Flooring is a plastic pad on top of our hardwood floor that’s lined with pee pads. He used to have foam mats as flooring until he started losing his potty training habits and it became crazy to clean up after.

I will bringing those mats back to put under his training pads as it should help how he stands. The main problem seems to be that his litter habits are terrible now so if we put any towels, mats, etc he just pees all over them. I will consider softening up his area now that we’ve resigned to the life of training pads.

The other problem seems to be that he can’t lie down maybe due to joint pain. The one time I did catch him lambchopped last month, I wondered if he could even get up. I brought out a papaya treat to tempt him and he struggled for so long to even stand up. I ended up  picking him up and setting him on his feet properly and almost cried to see him have to struggle through that. For now I’ve put his old water bowl back in his area now and flipped it upside down so he can rest his head on. Also, as he gets two daily feedings of pellets, I’ve brought back his exercise ball that he used to get to try to induce some movement. He can hop around, but I feel like every time he gets out of his area, he just leaves a total mess, so it’s a huge risk letting him anywhere near carpet. I feel bad because he used to have free reign in the house when we were home, but now he’s confined to his pen area due to his litter habits.

Sandy gets daily doses of joint support (Oxbow) but no special medication right now. I will speak to our vet to see if he has any recommendations. I just went back through some old videos (only a year or two ago) where he would happily hop around the house, flop, and wrestle with the broom. It’s sad to see how much he’s aged over the past year