Arthritis??

Hi guys

To start things out, Saturday evening my 8yr old black lab Maggie got her paw/lower leg run over by a pick up. Checked her out right away and nothing appeared to be broken. She was walking on it at first, but after a little time, she would put NO weight on it. I would assume that to be normal, after laying down for a while I would think things would tighten/swell up. I felt terrible for her on Sunday, just not herself!! To make a long story short, Monday night didn’t seem much better, so I called my vet (who was out on a call) and we decided to wait till Tuesday night(since she didn’t seem to be in pain) Tuesday night when I got home from work she was starting to put a little weight on it at times, but I figured the vet couldn’t do any harm. We went and got a shot and 4 days worth of pills. Tonight I can say that things seem to be getting better!! Now my question is-How will this affect her as she gets older? Is there anything I can do to help now. A buddy of mine has a brother of hers, and he has had joint problems even without any accidents.

Thanks for the input!!

I will tell you this, she very well may get arthritis as she gets older. I fell about 12 years ago 32′ landing on concrete on my back, amazing I survived let alone a couple small bones broke. Asked Doc, what are the chances I get early arthritis in my legs and back from this? He said, “Pretty good chance”. Well here to tell you it is starting to set in. My knee that was hit and back seem to get sore every few weeks. I would guess that is what she is going to go through, a few advil for me and its better. I would see what you can give her if she seems to stiffin up.

I have a yellow lab that was hit by a car when she was about 4 . She’s 10 now and has a significant amount of pain in her shoulder on the side she was hit . She must have had a worse injury than thought but showed little sign of one at the time. We give her an anti-inflammatory and when she hunts or fetches and runs you can hardly tell . But when she walks it is very noticeable. To watch her you would think she is on her last leg- pun intended. But the tail wags and she keeps going.
Your dog is 8 so she’s not exactly young anyway and I would be surprised if she did not have some arthritis issues. Labs are notorious for arthritis anyway. Their spine begins to fuse around 8 or 9 so you may not even be sure of the cause of arthritis. You can give her a regular aspirin(325mg) a couple times a day for pain too. Good luck and keep her moving. That’s what they like anyway. Mine never stops, even at 10 unless she’s in her kennel.

You may want to check out a formula with glucosamine and chondroitin in it. I have been told by vets more than once that asprin and anti-inflammatories are very hard on a dogs liver.

check out some of the products at http://www.retrievehealth.com

Thanks Don

My vet told me the same thing about the aspirin. He said a couple a day for a few days won’t hurt much, but a steady diet of it can lead to ulcers as well.

Thanks

Sorry, by “regular” aspirin I only meant the same aspirin we use. It definitely should not be used on a regular basis. The old classes of anti-inflammatories are hard on multiple systems. There is a new class called Cox 2 Inhibitors(sorry I’m a pharmacist) that work very well with reduced side effects. The one bad side effect is on you $$$$$. Glucosamine/Condroitin is a great suggestion and you can get foods from most manufacturers that are enhanced with it.