Springer Spaniel with arthritis

gooner99

Hi.

Our 6 year old springer seems to have developed arthritis. Last year I had her with the vet a couple of times for fluid in the little sacs in the back passage (don't know the correct name). She was also back in November for her annual vaccinations and was a bit stiff around that time when she would stand up after lying for a long time. Vet said that it appeared to be arthritis. In the last few weeks she seems to be getting stiffer which comes on after short periods of lying down. She can have trouble getting up and would not attempt to jump up, probably indicating discomfort. But on the other hand when she gets out for a walk, while not a sprightly as before, she can walk and run pretty much ok. Going back to the vet Tomorrow to see what he says. I was wondering if the diagnosis is arthritis what the latest advice would be. I'll give a brief description of her history and lifestyle to see if you guys can spot lifestyle problems.

When she was about 6 months old she was hit by a fast car. By some sort of miracle she walked away with just a few scratches. x-rays didn't show any damage, but sure I suppose she could have gotten some soft tissue damage that is just showing up now.

We feed her springers field and trial and once a week we give her a tin of mackerel or sardines in brine.

She spends the day with my mother and likes to stay inside (usually she likes company when outside). I know my mother gives her a pork sausage every day and I'm pretty sure that could well be two!

She also tends to get little treats from peoples plates, like bits of cheese, bits of bread. She also loves to get leftovers like potatoes, veg , rice , paste, bits of leftover cooked meats.

She likes to go for her walks and usually goes for a short one every morning and a longer one every evening (about half a mile to a mile). In the summer she'll go in swimming. In the last couple of weeks she seems a little less eager to get out walking, so again may indicate a bit of pain.

She's not on any meds at the minute, just the usual worm tablets and spot on flea/tick treatments.

I think that's it. I would be grateful for any help or advice you guys can give from your experience. Any questions please fire away. I will post what the vets says/recommends tomorrow.

Thanks for your help in advance.

aonb

since you are going to the vet tomorrow, you will hopefully get all the information you need, and your dog will get a full medical check.
Shame to have arthritis at such a young age.
Is your dog overweight? (you mention lots of treats/snacks )
Salmon oil and glucosamine/chondroitin are good options to help keep a dogs joints healthy. Obviously if the vet finds signs of arthritis, he will treat accordingly.
It might not be arthritis - she could have pulled something or damaged something back in November, but the vet will no dount check all that out.

(the term you were looking for is ANAL GLANDS!!)

pegasus1

You do know sausages contain a lot of salt...salt is very bad for dogs.. do a quick google..fluid buildup etc
Aloe Vera is great for arthritis

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/salt/

http://yourolddog.com/aloe-for-dogs/

Latatian

The weight is about the single most important thing you can do to keep your dog mobile and healthy. If she's carrying too much weight around her joints will get sorer, she'll be in more distress, and she'll decline faster, and likely live a shorter life. Sorry, not trying to scare you, but it is a huge deal for your dog's health to keep her trim, and it takes some willpower to do so it's important to understand how much it matters.

Don't let people tell you she's 'old' so she needs weight (in fact old dogs suffer more from weight), or it's 'mean' or any of the various other things people come out with. My labrador is nearly 14 and nothing made as big a difference to her life as getting the weight off. She lost weight when she was pretty old already and went from "Ah the poor old dog" who couldn't get into her dog bed to "That's a lovely puppy, where did you get it?" while she trotted along on the mountain walks. You're not going to reverse it, but you can keep your dog healthy and happy. She should have ribs you can feel pretty easily (see description below), she should have a good up-tuck after her ribcage viewed from the side, and she should have an hourglass shape when seen from above.

Swimming is good though you have to watch to find places where she can get in now that she's got that bit of difficulty, as are short but regular walks. If you can keep her strong and able to cope it makes a huge difference. Medication really helped too.

http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.ie/2015/07/fat-dogs-at-crufts.html
http://www.k9station.com/articles/fat.htm Two links on assessing your dog's body conditions
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-top-ten-pet-supplements-do-they-work/
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2013/06/american-academy-of-orthropaedic-surgeons-evidence-based-review-of-arthritis-treatments/
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2015/02/what-you-know-that-aint-necessarily-so-glucosamine-arthritis-in-dogs/ Some links on arthritis treatments, supplements, and the state of the evidence.