Hi, My Doppo- who is now 10-11 months old- has a limp on his right paw. He�s had two different periods of left paw limp peviously, and an articulatory problem which kept him from opening his jaw. The vet suspected a wandering articulatory problem due to Erhlichia, since he had had some ticks. Blood work came back showing signs of ehrlichia (which is a gigantic epidemiological problem in my region- no Lyme but so much Ehrlichia!) and he was on Doxicyclin for a course of 21 days, after which his bloodwork showed him to be cleared from the ricketsia. However, this new limp just developed. It looks like a sprained toe, but he was not x-rayed, just given a very thorough physical examination. He is on Rymadyl twice daily (75mg) and improved immeadiately after beginning Rymadyl. It�s been hard to keep him quiet- he has a young mini schnauzer , a lab mix and a cat for siblings and they are quite rambuctious together. My questions: Should I be pressing for x-rays to look into elbow dysplasia, OCD, etc? The vet thought it would be better to wait this treatment ou and keep observing him. Is there anything I should be doing exercise-wise? I�m afraid that all this concern with sparing Bernese from intense physical activity may have led me to contribute to underdeveloped musculature, since he has not been consistetly walked (first because he hadn�t finsihed his shots; then because he was limping; then ...) . He does exercise a lot in the yard, (which is very large) with his "siblings" and next door neighbors. (We also play fetch daily, but he doesn�t get the idea- he prefers to chase the other dogs while they�re fetching.) Any brilliant ideas for helping with pills? He�s been on so many meds by now he�s getting sick of the idea, and is getting very good at spitting out the pill from whatever concotion I�ve managed to hide it in. Thanks again for all he support, advice and ideas, Simone de Lima Brasilia, Brazil with Doppo, BMD, Mali, lab mix, Gimli, mini schnauzer, & Godot the cat
