Dog recovery – your advice?

Greetings,

Me old mate Kevin (the Labrador) has developed an intermittent limp in his front leg. Multiple vet visits, x-rays and finally an ultrasound have concluded that he has a badly ruptured tendon and lots of fluid on the shoulder. Not flash.

They say time is the healer of all wounds and at this stage this is the vets recommended approach. No exercise for a month, anti-inflammatory and some joint supplements and gradually work him back up from there. Failing that we may have to look at some form of mechanical fix which could involve screwing the tendon back to the bone.

Have any of you been in a similar situation and have any recommendations or advice that could assist in his recovery (supplements, diet, old wives tales etc) as I ideally want to avoid having to do any form of surgery!

I’m desperate to get me old mate back into the hills ……. Eventually!

Cheers,

Hayden

Attachment 132638

Provida canine bone and joint
its an oil that you add to the dogs food once a day. take dogs weight, divide by 2 and thats the milliliters you give them
works bloody wonders but can make the coat a little oilier

should add cheapest place to get it in chch is the stock food place just after oderings nursery on yaldhurst rd

My old guy did his cruciate 5-6years ago. Didn't have the $2k to fix it at the time. Gave him a few weeks in the truck and short walks. He definitely has a limp but it isn't stopping him yet. Suspect it will start showing up in the next year or two and he won't last as long. Have used a few of the joint supplements and haven't had much luck with any of them

Only advice i can give is lots of mind games and teach him new things during this time. It will replace his regular exercise and help keep him from getting all pent up from no exercise.

Maybe try teaching him to find your car keys or cell phone. 15mins a day doesn't take long. Plenty videos on youtube how to do it. My dog had a splinter in her front paw, two rounds of surgery and about 6 weeks of no exercise. Even longer before i took her hunting again.

This is what I've done for my dogs past and present try a teaspoon of turmeric mixed with its food once a day it works for our dogs with joint problems

Water therapy is good if you can gain access to it or go for a swim with him... really good in that it build resistance without impact.

Fidos do a green mussell extract powder - pernaflex powder (that we dust on our girls morning meat) that i put down to massively helping her recovery. That and if you can find anyone locally that does laser treatment for dog's massively sped up recovery also. We had a bull mastiff ingest our girls front leg complete with a row of bite marks. I was amazed how quickly the laser helped her recovery compared to areas not lased (we found another untreated bite hole that took easily 2x as long to heal) I know it sounds like quackery - but you do everything possible suggested by your vet to speed up their recovery don't you...

if i could get my dog into water it would be a miracle!
he will go in up to the first joint above his feet then he is out of there so damn fast he practically is walking on the stuff. interestingly very easy to bath or shower down just no actual rivers or the sea

Both our older pointers have mobility issues. Give them Sanderson Ultra Joint Fx


Mobility has gone from walks around the the block (boring) to back to 3k walks at beach

Seems some form of a joint supplement (or multiple ones) is worth trying.

Listen to the vet and follow their qualified and experienced advice. Give Kevin the rest and recuperation time he needs, get a rehabilitation plan in place and ensure you follow it. Hydrotherapy (treadmill in a water tank) is extremely beneficial and allows a gradual development, with minimal impact. Physiotherapy will compliment it also.

One of my spaniels had a partial rupture of her bicep tendon 5 years ago which ended her gamebird season for that year. Followed vets advice with very restricted activity (i.e. didn't go outside the house without being on a lead, enforced crate rest etc), anti-inflams, hydrotherapy and physiotherapy and she came 98% right without requiring surgery to reattach. 5 years on, she will be lame on that shoulder after a big day hunting, but comes right within a day or so with rest.

So sacrifice a few months hunting with your mate in the short-term, in order to get many years more hunting time with him in the long-run.