from: stephanie hart [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have a 3 yr old male cavalier that has similar problems. It started at 2.5 yrs. I believe he injured himself playing and last summer xrays were taken etc etc.
he was put on glucosamine chondroitin (cosamin ds 500 mg twice a day) it seems to have worked really well. He has only a very slight limp on occasion. He was seen in November by a Board Cert. Orthopedic / Neurologist (both specialties) He confirmed that what took place was the ligament around the back of the left elbow was pulled forward either by falling or twisting the arm, his elbows appear loose. This ligament came around and snapped off a rather large piece of bone, the point behind the dogs arm? That bone broke off and is just floating in the tissue. He also noticed an old healed fracture in the neck area and low back. He could see 'changes' in the bones in the elbow and hip joints. Minor at this time but should be watched, white things that represented bone cysts and arthritic changes. He did feel he has the onset or arthritis at a very young age. Could either be malnutrition of the mother and then pups early on, or genetic in origin, he couldn't tell which. He confirmed his diet is proper and he is absorbing calcium etc... He didn't feel he had thin or fine bones, he thought they were normal in size but his height made him look tall, and the height (almost 16" at the shoulders) that height threw his body way off balance and may contribute to his injuries. He still gets up from laying down much like a tall giraffe... and doesn't bear any weight on the left leg, it's stiff and off the ground until he is all the way up, then he skips a little then puts weight on it. Eventually he may have that bone fragment removed, althought the doc did not recommend anything at this point. He did say keep him active, keep the weight low and keep him nice and lean, and try to avoid letting him jump on and off things (other than a normal couch etc) He has a tendency to want to stay up on the tables and the doc said the weight of this big cavalier coming down was not good on the joints... as he was explaining this to me, i turned to get him and he wasn't at my feet, he made his way behind the vet, onto a stool and up on the counter where he was just sitting! water therapy is also good, my cavaliers swim all the time. I have a little pool that is about 2' high and i fill it just enough so he has to paddle a little. I also massage him head to toe everyday to help keep his joints as pain free as possible... they love that, he just falls asleep. It's a day to day thing? He has a very good cooked / raw diet with lots of good fresh food, and different preventitive things to help slow down this arthritic process. As scary as things like mvd are, arthritis is what my first cavalier had when she was about 13 and the degeneration crumbled her joints and paralyzed her, so to have a cavalier begin this process at such a young age is serious as it can cripple them fairly quickly. steph ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 1999 by its original author.
