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  1. #1
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    Senior pain managment/mobility

    Hi! I'm looking for help with a senior dog I'm fostering. He's not a lab- but I know many of you are familiar with senior arthrits pain/mobility issues. My lab isn't quite there yet- so I'm looking to others for suggestions.

    Leroy is an ~11-12 year old husky/shepherd mix. He lived as a stray in NH for 6 years. Yes, that's not a typo- 6 years... He came up from the South where he was a "farm dog" and shortly after arriving got loose while on a walk. No one was able to get near him- he lived at the back of someone's property for the 6 years. They left food for him but that was about it.

    A local recovery group Granite State Dog Recovery heard about him and they were able to successfully trap him. He was lyme (treated) and heartworm positive and has awful hind end arthritis. I was asked to foster him in Oct/Nov and he's been with us since that time.

    He lost a lot of muscle mass in his back end and so his back legs often cross each other while he walks. Kind of hard to explain....He also takes a while to get up after laying down. We started him on Gabapentin 300mg twice a day and rimadyl 50mg twice a day. I felt like that worked really well initially but over the last week I feel like he's declined a little. He's gotten slower again and is hesitant with the stairs.

    What have you successfuly used for your seniors? Thanks!
    -leroy1-jpg-leroy-jpg

  2. #2
    Best Friend Retriever outrag's Avatar
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    Hello,

    My dog was on NSAIDS (Deramaxx, Rimydal, etc.) as well as Tramadol for pain. I think Tramadol and Gabapentin can be upped in dosage if needed. For years he had Glucosamine and fish oil. In the end I used a harness (help em up harness ) to assist with stairs, etc. My dog also went to therapy (swimming, laser therapy, massage, stretching, strengthening) to assist with his very declining hind quarters. I think Prednisone is more of a late stage application but can greatly assist with pain, inflammation, etc. for a period of time.

    Thanks for giving Leroy a comfortable senior stage to his life.

    Bob
    Griffin growing up!

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  3. #3
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Physical therapy (underwater treadmill) may help with the loss of muscle mass in his hind legs. Low impact exercise (walks, short but frequent) may also be beneficial for his condition. Devils claw, turmeric, coconut oil and glocosamine, chondroitine and MSM supplements may help with the pain.
    Cookie Black Snowflake
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  4. #4
    Senior Dog
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    I’ve successfully used a combination of Deramaxx and Tramadol on an elderly dog with bad elbows, but Gabapentin was supposed to be the next level step so you may have already maxed out the medication route.

    Gentle exercise - slow walks, swimming, etc. can be very helpful in building/maintaining muscle mass in arthritic dogs. We’ve also done acupuncture to provide some pain relief and while we haven’t had experience with laser, I’ve heard good things about it. Unfortunately though, hind-end weakness and wasting can be a real problem and in some cases there simply isn’t much that can be done about it other than using something like the help-em-up harness to get them around and moving. Are they sure arthritis is the problem (vs. something like degenerative myelopathy?).

    Thank you for taking him in!
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
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  5. #5
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    Thanks for all of your responses. They don't know for sure that it's "just" arthritis. Unfortunately, there isn't money to do diagnostics either. I was pushing for xrays when he first came to me just to ensure we knew what we were dealing with, but the shelter didn't want to do them. I thought it was something with his spine vs. arthritis of the hips. DM is a possibility I suppose. He does have a delay in righting his paw when we flip it over and place it on the ground ( I forget what that's actually called)

    Being a stray for so long and not knowing when these symptoms started makes diagnosing a little difficult. From what I've read DM progresses pretty quickly. We also don't know if there were any injuries/trauma.

    I was thinking about looking into accupuncture and laser therapy. Our other issue though is his fear of people. Because he was on his own for so long he gets very nervous when we go out of the house. He's not aggressive in any way but gets very stressed.

    I just want him to be comfortable for however long he has left with us. It's been a joy to watch him blossom, learn to play with toys, and become more comfortable living in a house.

  6. #6
    Best Friend Retriever outrag's Avatar
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    The folding of the rear paws is neurological most likely. Not to say he doesn't have arthritis and other things coupled with that. My dog had Laryngeal Paralysis (GOLPP) with rear end Poly Neuropathy. It's common in Labs. The rear end weakness and folding of the paws came on quickly at the end but the breathing issue he had from LP lasted for a couple years. If it's not LP, DM would be a possibility as well. The other option would be some type of disc issue causing the nerve problem.

    Thoughts are with you.
    Griffin growing up!

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  7. #7
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    I would definitely look into acupuncture and laser therapy. That's our go to when one of our guys starts to have issues. We also use Rimadyl and Tramadol when necessary. Given the behavioral issues, laser therapy may be tricky so maybe start with a short session and see how it goes.

  8. #8
    Senior Dog Doreen Davis's Avatar
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    Ruthie our collie who lived to the ripe old age of 14 used rimadyl, gabapentin, tramadol and adequan. She had severe knee and back issues but she was still going in and out on a ramp until the end. Amy, our almost 15 yo blew a knee and we used acupuncture and laser but I'm not sure it helped.

  9. #9
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Acupuncture and laser therapy require a lot of handling by a stranger, especially the acp. It's debatable how much good they'll do him if they stress him out and you might not find anyone willing to handle him. Swimming was also suggested to us when Jet got a bad back but the only pool at the time also meant handling by strangers, which she did not like, so we vetoed it. New therapy pools might be better but probably are not cheap. Good luck, thank you for taking the old boy.

    Six years on his own, wow. My friend took in a dog who had lived wild for about two years. The only reason she was finally caught was she slowed down due to some badly infected teeth.
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  10. #10
    Best Friend Retriever Java's Avatar
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    Do you have an animal therapy pool nearby? Maybe take Leroy to meet them a few times to reduce the stress before you book a solo session. In the summer, you could go to a dog beach early in the morning and have him paddle a bit. You could use a float coat/canine PFD to compensate for his weak legs. Maybe ask a physiotherapist what they do for humans in the same situation and adapt the strategies for Leroy. For example, don't they gently move the limbs through the range of motion on a regular basis? Or have I seen too many movies?

 



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