My Arthritic Dog cont... 7-27-11

Upon the advice of a veterinarian friend, I began to administer a dose of Meloxicam thrice weekly. My dog's limp disappeared within one week! Six months went by in which my Samoyed demonstrated a relatively normal gait. Eight weeks ago, my dog began licking her front "elbows" and ankles. She slept a lot more. Often, I had to persuade and cajole her before she would go with me for a walk. She no longer came out to greet clients as they entered the studio. She was eating less and less, but worst of all, her limp returned with a vengeance. The  meloxicam was losing its effectiveness, as were the twice daily fish oil tablets. A knowledgable client had tipped me off to a cutting edge procedure involving therapy lasers. I admit that I was extremely skeptical, but have learned to listen to my clients advice and research it further. I explored the therapy from many different perspectives and found a clinic near the studio that offered it. My dog and I made an appointment for an examination by the vet, but upon our arrival they only wanted to examine the dog. My Samoyed tipped the scales at 91 pounds, at which point three employess cornered me to let me know that my dog was morbidly obese. I defended her by explaining that they would be overweight too if 150 people a week gave them snacks. To be cont....

My Arthritic Dog 7-7-11

I have acknowledged it before. My dog is old. She is 10 years and 4 months old. She is large for her breed. She is a purebred Samoyed. I have polled many people who profess to have familiarity with this breed. I seldom hear that one of these dogs lives to be older than 9 or so. When she started going downhill in Michigan, I shipped her down here to Sarasota, figuring to make her last days happy ones. That was one year and 5 months ago. She responded to my 150 clients by "perking up" considerably. Six months ago, she developed a severe limp. It was her left front leg, and it was diagnosed as arthritis.  To be cont...