Kelsi and I got Gizmo at almost the beginning of our relationship. He has been with us for over 12 years, through every single milestone moment. Getting married, buying a house, having our first child, moving to California, moving back from California, having another child, he's been with us through it all. He has always been like a fur child to us, and he has been a loyal companion throughout all of life's constant changes. He has come alongside our family on every adventure. Every trip was planned around dog-friendly stays and activities because Gizmo has always wanted to be right by our side.
Our family loves to go on outdoor explorations, camping and hiking. Gizmo has wanted to come along with us for every adventure, enjoying it just as much as we do. Not only would we enjoy his company, but we also felt a sense of security when Gizmo was with us on trails.
We have nicknamed Gizmo our shadow because he is right by our side anywhere, we go. We live in a two-story home, and if I had to run upstairs to grab something, Gizmo would be right there with me. If I had to go to the bathroom, Gizmo would nudge his way in so he could lay on the bathroom floor by me. In the shower, same thing. He would patiently wait wherever we were, for whatever activity, short or long, just if he could be by our side.
When Gizmo turned 11, we noticed a slow deterioration in his physical health. His legs started slipping out on him on our hardwood floors. He would struggle going up and down our staircase. He was unable to jump into our car by himself. But out of all those physical changes, the one that was the hardest to see was his withdrawal from the family. Gizmo, who was once our shadow, would stay upstairs in our bedroom all day long. The struggle of going up and down the stairs became too great for him. We noticed he was no longer following us around the house through every task but instead stayed planted in one spot throughout the entire day. We would try to encourage him to be with us, but unless we carried him to where we were, he would not budge. There were a couple of times where he struggled so much going up our stairs that he just stopped on them, unable to take another step, and I had to carry him up the rest of the way. There was one night that Gizmo almost fell backwards down the stairs. That is when it really hit Kelsi and I that Gizmo's physical health was bad.
I began to research anything to help with Gizmo's physical health. I massaged his hips throughout the day. I found this glucosamine supplement. But nothing helped.
We were desperate and felt hopeless. We reached out to a friend who also has an elderly dog, and he is the one that told us about Antinol®. We were a bit hesitant at first since we are an all-natural / holistic type of family. But after researching the supplement, to our surprise, it was as natural as it gets. We were eager to give it a shot. But also, not expecting much of a change since it just seemed like his physical health was a natural progression of his age.
To our surprise, after a couple of weeks of giving Gizmo Antinol®, we noticed that he followed us around the house again. We thought, there is no way it is the supplement; it's too quick for it to be working. 4 weeks into giving Gizmo Antinol®, we realized his legs hadn't slipped out from him on our hardwood floors. It was as if he was getting stronger. For us, the biggest, most visual improvement that we noticed was that he was not struggling to walk up our staircase but instead was galloping up the stairs. It made us cry to see him have so much life back in his physical body again.
Disclaimer: These stories are for informational purposes only. The information is not a substitute for expert veterinary care. Stories are written by the Antinol team based on real interviews conducted with the pet parents and represent their own observations. These observations are not guaranteed, are not medically substantiated, and may not be typical for other pets.
