About a month ago Teach came up limping on his left hind leg. After taking it easy for a week with no change we went to the vet to see what was going on. The vet felt it was his cruciate ligament at that point and gave us Rimadyl for inflammation and to come back in a few weeks if not better. So ... a few weeks later ... (brings us to now) we have had x-rays with some good and so-so news. The good news was his hips are beautiful and he couldn't find any damage to his cruciate ligament. What he did find, however, was a condition called patella alta, where the knee caps ride to high on the hind leg bones. This must be something not very common as the vet decided to send his x-rays to Virginia Tech for a second opinion. So ... we wait and see what they tell us.
Of course, being the Google-friendly person that I am, I've been doing a ton of research. But what I have found is mostly on luxating patellas, which is where the knee cap pops out of joint. The vet mentioned the knee cap not riding in the groove on the bone, but never mentioned it coming out. So ... not sure what is going on.
He is on Rimadyl again for the pain and after one dose last night he was moving much better. Rimadyl isn't something I want him on full time because of the nasty side effects it has. A friend told me this weekend of laser therapy that can help treat inflammation so once we hear back from Virginia Tech I'm going to pursue that aspect and see what it does.
Until then I'm just glad he's back to normal after being at the vet all day (he was rather ticked off at us Tuesday evening). Even with limping he is still a very happy dog.
hi Rebecca
ReplyDeletethanks for commenting on my blog. I am sorry your boy is having soreness :(
I found the Green Lipped Mussels at Raw Paw, it is a Canadian based place, but if you google Green Lipped Mussel suppliers you will find one with no trouble. They are sold at Natural or Raw food places. The other thing I have used is Traumeel pills found at natural food places. I tend to go natural if I can because the pills from vets are so hard on the liver, although sometimes you do need stronger medication.
In the meantime see if your vet has a good glucomsamine/chondritine supplement you can give him, it really helps to cusion the joints, Kort has been getting one since he was a year old & he is almost 5 now.
Also have you ever thought of a dog chiropracter? I take my guys all the time for acupuncture for soreness, just some thoughts :)
thanks again for visiting my blog!
Jolene