Pam, when did you start the adequan injections? Was Cash a bit older? Our vet discussed these, but said we should wait a few more years. Is previcox an anti-inflammatory? Thanks for the advice!
We did x-rays and he has some pretty bad arthritis showing up on his right elbow that might lead to mice in his joint, which is really sad because we just had his elbows cleaned and surgery done on the bone for elbow dysplasia just 6 months ago! And already he might need more surgery to remove mice in a couple months (which we would probably opt not to do since they'll keep reoccurring anyway.
Karen, Cash is now 3 1/2 . we just finished the adaquan injections which were a series of 8 shots . He had to get them twice a week...injected into the muscle. I will see how he does, the vet said some dogs need another shot once a month and others can go several months before needing another. He is a happy boy and doesn't seem to be in any pain. Previcox is an Nsaid and he used to get it daily from about 8 mths to 18mths...he was really having a difficult time getting around and this was a miracle drug for him and he seemed almost normal. When he was around 18 mths, he didn't get it for a week because I ordered his previcox from a different company and it was late arriving. We noticed that he was doing fine..without the drug so weaned him off of it. I had read that once the growth plates closed some improve so I guess that is what happened to him. Now he only gets the previcox when I know he will be very active. I don't leash walk him like I do with Bruce because it seems to be hard on his joints to keep moving..but he enjoys running in the yard on the grass chasing birds and tossing his toys around and playing by himself. We did not do surgery, because the vet told us that scoping alone would not help because of the incongruity of the joints. He wanted us to cut the ulnas..but because Cash has crate anxiety and it would have been 4 mths crate rest for each leg..and only a 50 % chance it would help...we opted not to do anything. I had a huge fear of him doing damage after surgery because we would not be able to crate him. It was almost impossible to get him in the crate and if we did, he would get so distressed, he would bark, drool and usually end up pooping in the crate :uhoh2: He has done fine without the surgery and is such a happy guy . Thankfully, he has very good hips and uses them to get up. His rear muscles are like a race horse. SO strong!!!! I am so thankful for that!!!!
I wouldn't put Beau through more surgery either. Unfortunatley, surgery is not a cure. The best thing to do is keep him very thin...don't let him do anything that is stressfull on the elbows like going down stairs and playing fetch.
Good luck, hopefully the rimadyl will help with the inflammation and he will start feeling better.
