You’ll probably have to help your guy drink/eat by raising the bowl at first.
The vet prescribed Gabapentin (pain med) every 12 hours for 7 days. We also gave 50 mg of trazodone every 12 hours for 7 days (but on a ~1-3 hour delay from the Gabapentin.
Ended up going back to the vet for another 7 days worth of both meds. You should start to price out the meds and get a Rx to take elsewhere if you think your vet will have a high mark up. (Our last vet did this which sucked but current vet is on the level.) We are in the US and CVS/Walgreens/Walmart actually fill canine Rx for meds that can be used cross species.
@lightlovehope My puppy is 68 lbs and 6 months old. I got her from a friend who had accidental litter but the local rescue is still pressuring me to get her fixed asap (very small community, everyone knows everyone). Our vet even said they would do it once she was 4 months. I'm determined to wait until she's at least a year and more like 18 months since we're expecting her top out over 100lbs. She's lab and mastiff so I know joint issues are very possible and I want to give her the best chance to have a long enjoyable life. Luckily, we live in the country, our other dog is a fixed female, and we've got a good fence.
@lightlovehope Shhhh... don't tell her she's a giant! She still thinks she's a little lap dog. We just roll with it cause she gives good cuddles, but my legs are starting to pay the price of her ever increasing size!
Seriously tho, I'm looking to wait at least 18 months, but the pressure here to do it right now is ridiculous. I understand the rescue is trying to limit strays and that's a good thing, but my concern is for my elephant, sorry dog, having a good long, healthy life. We love our wrecking ball so we'll do what is best for her first.
@j101814 Well if you didn't purchase her from the shelter there isn't anything that they can do! I personally hate the pressure there is to castrate the puppies, and the negativity that happens if you don't! Plus you have the female! So it would really be up to you on what happens to the puppies if it does (hopefully not) happen! In my opinion you do what you think is best for you dog and don't let anyone else pressure you into doing it!
@j101814 Maybe you can reach out to some reputable mastiff breeders to ask for recommendations or advice and show that to the rescue and your vet. Any reputable giant breed breeder will advise you to wait 18 to 24 months. Even though yours is a mix I assume they will still say to wait a year minimum. My newfie breeders contract had me wait until he was two.
@nathan22 It's just southern small town nonsense and old busy bodies that have nothing to do but meddle. I could show them all the research in the world and it wouldn't do much good. I've talked to a couple people that breed labs and they've given me the "wait at least a year" advice so I'm adding a few months to that to be safe. I'm not too worried about the old ladies, I've dealt with their shit my whole 40+ years, I just ignore them and move on, then correct the nonsense they preach after they've found a new victim. I understand the push to fix all dogs as soon as possible here, the mentality of letting dogs do what dogs do is still pretty strong so there are a lot of unwanted and dumped of puppies. They just have to realize that things change and not everyone will let their dogs just run wild.
@lightlovehope Yes, and it’s a good reason. I was told that waiting was a good idea, unless you had real behaviour problems. Our guy didn’t change at all, except for the loss of what were some of the biggest testicles I’d ever seen on a dog.
@lightlovehope We waited until 9-10 months on our mini Golden Doodle. He has barely grown since. Was around 27 pounds when we neutered him and is currently 28.5 pounds at 13 months.
@lightlovehope My dog is quite confident, too much confidence infact, and was neutered at 4 months, good strong bark, no marking and no humping. I'm happy I didn't delayed it, I live in an apartment and I don't want to have the smell of pee everywhere nor be worry about my dog humping every single creature in the park.
