Beginning signs of arthritis?

[k9kreationz]

It's actually more the barometric pressure than the temperature. I take it you don't have any achy joints yourself? A/C should be fine. When it rains and/or the weather changes a lot from warm to cold, like it does in fall and spring, is when it can be achy. In the winter, it's not just the cold, but the pressure systems that bring storms and rain. Hope that helps more. You probably can read up on it online, when people with arthritis or broken bones hurt the most.

FYI. If you want to learn more about arthritis, just do a search on humans. Same thing. We feel it like they do. And typically, mine acts up late at night, like in early AM (1-5), but can hurt whenever.

 

[Fasb's Owner]

So Cosequin DX seems partially successful so far. It's barely been two weeks, so most people are telling me it's too early to judge. But, Fasb is having a lot less trouble on steps and seems more his normal self (that's not necessarily a good thing, lol. His normal self is a little too hyper).

He had been growing gradually less excitable and yappy. Still very active, but not "on" all the time the way puppies and hyper shelties are. For example, after eating dinner, he'd often sit at the bottom of the stairwell and wait for me to get his leash and my shoes and coat. Now, he's back to zooming up the stairs and towards the front door as soon as he finishes eating. The other day, he caught me off guard by pulling free and chasing a deer through the neighborhood. Wednesday, my wife was late dropping him off at the groomer because he wanted to play instead of get in the van.

His overall energy level seems higher and he's much more "run-ny" and yappy, so I expect he feels pretty well. Wags his tail a lot, follows us around, plays, etc. I've been looking for subtle signs of pain, and don't see much.

On the other hand, he still limps a little. Not often, and not very long. He'll get up from sitting/laying, lurch for a few steps, then walk normally. Mostly, we see this in the evening after 9 PM. He's fine in the mornings, so I'm thinking it's either the evening air or he's overdoing it after playing all day.

Question: should we be aiming to get rid of the "limp" completely or is that something we may have to just deal with so long as he seems active and content otherwise? Our vet wants to see us again in a couple weeks after he's been on Cosequin DX a month or so. The next step could be a NSAID. I'm still researching dogs and NSAIDS, but a few people have opined that it'll be better to keep him off those as long as possible. Right now, I'm not sure if we should be nervous about that or not.

Thanks.

 

[Caro]

With the changes in temp - mine definitely go down hill when there is a chill in the air, it's quite noticeable.

Don't worry too much about the limp. Going to a physio will help deal with that - he's probably knotted up in other places because he's been over compensating.

NSAIDS are something you'd likely to use sparingly at first - only if he is really bad. Small dogs do seem more likely to get upset stomachs. Deska is on a half dose every day in winter and as it warms up I'll try to reduce it to every second day (in conjunction with pain relief). But he has to take a stomach protector with the NSAID. Remember tho he has severe arthritis.