We had Nell at the Vets this morning , to check on her hind quarters . We had noticed soon after she came to live with us , that her back end muscles were almost non existent , giving the impressions of fragility . I had decided to have her re checked so that, if the Vet thought necessary , Nell could have an X ray when she is spayed in ten days time . Much relief that following a very through examination , our Vet declared her hip joints seem to be absolutely fine , one knee joint is good , the other one is a bit sloppy but the patella isn't popping out . She thinks it is more of a ligament issue , due to a dreadful diet which seemed to have been mainly pinching the cat food ( no dog food ) , and a total lack of knowledge or care shown as to the needs of a young dog . Nell currently has a very high protein diet , her kibble being 60% salmon , plus a daily supplement of glucosamine/chondroitin , Vet is very happy with this regime but says it will take a few more weeks until we see a really good improvement , although already , we can see more muscle developing . So , we can relax for now, just being mindful of the issue , it just shows how a poor diet can have such an impact , go Nell !
The sad thing is that the Vet said she wouldn't be happy about Nell going to agility , which is an awful shame as we both know she would love it , but her joints are far more important x
Oh that's a shame but for the best. Good job you checked your suspicions out with the vet. Good call Kate xxx
Awww, I was really looking forward to hearing about Nell's adventures in agility. Maybe after she's built some muscle back up and been in your good care for a while, he will change his opinion? Brogan did agility despite ED and two wonky knees and still loved it (as did I). But his "agility" was just-for-fun classes and he "moseyed" more than ran. Plus he jumped the hurdles at the height used for the chihuahua in the class. Which was "stepping" (slowly) vs. jumping. I'm pretty sure he felt he was being judged on style, not speed. And by that criteria, he was AMAZING at agility.
Cat food is supposed to be too 'rich' for dogs, too high in protein, dogs don't need the level cats do. Perhaps Nell only managed to get a little of what the cats left, poor little girl. She has landed on her feet now. What a shame the vet doesn't think she should do agility, she might like doing 'fun' obedience?
I`m hoping that as she improves in the fitness stakes , we might get the green light to start agility , she has improved so much already , long may it continue x
It does take some time to build really poor muscle tone. Blake was an example, he was 10kgs underweight when he came to us, and very poorly indeed. One of the symptoms of malnourishment was his large skull, in relation to his body. Now 18 months on his photos are incredible. He is very fit, and full of life. I don't think however the vet would've ever suggested agility, looking at him now, it would be a piece of cake for him. Casper also had very poor muscle tone in his back quarters and hind legs. Coupled with a diagnosis of mild HD and AS in his back, we have had to be careful, building up exercise and also working on his diet. He now has beautiful muscles and a strong back. Whilst I wouldn't do agility with Casper, there are loads of things we do instead.
Having said that Nell was fed cat food , it was more a case of her pinching what she could because she had buxxer all else given to her , poor little scrap . You should see her run , like a pocket rocket , we`ll get there x
Oh, poor little dog. Her story makes me sadder and sadder, but I'm so happy that she's now found her forever home. I just wish that how people on this forum treat their dogs (spoilt!) was the norm in real life, and not the exception.
