I have a 9 year old Golden Retriever who had knee surgery – the knee is coming along fine- but the added stress on her front has made her sore on her right front leg. She doesn’t like to use it much.
It seems sore – I have had it x-rayed and found nothing. They checked her for lyme disease- which I keep her vaccinated for- and found nothing. I give her Rimadyl for discomfort but wondered if acupunture or chiropractic treatment might give her some relief. The weather has not been condusive to getting her out on walks- too much ice and snow and then she slips.
Any suggestions?
Acupuncture and/or chiropractic treatments may be helpful. Also ask your veterinarian for Tramadol, which can be given on top of the Rimadyl to greatly enhance pain relief (but the Rimadyl is also anti-inflammatory, so it should be the primary pain med you use.) Smooth exercises like walking and swimming are good, whereas running and dodging are hard on the joints and should be minimized. There are now starting to be animal physical therapy places, which can also help.
Glucosamine/chondroitin supplements are rampant these days because they really do help. However, quality varies greatly between products and price doesn’t always correlate to the good quality ones. Ask your veterinarian which he/she uses. Expect to see no results until 4-6 weeks of use, but then you may find you need less pain medicine.
Melinda R. Burgwardt, DVM
Melinda R. Burgwardt, DVM
Lancaster, NY
Find a veterinarian who practices acupuncture and uses soft laser technology to speed up healing and relieve pain and swelling. Check this website for someone in your area: http://www.ivas.org
Ihor Basko, DVM
All Creatures Great & Small
Kapaa, HI
try in this order:
tramadol
a different NSAID
acupuncture
Phillip McHugh, DVM
Park Veterinary Hospital
Durham, NC
Of course she hurts- she’s compensating for the sore knee! It’s the opposite diagonal leg of the table that takes the extra load, horses do the same thing.
Yes, acupuncture can help a lot, walking her slowly around in the house to force her to use the acl knee to get it stronger can also help.
Get her on a glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM product like Glycoflex 3 from Vetriscience, or even adequan injections- weekly for 5-6 weeks. These will help all her joints. Slow walks force her to use leg – try hopping on one leg
yourself – if you go fast it’s easy. If you go slow it takes a lot more strength to balance. Do the same for her!
Good luck!
Pam Wood, DVM
VCA Wellington Animal Hospital
Loxahatcheeo, FL
It is important to localize which joint in her foreleg is painful. You may want to have a consultation with a board certified veterinary surgeon. I presume Lyme arthritis has already been ruled out.
Shoulder disorders are particularly difficult to diagnose and there are some that will not show even on advanced imaging (CAT scan nor MRI); some specialists just go directly to arthroscopy if conservative treatment isn’t effective.
Steven Immerblum, DVM
Veterinary Care Center at Goldens Bridge
Goldens Bridge, NY