Did we over do it with the exercise? Pittie in pain!

[tambius]

I took my 8 year old pittie girl Nikita to the lake for a swim yesterday. She had a great time as usual, but today she is in obvious pain. She can barely walk and hesitates to lay down. When you touch on her back, she winces a bit as if she doesn't like it. We were swimming/playing for about an hour along with our other dog (a pug).

When she does eventually lay down, she just lays there for a LONG time. She did take a treat, and she did go outside (slowly).

Should I avoid this degree of exercise since she is in her golden years? What types of exercise are good for a senior pittie?

Also, anything I can do to help her pain in the meantime? (Asprin?)

Here we are at the lake:


This is after the lake and a quick bath:


Thanks everyone!

[dogs4jen]

Are you giving her glucosamine and fish oil? They have helped my older dog a lot, I think. I wouldn't give her aspirin, it can cause a lot of problems. I would think swimming would be great for an older dog, but maybe she pulled a muscle.

[PITtsburgher]

There are lots of dog-safe NSAIDS available through your vet! Plus you can get the vet to check her out for any treatable injuries. Especially in an older dog, the human-NSAIDS can cause serious medical problems so I would stay away from that.
She's very cute

[Mooresmajestic]

She is most likely sore from using muscles she hasn't used in a long time swimming. Next time just take it a bit slower, build up to longer swim times.

You can help her by strict rest (which it seems like she is doing herself), some light massage for the muscles in her back and hind end, and alternate heat (heating pad on LOW) and ice (wrapped in a towel) 10minutes on 10 minutes off (on top of the area, not under) 2-3 times a day. The only meds she should get should come from your vet. She should be feeling better in a couple of days.

[tambius]

Are you giving her glucosamine and fish oil? They have helped my older dog a lot, I think. I wouldn't give her aspirin, it can cause a lot of problems. I would think swimming would be great for an older dog, but maybe she pulled a muscle.

I do feed her Nutro Max for Seniors which has glucosamine in it. Never tried Fish Oil. She's usually very limber and perky. I just think the swimming did her in poor girl!!

[dogs4jen]

Most of the dog foods don't have enough glucosamine to help much, I don't know about that one specifically.

[FransterDoo]

Oh, ouch middle aged lady! We too have an 8 year old girl that loves to go. Swimming's acutally a great low impact exercise and we have been working with our girl to get her to have a more enjoyable time swimming.

Here's how we're keeping her healthy:


1) Nice quality joint supplements. The amount in the food is NOT enough. It's mostly there as a marketing ploy. I highly suggest Glyco-Flex. Either level 2 or level 3.

2) Fish oil! You can buy in almost anywhere these days. Even wal-mart sells them as a human supplement. I buy a pump bottle from Amazon for about $20. You can give 4-5 pumps a day and back off by a pump or two if she gets loose stools.

3) A healthy weight and regular exercise. This is my girl on a nature walk a while back. It looks like your girl could stand to lose a little weight. It's hard but I can tell you that at 8.5 - Frances is still an amazing athlete and plans on tormenting us well into her teens.


fran hiking by silly_wicket, on Flickr

[dogs4jen]

I would start off with just one pump of the salmon oil and gradually go up.

[cashisking]

A couple of years ago Cash did the same thing- swam himself into a two-day snooze-fest. We were camping and had him on a line. We tried to get him to just CHILL OUT -with kongs, shore breaks and walks... but his desire to SWIM is so intense he wore himself out. Never trust a Pit Bull to respect their Physical Limitations.

[PitBull-Lady]

Never trust a Pit Bull to respect their Physical Limitations.

Maybe this should be a PBF mantra.

[dogs4jen]

That's for sure!
I just saw this massager with heat in the Drs. Foster and Smith catalog that came in the mail yesterday, I wonder if that would help.

[tambius]

After a couple days of rest she was just fine and being her crazy active self once again! Thanks everyone for the advice and ideas!