Abby Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Dylan is a 5 year old bearded collie whippet cross. 18 months ago he had a very had shoulder injury that took several months to heal and I don't think will ever fully be the same again. For several months after he would be stiff in that shoulder occasionally after walks or if he'd been asleep in the same position a long time. It was almost certainly caused by him pulling hand brake turns on the beach The last 3ish months though I've noticed he gets stiff more often, though it never seems to last long. It is defo worse after beach walks (sorry, not going to give them up, it is his absolute favourite place in the world) and it could weel be made worse by his insistence on lying down fully in the sea, despite the baltic temperatures I do try to always have his equafleece in the car so he keeps warm on the way home, but although he is a tad young I wondered if I should consider some supplements? I don't think there's anything else wrong and it's not severe and doesn't happen as much on other kinds of walks. Any thoughts? He is due his booster soon so I will get the vet to check him out then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 It sounds like he has developed a little arthritis in that shoulder so a supplement like Cortaflex - which is a glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM supplement - would probably do him some good. If it gets worse you could ask your vet about a course of Cartrophen injections - which helps the cartiledge around the bony surfaces, (Not carprofen which is is Rimadyl). Also known to be very good. HTH Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Holly had cartrophen injections after her crutiate op to strenthen her jionts and she has a seraquin tablet every day. She is fine and gets about like a 4 year old instead of 14. No one believes her age when they see her rushing about Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 I agree it sounds like the start of arthritis and giving him a supplement now could slow down the progression of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owl Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 The late Humphrey developed arthritis around age 6 in the leg he broke as a pup, and was helped by supplements and a magnetic collar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Hmm, stuff to think about there, thanks guys. THe thing is, it seems at the moment to be general stiffness, not just in the shoulder he huirt I think it's going to have to be a check-up with the vet before deciding on anything. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 The general stiffness could be because he is saving his shoulder. One of my bitches had two undiagnosed slipped discs for eleven months. She had sore hips and the muscles down the inside of her back legs were sore. This was caused by her adjusting her gait to accommodate her sore back. There were no outward signs of the adjusted gait. It was an thorough investigation, by a super vet , to find out why she was sometimes lifting her back leg slightly when she turned that revealed the soreness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 what treatment have you given your girl blackmagic for the disc problem???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 what treatment have you given your girl blackmagic for the disc problem???? Unfortunately, Amber died in 2004. Her slipped discs were as a result of an accident when she was 4 years old. She was caught in a heavy swing door. My own vet diagnosed ligament injury in a hind hock joint. He offered no further investigation or treatment when she was still occasionally lifting her hind leg several weeks afterwards. He told me the only thing he could do was freeze the joint and she was too young to do that. She gave no indication of pain but continued bouncing everywhere at 100 miles an hour, as before. After eleven months and she was still lifting the leg I took her to a vet recommended by a friend.This vet treated a lot of running dogs and was very well thought of. From a hands on investigation he diagnosed a sore neck, a sore back, sore hips and sore muscles inside both back legs as well as the damaged hock joint. Xrays revealed two slipped discs in her back. He told me he would be happy if we could keep her off steroids for two years, but considered that the damage was such that she would eventually need to go on steroids. The initial treatment was acupuncture and TENS treatment every day for a week. At the end of the week she jumped up on the couch and hit the wall behind it. That was when we realised how much effort she had been putting into doing things. She continued to have acupuncture treatment, hydrotherapy and various homeopathic and herbal treatments until she died from a persistent lung infection when she was 11 years old. She never did go onto steroids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 OK - the same treatment as I am giving Barty for his bulging disc. He has acupuncture and a herbal medicine. Was interested in case there was something else I was missing. Barty did his disc in when he was about 4 - he is nearly 8 now and with his other physical problems will be lucky to make older bones than your girl, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 One thing that the vet was very keen on was Forever Living Aloe Vera Juice. ( had to be the real Mccoy) He related that a vet he knew in America had a bad accident and was told he would never work again. He had started taking the juice and was back working as a large animal vet. He said he only needed to miss a couple of days to stiffen up. When Amber started taking it her damaged hock joint had only about ten percent movement in it. She improved to about ninety percent use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 That;s interesting Blackmagic, thanks I've just remembered a couple of weeks ago one of the customers said that as Dylan got up he couldn't put weight on one of his back legs, and flicked it several times before he finally was happy to use it. Could just be sleeping awkwardly but I'm just not sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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