Kaiya's thread (SPAM)
As many of you know, Kaiya and I have been battling issues with her legs the last month or so. We went to a wonderful orthopedic facility here in MD where they determined she has a strained left Achilles tendon and a bone lesion and possible tarsal ligament damage on the right hind.
All in all I am quite happy with the PT that has been prescribed and they are great with her. She is going in once a week for a combination of ultra sound therapy, magnetic field therapy, laser/LED therapy and manual therapy/massage. We also have a home exercise program to help strengthen her core and leg muscles. She wears braces on both legs when she is not confined/sleeping. She is doing pretty well and, once I got over feeling sorry for her with the braces, has provided us with a few laughs. As soon as I get a new camera, I will post pictures of her new favorite chewing position with her braces on. She has some trouble getting her rear end down to a full down position when she is in them.
Does anyone have any experience with Dasuquin w/MSM? We are trying not to medicate too much and this supplement does not have much information that I can find. It is being recommended as part of her therapy program. It seems to be similar to glucosamine/chondroitin but maybe with more chemicals. Any amount of information anyone has as all would be great.
Since I have bored you with all of our medical issues, I figured I should spam a little too. This is the last round of photos before the camera broke...
All in all I am quite happy with the PT that has been prescribed and they are great with her. She is going in once a week for a combination of ultra sound therapy, magnetic field therapy, laser/LED therapy and manual therapy/massage. We also have a home exercise program to help strengthen her core and leg muscles. She wears braces on both legs when she is not confined/sleeping. She is doing pretty well and, once I got over feeling sorry for her with the braces, has provided us with a few laughs. As soon as I get a new camera, I will post pictures of her new favorite chewing position with her braces on. She has some trouble getting her rear end down to a full down position when she is in them.
Does anyone have any experience with Dasuquin w/MSM? We are trying not to medicate too much and this supplement does not have much information that I can find. It is being recommended as part of her therapy program. It seems to be similar to glucosamine/chondroitin but maybe with more chemicals. Any amount of information anyone has as all would be great.
Since I have bored you with all of our medical issues, I figured I should spam a little too. This is the last round of photos before the camera broke...
Comments
As for the supplement, I have never heard of it... Is there any reason why a regular glucosamine/chondroitin supplement would not work for her condition? Just curious.
>> We have supplemented a few of our dogs with Dasuquin w/MSM, seems to do it's job... But for severe cases (and I would consider Kaiya's case severe given her age), I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND Velvet Elk Antler. http://www.elkantlers.com/birds_and_dogs.htm
We give it to Kaia and Ahi and it makes a huge difference. Our Ortho vet (that did Ahi's surgeries) recommended it to us.
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@Brada1787 I will definitely ask about the Velvet Elk Antler. Thank you for the recommendation
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@dlroberts she may have hit the jackpot with us, but we need to hit it to care for her
Some pics from Sunday of the girl just relaxin and resting up from a busy weekend, as you can tell, she was less than thrilled with the Paparazzi (me) bothering her and disturbing her beauty sleep.
Its a good thing our girls found loving familys who are willing to put up with their crazy health antics.
In our case, we have had difficulty with use of Dasuquin on some dogs due to the compounded ingredients they put in to make it tasty and palatable. Dogs with digestive issues may find it difficulty on their system.
If your dog encounters bowel problems or throwing up, make a switch to a basic compound. Before you switch look at the ingredient formula ratio for Glucosamine and MSM on the DQ container. You should be able to get the core equivalent in a pill form and grind into a powder to sprinkle on some wet food, either watered kibble with a squirt of salmon, canned or raw. Any health food store should carry the basics with no additives in it. The very basic form does not have much flavor so really there should be no food aversion once mixed in. Even in the basic form it will take a little time for feeding adjustments for some animals though. Benefits of use usually do not show up right away.
If you are working with VOSM they are top notch and should get your dog back in order soon if you follow the pt. It is a long haul to healing though. The LED therapy is great in combo or in between. Be prepared to go back from time to time with LED if needed. Acupuncture is also an option down the road.
Understand that with any injury/sports injury, once it occurs one may get 99% recovery but there will be the 1% that will need to monitored/maintained. Damage to the frame so to speak does create side effects that can occasionally flair up or creep up over time. The stretching and ROM exercises should be for life to keep the body alignment correct, and muscles stretched and stable.
Good luck.
Snf
BTW she looks a bit like Koda in those pics.
She will also be spayed tomorrow which will hopefully clear up some of her lethargy. This heat cycle really took a toll on her and she was still having little bouts of discharge as recently as 2 weeks ago, so we are eager for the spay.
We are hoping for a speedy recovery
Luckily, we have switched to raw for feeding, and have been feeding beef the last couple of days, so we will continue with beef and go back to spay again on June 15.
If anyone has any other remedies to help her anemia, I welcome any suggestions. Thanks!
lol. Just read Casey's post. Well ditto!
I forgot to mention that her right leg is completely healed and brace free all the time! She is at PT now for the left leg and we will be starting to scale that back soon hopefully. They think the remaining swelling is scar tissue.