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5-year old sprollie with arthritis


TrishMD
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Our 5-year old Springer/Collie cross has just been diagnosed with arthritis of the right hip. We live in France and he is currently on Metacam (for a week) and Vetoxil, which is based on egg membrane, and is going back for x-rays next week.

The problem began, we think, last September, when he seemed exhausted towards the end of a long run (19km) and was stiff afterwards. This had never happened before. Then about six weeks ago, he started getting up stiffly from his bed and 'favouring' the leg, though he walked normally after a few steps. When we were on holiday two weeks ago, it was undeniable - he limped after resting after exercise every day and we thought he had an ACL tear, which he doesn't.

He's not a working dog but we live in the countryside, work from home so we are here all day, and have 1Ha, surrounded by fields. He's always been very active, in and out all day and chasing rabbits and pheasants. From the age of 20 months, we've done gentle hikes with him at weekends (my husband has arthritis, so they are not punishing hikes, though they last for hours) and 10 - 20 times in his life, he's also been run on greenway with us cycling at about 13kmph (his natural speed) for 15km on average, which has never so much as put a dent in his energy (the rides have frequent stops for photography and it could take us 3-4 hours to cover that 15km).

He's a good swimmer and loves agility, going over hurdles and climbing frames in the local park, jumping on and off picnic tables, retrieving a ball thrown upstairs (all of which we have now stopped, obviously). He has virtually never been walked on a lead or near a road as we could never find a pull harness that worked - he's always run free and tends to be rather overconfident, striding out ahead. He lives to retrieve a ball. 

He already had a memory foam bed and I have made him several latex foam beds, and he has a heated pad to lie on if he wishes, or a cold tile floor. And I'm slimming him down - currently 25.8kg down from 28kg over the winter and we're aiming for 25kg or less: most of his life he's been a very skinny dog and people have remarked on it, though he filled out a bit once he hit 4. So, a few questions:

* Tips, please, for keeping him occupied indoors: if anyone can recommend a brain-training book, that would be great. He does enjoy visiting people, restaurants, etc, and we will be doing more of that with him. He already does tricks, such as balancing a biscuit on his nose and putting his toys away. 

* Does swimming in cold weather do more harm than good? The vet recommended swimming for his main exercise and he is a strong swimmer but I know he also has to be kept warm. We have plenty of local lakes to choose from and he loves retrieving float toys. A fleece jumper with snood and heated car seat are options I'm considering for once he's back in the car. We have no access to hydrotherapy locally. 

* How can I restrict his activity without him going mental? All his life he has run free for about 15-20 minutes at a time, 3-4 times a day, and then spent the rest of the day on a tie-down cable outside the front door, wearing a coat in cold weather (he has to be on a tie-down due to us living next door to a huge chicken farm as he enjoys killing them). I took him for his evening walk over a nice flat-cut field yesterday and he just took off as usual, straight into the next-door pea field and bounded up and down like a puppy as usual, then was limping later. He covered a ton of acreage in that 20 minutes, which is normal for him.

* Any tips for supplements gratefully received. I am adding fish oil to his BARF diet prior to switching him to a BARF joint-support diet with these ingredients: Chicken 42% (with bone), Rabbit 24% (with bone), fruits and vegetables 15% (carrot, zucchini, spinach, broccoli, apple), chicken heart or turkey 12%, turkey liver 5%, oil sardine, brewer's yeast, seaweed (ascophyllum), acerola (2000mg / kg), green New Zealand mussel, turmeric (1500mg / kg), turmeric, spirulina, nettle, about 13% bones.

* Should I have him checked for Lyme? This is tick country and we often have deer in the garden.   

NB: we believe he has Border Collie Collapse, which he developed at about 1 year and we are careful not to let him overheat after he fitted twice in the morning when exercised before food. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

There is another thread on here at the moment with ideas for trick training - lots of videos etc.  That would be a good place to start.

Nosework, such as looking for treats, or more specific nosework training, will also help keep him occupied inside.  The tip to inside activities is to keep his mind occupied with either learning or brain heavy activities.

I am not sure about supplements.  I have a boy with hip dysplacia, who has been put on cartrophen injections, which are also used for arthritis.  They have been excellent.  They are basically artificial synovial fluid, from what I understand, which is the fluid which lubricates joints.

I am sorry to hear about your boy - he looks lovely!

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