Ursa update

Since we discovered Ursa's dysplasia, we've had her on reduced exercise, a homeopathic remedy for arthritis , I've added Devil's Claw root to her glucosamine supplement and she's been getting the baseline shots of Cartrophen. The set up is one shot a week for four weeks and then "as needed" after that. Some dogs get them monthly, some every few months and some just get a yearly "booster", depending on their symptoms. At $50 a shot, it isn't cheap but it's incredibly reasonable compared to surgery and well worth it if it's effective.

And it definitely seems to be!

For basically the first two weeks, Ursa hurt enough that she avoided putting weight on that leg and wasn't interested in walking any farther than she needed to, to do her business.  It was seriously freaking us out! However, after the second shot, she was more willing to put weight on the leg and would go for a 15 or 20 minute walk.  She still wanted breaks though, and would visibly be standing on only three legs when she wasn't moving around.  

She got her third shot on Saturday and we seem to have hit critical mass with all the treatments. She was noticeably happier on Sunday, walking almost normally on Monday and basically back to normal today.  She loped a bit on our walk last night and we were out for about 45 minutes. The leg was a bit tired by the time we got back and she was happy to flop out, but I think that's more the result of the inevitable muscle atrophy in the shoulder, than any outrageous arthritis pain in the joint. 

She'll get her last shot this weekend and then I'll be looking into swimming lessons for her.  There's a couple of doggie rehab places with pools and I'm hoping that in a warm pool and with experienced trainers, maybe she'll figure out that swimming is fun.  It's obviously great muscle building exercise without the impact stress, but she's never taken to it (despite the fact that the breed in general and her parents especially are big swimmers!) She can swim - if you tow her out to deep water, she swims really strongly - straight back to shore!  LOL

It's a huge relief for Stuart and I to see her back to her usual happy, bouncy self.  A few days ago, she wanted to play tug and seeing her stand on all four legs, I felt a knot in my shoulder come undone.  Major reconstructive surgery at the age of three was something that I just didn't want to contemplate.