Its been a long long time

Hi - Oh my goodness its been so long since I posted on here.Milo has just turned 5 years old and unfortunately has been diagnosed with arthritis in his shoulder bless him, and I hate to see him suffering esp in the mornings. About 2 months ago the vet put him on a 3 weeks course of Metacam and Glucosamine supplements - Seraquin. At the mo these don't seem to be having any effect at all. Has anybody used Seraquin? I'd love to hear how your staff got on with it. Thanks

Hi Jenny! Lovely to hear from you again, even if the news isn't great. Poor Milo, and poor you .

I don't have experience of staffies with arthritis but do with other breeds, if that helps.

We had Mungo, a golden retriever, who developed arthritis when he was less than a year old. We had over 10 years of managing him, and there were times that it was really hard.

Nola was also diagnosed with severe arthritis in both front elbows 6 months or so ago.

In both cases, my experience is that the drugs are trial and error. I personally didn't feel that Seraquin helped with Mung and we've not gone that route with Nola.

Nola is on YuMove, whether or not it helps I can't actually say but we've got her comfortable so I'm reluctant to change anything. We tried Loxicom on her (similar to Metacam) and it did nothing. We tried Previcox, which is aimed at joint pain, and it did nothing. We tried Pardale (paracetamol + codine) and it did nothing. The vet then suggested combining Pardale and Previcox - bingo! That combination, plus management, have done the trick and we now have a dog who rarely looks more that slightly uneven, rather than the absolutely hopping we had before.

Clearly, there's a big age difference between Milo and Nola, who is 11 1/2. My view with a dog that age is that day to day quality of life is what's important. If there are side effects (dependancy, etc.), to be quite honest I don't mind if that's what's stops her being in constant pain.

It's a discussion to have with your vet but if you feel Milo isn't responding to the Metacam, then maybe ask to try Previcox or Pardale. If the Metacam was going to work then it should have by now, so I personally can't see the point of continuing with a drug that also can have side effects if it's not doing any good.

Hi Jen, great to hear from you

My Flo takes Previcox so can’t advise on anything else but might be worth having a chat with your vet and seeing if a change would help.

Thankyou so much. I will see what my vet says abou the Previcox etc., Fingers crossed. Its horrible to have a young dog who seems to dread going for a walk, his little front leg sticks out at right angles and hes twisted when he walks. He's always had a funny swing gait since we've had him but had him checked out with the vet (I suspected hip dysplasia for a while) but all was ok apparently. He doesn't have that swing walk now, prob cos he can't walk fast enough. The swingy walking is like the horses run in that buggy racing sport if you know what I mean lol

Could I just ask where you obtain your Previcox from ? I understand I would need a prescription from the vet too

I think you need a prescription for Previcox, but not for Pardale - you can get that online from viovet, and other online pet pharmaceuticals

Well, Milo went to see a consultant who gave him such a thorough examination I didn't like to watch to be honest - ouch. Milo was very good tho and altho I could tell certain 'maneouvres' hurt he didn't let out a sound. The vet could tell from him tensing at certain points that it was around his elbow area. Anyway to keep a long story short, he had a CT scan which has showed up Medial Coronoid Process disease or Elbow Dysplasia in other words and he advised me to let him operate and remove a little piece of bone (or cartilage?) from both elbows - then he should hopefully be out of pain or at least a lot more comfortable. He goes in on Monday poor boy. I'm so worried for him. When he came out of his anesthetic last time he panicked and attacked the cage bars breaking a little tooth and cutting his lip so I do hope somebody will watch him this time. He's a very anxious boy.

Aww, poor boy!

I've heard the operation is very successful, so don't worry on that score.

Did you tell them about his reaction last time? Some dogs (and humans) react very badly to anaesthetic.

I'm sure the operation will help him a lot, just mention what happened last time he came round! Let us know how it goes

I have to go collect him in a bit phew. the vet extracted the little tooth that he broke as it was appearing to have a bit of an infection, also the nurse said she'd keep him in one of their new kennels with glass doors so hopefully he's been ok this time. I feel sooo lost without him.

Now's the hard part lol. I have to try to keep him from jumping on the sofa, going up the stairs, jumping up people arghh. I'm getting a buster collar instead of the usual plastic lampshade to stop him from licking his wounds, and will have to keep him in the kitchen at night bless him - he'll hate it - but its for the best.

Any hints or tips would be gratefully received lol and thankyou all for the comments so far xxx

Hi - He came home on Monday and obviously well stressed bless him. His left leg was the worse as the vet found more bits of bone on xray after the op and had to go in again - ouch. swelled around the ankle and knee but it went down quite a bit yesterday. He staggers down the garden for his toilet duties (obviously on lead to make him walk slow) and doesn't want to use his left leg much which I can understand. The thing is he really shakes it alot and bites his toes etc, and I thought it might be pins and needles so I took him back to see the vet this morning just in case. She removed the dressing and took his temperature. It was in the 40s which shocked me but I think it was just that he gets soooo worked up. He howls and screeches when hes there like hes being strangled. Once home he chills out and relaxes and goes to sleep.

She gave me a doggy thermometer, (new one lol), and told me to use it tomorrow or later today to check. Thing is how do I clean it? Has anybody else used one? I was just going to wash it in antibacterial hand soap or something but it says don't wash it and to use alcohol - the word is so long I don't understand it. Also she said just wipe a bit of vaseline on it and the instructions say don't use vaseline so I'm a bit confused

I'd love to read your comments please, esp if you've used one before and how you got on - tips etc lol eek.

Found out what is making him limp and be in such pain - he has a mass (like a wart thing) under his claw. The vet who operated on him thought it was a split claw so he cut that back then a week on he's worse than ever. He has now taken a needle biopsy and sent that off - I won't get results til next week. Poor boy is in his basket 24/7 with loo breaks, He must be going stir crazy inside but he is so good and brave. He just lies there. I love him so much. Now I'm terrified in case the result will be cancer. If so then his toe will have to come off. I'm jumping ahead of myself I know but I just feel so desperate. After all he's been through with his the elbow dyspasia op etc and now this.

So sorry to read this Jenny, its so so difficult trying to keep them quiet hopefully slowly and surely Milo will improve. I had Vinnie xrayed last Thursday and he has bad Arthiritis in front right elbow has been limping for sometime. Vet seemed to think it has never developed properly so he is 7 and now on the Previcox along with Yumove and cod liver oil capsules. Its only been a matter of days so hard to tell. I hope Milo is sorted soon xx

It never rains but it pours! Poor Milo, it's one thing after another, isn't it?

Hopefully the biopsy will come back benign, just a warty growth. But if not, don't despair - he'll manage perfectly well with one toe less!

Hey Hey Hey great news for Milio. The biopsy showed results as 90% sure there's no malignancy so he went in today for an operation to remove the lump under the nail. It turned out the lump was actually inside the nail itself and had somehow burst out through the side of the nail (no wonder it bloody hurt) and it has been removed. The nail is still in situ as its a weight bearing toe and once the lump has been sent off and looked at hopefully all clear for definite then that's that.

He's coming home soon wearing the infamous collar of shame haha - such a strange name
which he needs to keep on 24/7 for a couple of days as the nail won't be dressed.

Also, while I'm on here, could I ask if anybody uses YuMove joint supplement and what the dosage is for a 20kg dog please?

Thank you all for caring so much - it really helps and comforts me. xxxx

That’s really great news, what a relief.
Wishing you a speedy recovery Milo

Good news!

Yumove is brilliant! I believe that, for a 20kg dog, one or two tablets a day is enough.

Many thanks Gilly xx

Milo's strange lump in the nail turned out to be benign and sort of a cyst thing. Vet talked about ingrowing hairs between the toes and chronic etc but basically its not cancer so phew.....he's now hobbling about lol bless him & looking sorry for himself with that left leg. The cyst thing delayed recovery from the elbow op in as much as the muscle has become a little wasted so now taking him on 25 min steady walks on pavements. Got to see the vet again for a final check up next week - fingers crossed. He's becoming more like his old self at last this week - on the sofa for cuddles, keeps presenting me with his beloved Kong that he wants peanut butter putting in (his favourite all time comforter), and beginning to follow me around - first time in five weeks. I've got him on YuMove supplements which he actually loves. He thinks they're treats & I hide them from him to find which he loves to do so thats really good. Happy days

What a great update, thank you.
Hope all goes well during the check up next week.

Yep - went to see the vet yesterday (does anybody remember Tudor Lloyd on that reality vet series years ago. My husband remembers Truda the lovely blonde girl lol (no surprise there). well its Tudor that Milo has been seeing and he's lovely and I think I'm smitten at my great age lol. Anyway enough of my nonsense, yes it was all good. I have to massage his legs (not Tudors, Milo's ) and walk him on his extender lead now. No stairs yet for another 4-5 weeks. Its the coming downstairs thats then risk and I don't want any risks thank you. Tudor said that his toe had healed wonderfully and the elbows seemed fine. Milos left leg is still a little wobbly and weak but thats the muscle that needs to be built up a bit now. He recommended swimming but Milo hates water. Shame. So yes - I'm happy. He's much more comfortable now, more like his old self and eating like a horse so have to watch his weight.

Thank-you all so much for all your comforting comments and advice - it really does helps being on a forum.

Is there a hydrotherapy pool near you? Because the water's warm & the people actually get in the water with the dog, many dogs who don't normally like water love hydrotherapy!

Yes there is - quite expensive tho but worth it I suppose if it'll work. He'd freak out though lol. He won't even go out in the rain