kaya`s hips and foreleg

[rosanneandkaya]

This is just to let you know the progress of kaya as she has not been well. We thought things were getting better but we had her xrays back and its not good, her back legs are bad at the hip; where the hip connects to the thigh there is a ball which fits in socket and there is another bone connecting this to the leg bone itself. the vet said theres a disease that has caused the blood flow to be real bad and the ball is not very strong and is chipping. this is both of her back legs, also her front shoulder ball has always had bad arthritis and now there are little bits of bone breaking away in the socket so she cannot use this leg. we thought she was getting better, the vet has put her on steriods and i was wandering is there any success rate, one thing about kaya she is a real battler and never gives in to any illness(check please help kaya thread), all we can do is treat her like a god, keep the weight of her legs as much as possible and make sure she is not in too much pain. the vet was saying if she is in pain she wants to put her to sleep which has us all in bits at the minute, its like finding out a close family member is dying and everyone is in pain at minute but we have to keep spirits up for KAYA!!!. I and rosanne would be grateful if anyone else`s dog has had similar condition and what meds are good and food,vitamins e.t.c.we do not care about the price we just want to trey make her better again as she loves life so much. one thing we will not do though is put her through lots of pain she does not deserve that as she was mistreated when we got her!!!. well i am going so sit down and put her on my knee and let her have a well earned rest so i will look forward to reading any replys and hearing anyone elses story of similar condition...
thanks a lot guys and gals and good luck.
steve , rosanne and of course KAYA!

[jmann4]

Sorry to hear about the news. My best to you and Kaya!

[BullyBud]

I had a GSD that had EXTREME pain. A product that many vets dont thing of is Winstrol V. It is a controlled drug, an anabolic steriod. When I was in practice(I am a vet tech) we used it to help geriatric dogs and it works very well.

This is a drug that doesnt do anything but relieve pain to elongate the quality of life in a dog that is old or ill or the prognosis isnt well. It is not recommended for otherwise healthy dogs. This is simply to increase the quality of life.

You can take your dog in for injections or give pills. If your vet has any questions, have him/her contact the Upjohn rep. I believe Upjohn has an article written by a vet in Florida that uses Winstrol for geriatrics.

It isnt cheap, but I dont regret spending the money on my pooch....

[abman]

You may want to look into MSM. I would ask the vet if they think it will help with the pain.

[CinderDee]

I'm so very sorry to here of Kaya's problems. I know how difficult it is.

I had a dog with severe hip dysplasia. I tried many things. Here are a few:
Adequan injections
Steroids
Rimadyl (I don't like this med at all)
Glucosamine supplements

Have you ever considered accupuncture?
I also made sure that Ivan's food/water bowls were elevated.

Take care & best of luck,
Dee

[rosanneandkaya]

hi everyone and good day!
well here is an update on kaya, the meds she is on are prednisone tabs, a type of steroid. she is very drowsy and drinking a lot of water, we are only feeding her meat now(last night she had cooked liver), tonight we will try her on chicken but she is not really eating but we think and hope this is down to the meds so we think it will pass soon. THANKS for ALL YOUR RESPONSES they have been great and really helped, we are just taking each day as it comes and every day we have her is another day we have to be grateful for and we thank our stars for this. we will do everything we can for her and hope that she does come around. DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THE BONES DO HEAL UP IF THEY ARE NOT USED TOO MUCH, even enough for her to do light exercise?. she does not seem to be in any pain she just sits and looks at us in between sleeping layed full stretch on the couch, she always has the best seat in the house. i suppose we have this to be thankfull for. well guys and gals we will update soon and let you know about any progress so thanks again and hope to read more from you soon.
Rosanne , Steve and KAYA..............

[TB]

With arthritic conditions, I'm not sure that much, if any healing goes on. There are claims that glucosamine/chondroitin supps can help with healing damaged cartilege, but I dont know that there is any research to support this. I could be wrong of course

We have a GSD who has severe hip dysplasia and the heads of her femurs look like swiss cheese, rough, holey and very, very worn down. We had a femoral head osectomy(sp?) done on one side, which is where they cut the femoral head off, so she no longer has a hip joint on that side. She has no symptoms though, other than weakness in climbing stairs or jumping and you should see her gallop across our hillside when we come home! The only way I have managed her condition is to feed a raw diet that includes no grains. Whether this is the reason that she does so well, I can't say for sure. I keep her weight low, to less stress the joints and allow her to exercise to her own descretion as she is a mellow, older dog and doesn't overdo. But she takes no medication or supplements and she is not in an early stage of the disease.

So, from my own experience, I would recommend feeding a no grains diet, keep weight low and continue moderate/easy exercise as long as the dog is not too painful. It's important to keep the supporting muscles in the legs strong. And if my dog was very painful, I would use a pain relieving medication to keep them comfortable. Thankfully, with our two arthritis dogs, we are able to avoid that at this point.

Hope Kaya is doing okay!

[moto1320]

You may want to look into MSM. I would ask the vet if they think it will help with the pain.

I keep forgetting about this stuff somehow, which is ridiculous because I take it :roll: . We gave it too my ancient cat and it helped alot. It needs a digestable form of Vit. C called Ester-C to work effectively. You can get the two mixed together in caplet form so that it can be dumped into food. Glucosamine and Chondroitin work well too. I had the hip operation where they remove the head of it done on a stray cat I took in the that had been hit. The muscles compensated for it and you could barely tell except when she would run. Good luck with your girl.

As an aside for my own curiosity, let me know if you see any behavioral changes in her while on the prednisone. That stuff makes me mean as a snake. I have had to take it, works very very well, but I feel horrible. I have heard the same complaints from others and had always wondered how it would effect animals, since it is often prescribed.

[BullyBud]

Careful about giving too much pred for LONG periods of time...it can cause muscle atrophy. Short periods of time it really helps the pain.

For a longer period of time, consider the Winstrol V, it doesnt cause muscle atrophy like that.

Good luck with your little girl...

[rosanneandkaya]

hi everyone
i am very sad to say that kaya passed away on good friday
may she rest in peace and she will never be forgotten!!
we had to have her put to sleep and there is a page regarding this in memorial section.
she is now at rainbow bridge playing with all staffies.
love rosy,steve and john....

[samnsyd]

I'm so sorry Steve! I just read this thread after posting a reply to your response in "hips and elbows"
Kaya is in a better place now and is healed and whole again!
amanda samantha and sydney