Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian and this article is not a substitute for veterinary care. Any information found on this site is meant to serve as a starting point for a conversation with your dog’s veterinarian about what options or treatments are appropriate for your dog’s specific needs.
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In nursing school, everything is about evidence-based practice.
This means using actual verifiable scientific study to decide how to best help your patient. Not “I think this might work” or “That’s the way we’ve always done it”. How to read a study and look for who financed it, how they got their data, and what the data actually says vs the stated conclusion.
(Treatment A works 5% of the time, but Treatment B works 7% of the time. Conclusion: Treatment B is superior! Reality: Yeah, technically, but they both still suck.)
And since the entire body of knowledge of all of humanity can now be accessed through a small box that fits in your pocket… we had a whole seminar with a research librarian to teach us how to use the internet for medical research.
Sites to go to find legitimate sources of research. How to evaluate a source of information you found on a random page and decide if it was reliable or not.
As a result, I’m constantly searching the internet for various unusual diagnoses for work, information on new medications, random questions that come into my head, and, lately, anything that can help me keep Guinness well.
My search history is an odd read, but probably pretty boring.
But there I was, looking up a symptom the other day when an auto-complete suggestion decided to smack me in the face.
Not gonna lie, I ugly cried for a minute.
My dog is getting old and I’m scared…
Screw you Google, I asked for information not a runny nose. But that Skynet wanna-be was right…because I am scared.
I adopted a dog that was a little bit older than I was originally looking for, but I love him more than anything. I want to have as much time as I can with Guinness, but I want him to enjoy that time too.
Mentally, he’s still as sharp and social as a young dog, but physically he’s starting to have a hard time.
He’s got an old leg injury that acts up more and more, so pain and mobility are becoming a big challenge. He’s about 120 lbs and I can’t entirely lift him by myself. What am I going to do to keep him active?
So here I am, sifting through all of this information, trying to find what will actually work and what will fit into my budget. Reading through the veterinary journals and research. Sorting science from internet quackery.
And it turns out that there are other pet parents out there doing the exact same thing. But maybe they don’t have the time or the background that I have.
Maybe I could write up the information that I found and talk about what Guinness and I have tried. Would that help other dogs and their owners?
I hope so.
That’s why I started writing My Big Old Mutt.
If you want to follow along with us on our little journey of trying to find the best ways to keep a big, old mutt happy and healthy, join our newsletter and follow us on social media.
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