Need Advice on 12 yr old Sheepie
Pat S |
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| The first advice would be to talk to your vet. We noticed our older girl having a few issues and went to the vet, who recommended physiotherapy and a chiropractor. It has worked wonders, strengthening our girl's back end. The physio came to our house but we were also given homework, specific exercises to do, and it has all worked wonders. Good luck, I hope that you have the same outcome that we did! |
| Checking with your vet first is good advise. We had to let our Violet go at 11yrs, she had HD and a number of other issues that effected her quality of life. It was a very difficult decision, but it was what was best for her. I hope your vet is able to give you some things to make her life more comfortable. |
| I've had a number of sheepdogs who had bad hips at 10 or even younger. Most were helped by progressively stronger NSAIDs such as Metacam but often needed help in getting up on things even with the pain killers. But even more important is keeping their weight down. If your dog is overweight, do everything you can to get his weight down so he doesn't have to struggle with carrying it on bad hips. Since I have a two story house, one of my earlier dogs got to the point where I used to lift his back end up and we would go upstairs every night like pushing a wheelbarrow when we went to bed. He never seemed to mind and even expected the ride. They say with big dogs who often have hip trouble in their late life, that eventually it's time to go when they just don't want to get up any more. I've had a few end like that. It's really not a bad way to go compared to many other painful disease processes. Right now I have a rescued male, Charlie, who will be 13 in November (and has lost his hearing in the last year), and a 10 year old rescue, Toby, who still runs and jumps around like a pup. Both have pretty good hips thankfully, but lately, I've had to boost Charlie's back end up about half the time to get on the foot of the bed where he has slept for all of his life. He manages to get his front half pup and then just looks at me as if to say "Come on, how about a little help?" Of a dozen OES I have owned over the years, Charlie has lived about the longest. My vet said that the reason both dogs are in such good shape for their age is that they have never been overweight. |
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