2019 has not been a good year

Roberta

Roberta

Forums Regular
2019 hasn't been a good year for my Shelties. Avery, my 12 year old, tore his ACL in January. He had surgery and spent months getting physical therapy. Last month Rex, my 14 year old, had a stroke and passed away. Now Avery is limping pretty badly on his right front foot. His rear leg (the one with the torn ACL) seems fine but I think the stress of recovery aggravated the arthritis in his front legs. My vet put him on the pain med Gallaprant which he takes every day. We even tried a round of Adequan injections - which is a corticosteroid used to control arthritis. None of this seemed to do much good.

I'm going to take Avery to an orthopedic specialist next week. This specialty clinic offers several different therapies including: Acoustic Compression Therapy (using soundwaves for focused and pinpont deep tissue massage); Cold Laser Therapy (stimulates tissue repair and increases blood flow to provide pain management); Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (electic stimulation decreases accute pain and inflamation); and Underwater Treadmill Therapy. I want to have a consultation and see what they recommend.

Have any of you tried any of these therapies for arthritis? (Acoustic Compression, Cold Laser Therapy, Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, or Underwater Treadmill Therapy)? If so, did you get any results? How would you rate them?

I feel so bad for Avery. He was always such and active, playful boy (even at 12). He loves to play with his 2 year old "sister" Maxine, but the arthritis really slows him down. I would do anything to make him feel better. If you have had success with any arthritis meds or therapy, please let me know.
 
I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your 14 year old to a stroke...how tragic and sudden! I'm afraid I don't have any insight to offer you, I was going to take Piper (when he was 2 1/2) to a holistic vet that offered those when he'd injured his shoulder but he fortunately recovered. Fingers crossed that it's helpful and that Avery can play again with Maxine.
 
2019 has been a tough year for me as well as we lost Brooke in mid-May to cancer. My girl Asta passed from complications from a stroke, also, a very sudden and awful event so I feel for you, and I send my sympathy.

Brooke had elbow arthritis and what really helped her was green-lipped mussel supplement. You can get Super Snouts joint powder through Chewy or Amazon. It can just be sprinkled on their food and is not expensive. It is high dose Omega 3's. Fish oil did not help Brooke very much but the mussel powder did. You do a loading (double dose once daily) for about 3 weeks and then back off. I was so impressed I found a human variety for my aching knees and started taking that, and I can tell you it WORKS. My knee pain disappeared. So I think it is worth a try.

I have not tried the other treatments you referenced.

I hope you can keep Avery comfortable so he can enjoy his golden years.
 
Thanks for the comments and suggestions. My regular vet recommended Royal Canin Mobility dog food. I just checked the ingredients and it contains New Zealand green-lipped mussel. I haven't had the appointment with the orthopedic specialist yet so I'm not sure which treatment they will recommend. I'll post an update later to let you know if the specialty mobility food and/or therapy treatments do any good.
 
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