward signs for me to pick up on.

IN a way I suppose I'm hoping he does have a urine infection

Thanks again everyone for all your lovely good wishes for the old boy, and I know 12 isn't a grand old age, but it is for a big, heavy boy like George, who's had steroids attacking him all of his life! His previous owner was taking him to the vets nearly every other day of the week and getting steroid jabs and ab's for the first 5 years, coz she couldn't cope with his terrible itchiness, that's a heck of a lot of medication , and I know that, coz the vet told me so! He was so pleased with me that I tried and tried to make it last for 3 months at a time, but I'm sure a lot of internal damage was done back then

He's nodded off again He'll wake up when I get those dinner bowls out I'll let you know tomorrow when the urine test comes back, in fact, I'm sure they can do it there and then can't they and give me ab's if necessary?

Glad he's perked up a bit mate. Give him a big cuddle from me. there's life in the old dog yet.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

so glad he got a bit of energy...maybe all the positive thoughts worked a little

xxxxxxxx
michele xx