Levi was limping a week ago when I took him to obedience practice. It was odd, because he hasn’t shown any lameness before that. But he had been a bit low energy.
So my husband took him to our vet. They moved his legs around and he even yelped because it hurt, poor guy! She said he has all the symptoms of arthritis. Darnit!
Levi is getting old. He is 9.. almost 9 and a half. So I know I have to keep an eye on him for any symptoms of old age. And this is one! My poor collie boy, I hate that he has arthritis. And I hate that he is getting older.
So I turned on the wall fountains for some soothing sounds at home, and we gave him some metacam. We are also giving him Duralactin, which people have had a lot of success with. It’s milk from hyper-immunized cows. I haven’t been able to find how these cows are treated, as that concerns me. It can’t be good to hyper immunize an animal, I don’t think! I’ll look into it a bit more.
For now Levi is doing better. He’s not going to compete in any AKC Obedience, because they don’t have a preferred jump height in Obedience, so he’d have to jump 24″ and that is just too high for him. We’ll continue in ASCA Obedience as he only has to jump 16″ there.
And he’s entered in DOCNA agility this weekend. If he does okay, I’ll run him. If not, then he can just come and be with Mom.
I love my Levi Collie Boy.
I hate what arthritis does to a dog. It seems to take some of their joy away.
I have had good results by keeping my dogs thin, giving them glucosamine and chondroitin pills, and using acupuncture.
I hope that Levi feels better, poor guy.
Oh, poor Levi! It’s hard to watch the dogs we love getting older and suffering from the pains of age. But, as a wise person once said “It’s better than the alternative” 🙂
I sympathize a lot, Cyn. Our large rescue girl, Shelly, has such bad arthritis that I’m sometimes surprised that she can even walk! But she soldiers on and has the best attitude, just loves to be loved.
Here’s hoping that your treatments for Levi have beneficial results and that he’s with you for a long, long time!
SheltieJims last blog post..A Useful Resource
I was so sorry to hear about Levi having arthritis. I wish we could figure out something to keep these dogs young and healthy forever.
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Glucosamine byut maybe a lot less training would be more of a better choice.. I welcoe you to come read my blog.. and if you have any ideas Im open to them 🙂
So sorry to hear about your dog, my mum’s dog had arthritis and she found that letting him run in sea water helped a lot.
Other than that I can echo other’s recommendations of Glucosamine supplements. There are prescription drugs available too, such as Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs if he is in a lot of pain.
Hope Levi is ok!
.-= Steph´s last blog ..Treating Arthritis- Home Remedy Ideas =-.
I have a Shepherd/Huskie dog that is 13 years old. She started to limp and had a hard time getting up. We tried glucosamine/condroitin pills that seemed to help but they were very expensive. Then we found Healthy Treats for Dogs brand Hip and Joint chews. They sell them at Walmart for only 2.40 a bag! It’s like a miracle. The dog no longer limps or has any trouble getting up, running upstairs etc.. They have glucosamine/condroitin and the dog loves the taste. One time I ran out of the chews once and the dog was like a 90 year old again. As soon as we got her the chews she was like a kid again. I buy 3 bags at a time now!