Tommy Coyote Posted August 9, 2010 Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 As most of you know, my Tommy had a bout with very serious polyarthritis at one year of age. The worst part of the inflammation was in her left front ankle. She limped. She has been doing really well since last January - no illness and no limping at all. She was outside running all she wanted and she was just fine. Then two weeks ago I came home to the sound of her thump thumping down the hall - it is just such a distinctive sound. And she was limping again. I was afraid her polyarthritis was flaring up so I picked her up and ran her up to the Emergency Clinic - we know that doctor well and he has worked right along with her regular vet the whole time she was sick. No temperature and not acting sick at all - just limping again. Came home with prednasone and tramadol. Gave her the medicine and three hours later she was running again without limping at all. Took her in to see her regular vet. So looks like she has permanent damage in the that joint due to the inflammation. Long term prognosis for that joint is not good. But I am trying to learn to cope on a day to day basis. She is fine in the house - doesn't limp at all. She can walk on that leg just fine. She has learned to jump on and off the bed without hurting it. But she can't run. I have been giving her 10 mg of prednasone to get the inflammation down. And she has the Tramadol if she needs it. She has lots of toys to play with and she also plays with Ellie just fine. I'm trying to just keep her as quiet as possible for a few days and see if maybe that joint will settle down again. But its really hard to have a two year old border collie that can't run. I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of ankle braces for dogs. Maybe if I could find someway to give that ankle more support then she would be able to at least go out and run around the back yard. Its hard because this is a dog that just loves to run and jump and now she can't do that. I had one crippled dog at home - Ellie has a bad back leg and has never been able to run very well. So now it looks like I have two crippled dogs. I wish I had a swimming pool - that would be wonderful for both of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted August 9, 2010 Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 Ouch. They do make all kinds of braces for dogs, heres one place to look: Handicapped Pets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted August 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 Ouch. They do make all kinds of braces for dogs, heres one place to look: Handicapped Pets Oh, thank you, thank you. They have a "wrist wrap for $18. I'm going to order that. You just wrap it around the wrist and off they go. Even if we could just get to the point where Tommy could play outside for several short periods a day - that would be just great. What a great site that is. They just all kinds of stuff for handicapped animals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted August 9, 2010 Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 It is a nice site. WHen my Papillon had a spinal cord problem, for a while I thought he would need a little doggie AFO as he was dragging his toes (luckily he got better motor control of his feet). There's a nice messageboard too where lots of people have a lot of helpful suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberviewfarm Posted August 9, 2010 Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 There are several different types/strengths of ankle braces that you can get, I know this because i have a dog with a severed digital flexor tendon, from simple support to a stronger support. Here is another link http://www.animalorthocare.com/pages/links.cfm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenkshipley Posted August 9, 2010 Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 But its really hard to have a two year old border collie that can't run. I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of ankle braces for dogs. Maybe if I could find someway to give that ankle more support then she would be able to at least go out and run around the back yard. Its hard because this is a dog that just loves to run and jump and now she can't do that. http://www.backontrackstore.com/ecommerce/dog-products http://www.dogleggs.com/files/hocksock.cfm Best, Jen ADCH Enna TM - Silver, SACH, GCH, SCH, JCH, RCH, MX, MXJ - rescued champion Rising Sun's Hot to the Touch - aka: Fever - retired due to epilepsy Flute AAD, AX, OAJ, OAC, OGC, NAJ - retired Ignited's Molten Rush, aka: Lava - BC puppy in training Kasi EAC,EGC,EJC, OA,OAJ - (1992-2007) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted August 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 Thank you. I'll check all of those out. Just keeping her as quiet as possible today and tomorrow. She is not limping at all right now. There is a chance that she just hurt that joint again and it might get better. She does not like having to stay in. Fortunately its also almost 100 degrees out today so I just tell her its too hot out. Like she really understands that excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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