Oliver's Saga

Karen, not being there, I can't offer a lot, but I am going to give you my opinion anyway.  You may want to talk it over with your vet or surgeon and see what they think.  I would try to taper off the lactulose gradually.  But, from what I understand, the way lactulose works is by increasing bulk and pulling fluid into the colon to soften the stool.  OK, if that's the science of it, how can you accomplish that without so much expense?  The first thing I would do is try to get him to drink more.  Maybe mix some chicken broth into his drinking water. I've heard drinking very warm water helps constipation, something about it being body temperature, more of it moves into the colon....so, maybe give it to him pretty warm.  There's always the possibility that he's not drinking enough as he's contained.
 
Then, there's the canned pumpkin. Not the pumpkin pie filling, just plain canned pumpkin.  That also adds bulk and many people use it for dogs post surgery to get them regular.
 
Now, all of this is just my opinion, so take it as that.  Have a conversation with your vet about it, but I don't think lactulose is going to be a good long term solution.
 
The only other thing I want to say is be careful if he comes off crate rest at the beginning of April.  He needs to have time for his bones to heal before you let him run around. 
 
Post once in awhile so we know how you're making out.  I know no news is good news, but after a couple weeks, I get anxious to hear you're still doing OK.
Sally

Oh, yes, make his food soupy. He's a chow hound, right (being a lab mix puppy, I'm going to assume here).... If you feed kibble, add enough water to make it float, and he'll probably drink the kibble flavored slightly warm or room temp water. If you do canned or cooked, make it pretty soupy. The more water, the better. 

I'm just now reading all the new stuff on Oliver. Karen, I am very glad to see that Oliver is doing better! I'm so sorry you have had to go through all this stress lately, but I think you are an absolute peach for doing it. I admire you for the love you have for Oliver and your dedication to doing what's best for him at the expense of your own comfort.
 
Give both Oliver and Snickers a kiss for me. I bet Snickers is missing having a play buddy huh?
 
When you get a minute, snap us some pics of the fur kids!
 
God Bless

yeah -- everyone is giving you ideas more like I was.
 
Slippery elm is a big help too -- if you need more let me know -- I can send it to you if you want. 
 
But give him ice to chew on!!  Like not ice cubes -- nope -- challenge the boy!!  Make him a big HUGE ice cube with just a wee wee tiny bit of flavoring -- but I mean make him an ice cube the size of a water balloon!!  Spray the inside of it with Pam FIRST -- then you will be able to peel it off.  Or use anything freezer safe (like one of the Big Glad bowls) just spray it with Pam first.
 
This will give him something to chew (since bone fragments are so dangerous for him right now) and at the same time give him WATER. 
 
Literally you could water down vanilla yogurt or banana yogurt and water and freeze that. 

Here I am! What a stressful thing this has been for you, Karen. Do you want a little $$ to help buy some more of the lactulose for Oliver? I feel so bad about all of this. I really do.
 
I'm feeling very anxious and nervous for ol' Murph to go under the knife and I'm worried about the aftermath. But, my word, you've been through hell and back with Oliver. My biggest worry is for his hips (Oliver's) to pop back into place, for his bum to work, and for it all to last and give you all a great break for a very long time.
 
More soon. Please post whenever you want/need. We'll all be here.

thanks for alll the suggestions everyone, if I miss responding to anyone please don't take offense, I'm about to run out to videotape myself for my course doing play therapy with a child lol that's strerssful I HATE myself on video [8|]

Nancy... no really, I'm ok... I am starting the metamucil today which was very cheap I'm slowly staggering metamucil and the lactulose to try and get him off it completely. thanks for caring about us.. and good luck with Murphy!!! Do you have the surgery scheduled yet?

Callie... yup I've been freezing lots of things in his kong and otherwise.... Really anything around can be watered down and frowzen

Trish... for sure Snickers is missing him, she's so messed up by all of this that when I take him out now she sadly goes in her crate I don't even have to tell her to anymore. I hope they get their playfulness back. She gets told "no" if she tries to jump on him so she is "sad" it seems. i'll take some pictures soon!

Jennie - yup I've been making his food REAL soupy He just drinks less regular water now because of it... I may try adding broth to his regular water too.

Sally - Pumpkin tends to harden poop doesn't it? As for the lactulose I was trying to taper gradually, even though the vet sadi just take him off of it. I got down to about 7mL twice a day when he backed up again. I hope the metamucil and prunes work because I agree that lactulose long term is not great. At the beginning of April we may be allowed to do increasing leash walks, no free off leash stuff, that may happen at the beginning of May.

Alrighty everyone, I'm off! thanks for all the sugestions I really appreciate it []

Pumpkin works both ways - it's great stuff.

Another thought - how about veggie mush?  Throw a raw egg in the blender, add a couple tbls of good oil (Salmon would be my choice) and then toss in some chopped veggies and run it on high until you have mush.

The veggies mush used to keep my guys VERY regular!

For water intake, you can give him seedless watermelon. I'm serious. My dogs have a HUGE sweet tooth, and watermelon is mostly water, hence the name. Other watery fruits and veggies include cataloupes and cucumbers. 

Hi Karen,
Hope you are doing okay. I am not sure if Oliver likes pears but I know that Asian Pears are high in fiber and contain alot of water. My dogs really love them and would eat a zillion of them if I let them. They really help in the case of constipation. Another thing that they really like are canned peas and chick peas.
Big hugs to Oliver and you from all of us here.

Wow great suggestions everyone thanks!
Oliver would certainly eat all of those things... asian pears and watermelon and veggie mush He's a hoover and eats ANYTHING!!

I'm trying to decide, we have to go to NJ next weekend for a wedding... I have a really great petsitter that will watch all the pets but I don't know whether to leave him or bring him. Not sure which is worse for his recovery. If I leave him she'll take him out of the crate three times during the day and give him his meds and food. I think he might go nutty with no attention though and possibly cause damage to his healing hips. If we bring him he has to deal with the car ride... he should sleep most of the way and we can crate him like norma when we get there.... hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Frankly you'll worry less if you take him -- ask the vet for an actual tranquilizer for the car ride -- I wouldn't normally do that but you'd be better off given what's going on. 

Yeah that's kind of how i'm leaning... on bringing him. Our petsitter is great and she'd do fine but it's almost easier to have him with us. He's a car sleeper anyway so while we're in the car driving he'll probably just sleep. I can try getting a tranquilizer too. The only concern is him standing up in the car but that's no worse than him jumping around in his crate all weekend b/c no one is home. There's going to be another dog staying at the house too... DF's sister's dog that we're watching for a week. I think if she's running around the house as well he's going to want out of that crate and I'd hate for a tragedy to happen where he actually busts out of the crate altogether.

I'd probably take him along, but I'd skip the tranquilizers.  I did a long distance move from NJ to GA a number of years ago, and tranquilized my dogs for the trip.  They fought it and tried to stay awake and "on their feet" most of the trip. I took them on long distance car rides (8 hours) untranquilized, and they slept nearly the whole way!  If you'll sit in the backseat with him without a crate, he'll probably lay down and sleep nearly the whole trip.  Of course, this is just my opinion........
Sally 

I've moved from MA to CA and CA to WV, and a whole lot of places in between and not tranq'd my dogs.  I think if he were mine, I'd either use the crate in the car, cuz you're gonna need someplace safe for him on the other end of the trip, or pack it away and put him in an auto harness.  I agree with Callie that you'll be MUCH more relaxed if you take him with you.