Oh dear, Bud has arthritis! I live with arthritis on a daily basis. I’ve known since Bud was a younger dog
with the elbow displasia, that one of these days he would have arthritis, and
earlier than Jetta did.
When Bud had his elbow surgery at 9 months old, the most
important thing was for him to lose 14 lbs. Dogs are like people- the heavier you are, the more weight
you’re going to carry. So, I weigh
Bud twice a month now as maintenance.
He needs to weigh between 73-76 lbs.
To keep his weight healthy I measure his food. Bud gets 1.5 cups of California Natural
Chicken and Rice twice a day. So
that bud stays slim while still feeling satiated, I also give him 2 cups of
steamed broccoli. In addition, he
gets a couple carrots as a treat, but not too much because there’s a lot of
sugar in carrots.
I’m such a freak- on top of his dog food and veggies, I buy
a slab of beef ribs and have the butcher cut them individually. Bud gets one raw beef rib bone a day
after swimming which he can have after his bath, but he must eat it outside. He also gets a little lick of Kefir when
I drink my Kefir twice a day.
Aren’t I a nut?!
Because of his injuries, I limit Bud’s swimming to 35-40
minutes. During that time he also
does a lot of digging. For years I
was giving him 2,000mg of an Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acid combo twice daily,
which kept him comfortable.
However, now what’s happening is that because he’s an active dog, on
occasion I’ve noticed he’ll walk about 6 steps gingerly after exercising and
then be fine. Because of this, the
Nervous Nelly in me took him to the vet to check it out. Because of his recent knee
surgery in December I’m trying to be diligent about watching the timing of his
exercise program. I time his play
so he doesn’t over do it. I wish
somebody would do that for me!
Here are a couple videos showing Bud swimming and digging:
The vet, Dr. Aaron Schector of Atascadero Pet Hospital, who
we love, gave him a good thorough examination on that leg of his and said that
it’s just early onset arthritis as a result of his injury. He explained that even though it was
such a severe injury, Bud recovered like an athlete. All he said I could do is increase Bud’s fatty acids to
3,000mg twice a day. I take them
too!
Dr. Schecter also advised me that when Bud displays
discomfort with walking after laying down and resting, I can give him one dose
of Metacam a day. It’s an anti-inflammatory
agent. In a month’s time, I’ve
only had to give him two doses.
In addition to daily swims, I run Bud early in the morning
along side my scooter at a slow trot for about 15 minutes. This ensures Bud stays content all day. This cross trains him, which means it
uses the other muscles he doesn’t use when swimming. Bud has a choice for lounging: a memory foam bed, a fiber
fill dog bed, a loveseat, a couch, and his kennel in the house. My dog trainer said she would like to
comeback in her next life as one of my dogs!
