Back Legs Stiff and Weak

[raechiemay]

It's definitely not a death sentence!! And it's good that's it's not too bad. There's so many things you can do. One thing we didn't consider with Jessie when she was initially diagnosed at 9 months was the possibility of hip replacement. It's way expensive but when we actually considered doing it, her HD had progressed to the point where that wasn't an option for us. However, I believe her HD was further along than your pup. One thing that really helped her was swimming. It really loosened her up & she had great mobility if she swam on a regular basis. She lived for over 6 years with HD. The injury that actually brought us to the difficult decision was that she actually tore her ACL & surgery was not an option for her. We managed her HD over the years with supplements & special food. Glucosamine really helped her. When she started getting arthritis we would give her an anti-inflammatory when she was really having trouble. Around her 5th birthday she had a procedure done called a hip denervation. This is where the orthopedic surgeon took a special instrument & scraped the nerves away around her hips. I think that the procedure helped her not feel the pain & one of her hips had to be done twice.

Jessie lived a full life & she never allowed her diagnosis to slow her down. Embrace that you caught it early. If you ever need someone to talk to I'm here, or really anyone on the board is here. Give that boy some big ol' hugs & kisses. It's not the end of the road for him & he still has a long way to go.

 

[Mustang9846]

The vet gave me pain meds too, she just wants me to use them for 2 weeks to give the joint meds time to work. I did contact the breeder and she basically said that vets say its HD anytime it has to do with their back legs. She seems to think its because I crate trained him. It's not like he is in a crate all day long! That really upset me! I did use the crate over night but a lot of people do that. She had me blaming myself. I feel better hearing people say they have older dogs with it cause I was feeling like it was going to shorten my time with him. I will do anything and everything I can to make it easier for him! The breeder also told me he doesn't look like a happy dog, which is very untrue. In the video I had just woke him up. Normally he is very happy! I do believe i was supposed to have him so regardless I am still glad i ended up with him. One question, where the heck do I get chicken feet, and do you really mean like real chicken feet!

 

[Smart_Family]

Do not blame yourself. Your breeder sounds like an ass. I've found dehydrated chicken feet at some smaller pet stores/boutiques.

 

[Smokeycat]

Yep real chicken feet. I've found them dehydrated at a couple of pet stores, some stores that sell raw dog food will carry them frozen and I've heard that you can find them in Asian markets but I haven't checked mine yet.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Yup, real chicken feet, raw or dehydrated (also turkey and duck feet, pig feet, chicken combs, cow trachea). You may be able to get raw at local ethnic markets, or dehydrated at privately owned pet stores. If he decides he likes them you can order dehydrated ones in bulk from online, the best prices I've seen so far is at bestbullysticks.com, or you can order raw if you prefer (shipping costs tons though).

Edit: I said shipping would costs tons, but if you're in the Pittsburgh area you're not that far from the https://www.hare-today.com/ and she does allow local pickup, she sells chicken, duck and turkey feet raw, and a bunch of stuff dehydrated too.

 

[Mustang9846]

Thank everyone for all the pointers. I really appreciate all the support, without this forum I may have just kept listening to the 1st vet because I didn't know any better and probably would have caught it way later! Loki's thanks all of you and if he could give you all some Loki hugs he would! Ruth - also thanks for the info on where to get the feet. The vet also wants me to go ahead and get him fixed which I was really on the fence about before all of this came up. I knew I was at least going to wait until he was 2. She wants to keep him as small as we can to have less stress on his hips. He turns 6 months old tomorrow so I guess nature made that choice for me.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Urg. That one's going to be a judgement call. Neuter early will not nessecarily keep him small and may actually increase his risk for a bunch of other stuff. Infact many early neutered dogs end up with long spindly bones and out of propprtion body parts which can result in additional joint problems.....thats one to have a long chat with the vet on before choosing to neuter early.

 

[Mustang9846]

Thanks Ruth. I will do my full research and a discussion with the vet before.