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4.5 years old dog with arthritis and hip dysplasia

BiancaP

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Hi everyone,

I have 2 dogs, brothers, since they were born (on the property we purchased) and one of them is suffering of hip dysplasia and arthritis.
  1. Your pet's name - Chiqui
  2. Approximate age - 4 and a half
  3. Sex - male
  4. Neutering status - not neutered
  5. Breed - mix of American staffordshire we think
  6. Approximate weight - 25 kg or 55 pounds
  7. What's their BEAM (behavior, energy, appetite, mood) - scared, resting most of the time, the appetite depends on the day, not sure what he feels really...
    He is very, very scared of people and especially kids. He would run away when he sees kids. And at people, if they are too close, he would bark and launch at them.
    I can also understand his fear, given the fact that his brother attacked him soooo often... (we worked with 5 different dog educators until now).
    For a week now, his brother is at a residency and he is a lot better! He is not so scared and trusts us more.

  8. Diet
    He used to be on a vegan, cold pressed kibble (NATURAL-EXTRA VEGGIE - LaraVital). I used to home cook (along with VEGDOG supplements), but he is very, very picky and did not seems to enjoy the food. The kibble either, but he preferred it over the home cooked.

    For a few months I give him meat. We talked to a restaurant to give us the meat they would throw away and the meat from 2 local butchers. I sometimes give the meat from the butcher raw (I need some guidance here as well, to make sure I do it right), it is mainly chicken and pork. As for bigger bones (raw), he cannot really break them and sometimes swallows them! And some meat that is on the big bones I cook - it is partly organic pork meat and throw the bones away. For bones and organs he usually gets chicken heads, wings and other small bones (and sometimes organs).

    He is still very picky about the meat, sometimes eats, sometimes not, he does not eat on a schedule, rather on the appetite. He does not like fruits and veggies at all (I used to cook them in the meat broth, so they taste like meat, but he still does not eat them).

    Small parentheses: We don’t want to support the meat industry by paying for killing the animals, we are grateful we receive their ‘leftovers’.

  9. Vaccination history / exposure to toxins, other medication
    09/01/18 parvigen virbac
    18/01/18 Rabies
    09/04/19 Rabies

    Where we live (Spain) Rabies is mandatory every year, but I try to avoid it as much as I can. We live in the countryside and only go to the city for his treatments.

  10. Primary problem, when it began and if there was anything else happening around that time
    It started with hip dysplasia when he was a puppy and last year he got arthritis in his elbows mainly, and the hip dysplasia is not so bad anymore. When he was a puppy, he was attacked by another dog, he had a bite mark around his throat. His brother later on started attacking him (redirecting his stress) and I suppose that is the reason he got the arthritis (In New German Medicine the arthritis is a symbol of 'I am not good enough' or something in those lines)

  11. Is the condition better or worse from exercise, heat, cold, time of day, certain foods, emotional upset, being touched, excitement, etc?
    I think he suffers more when it is colder outside.

  12. Has any diagnostic work been done? Diagnosis if available (you can attach your diagnostic tests to the post if you have them)
    Hip dysplasia and arthritis.

  13. Current and previous treatment
    Started magneto and laser therapy (in 2018) for his hip dysplasia (he was limping), but it did not help, so we stopped. Also walked in the water to strengthen his muscles.

    In February 2020 he was hospitalised (because of fever) and since then he got itchy. He got Apoquel and other creams/ shampoo. They did not work and I found a homeopath. She did acupuncture and gave him Arnica 200 CH, APIS 200 CH, Staphysagria 200 CH. Still no change.

    Along with all these, I tried lots of different natural creams and drops. (from Danes and Phytopet). He also got flower essences.

    Beginning of last year he started limping more and we started osteopathy, and it was not enough, so we combined it with laser therapy. Then we found another clinic for rehabilitation and added on top of that INDIBA, laser therapy, neuro sacral therapy, ozone therapy, acupuncture. One day we tried magneto therapy and heat therapy and after the session, when we arrived home, he could barely walk.

    We did arthroscopy on January 14th and huge 'stones' were removed. Then he got plasma infiltration (PRP and hyaluronic acid) on his elbows (1 month ago). He is still limping very bad.

    Recently we started myotherapy (tomorrow is our second meeting) and the vet also recommended Apoquel again and other inflammatory pills (for the pain). He did not get better, he was vomiting! We stopped the pills and his itchiness got worse. (now he is better).

    SUPPLEMENTS
    In 2018 he started with Previcox, Cosequin, Flexadin. We did not see any result, so we stopped

    Continued with the following
    CBD oil
    Boswelia Serrata 400mg - 3 per day
    Movement Support Vegan capsules (glucosamine, condroitine, OptiMSM, Vitamin C, Aquamin) - 2 per day (Kala Health)
    Omega 3 Ahiflower - 8 per day (https://www.kalahealth.eu/en_US/ahiflower-capsules), used to give him algae based one before
    Hyaluronic acid - 1 capsule divided for weeks (https://www.amazon.es/Ácido-Hialurónico-Cápsulas-DOSIS-ALTA/dp/B01FFWYKTE)
    Green lipped mussel (https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B00APYMTAA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
    A mix of probiotics and prebiotics https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B09JP5K1J3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    He hates all the pills and powders I give him, I have to hide them. I gave up on the green lipped mussel and the probiotics for a few days, since I see that he is picky about the meat as well.

    I am also offering him essential oils (zoopharmacognosy) and it seems that the Black Spruce essential oil helps him a lot. It seems that it is the only thing that helps him, from everything I have mentioned above.

  14. Other health concerns
He got very itchy after being hospitalised for a week with the fever (the vets still couldn't find the reason)
He had rickettsia and anaplasma 2 years ago. We used to give them Billy No Mates and it did not work out, so he now has Seresto collar, as there are many ticks around here.

@Dr. Jeff @Dr. Christina @Dr. Sara

271774661_768764544080925_4276846077267406590_n.jpg
 
Last edited:

Dr. Jeff

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Wow, fantastic first post Bianca! Great work with Chiqui!!:snowman:❤️

He is one lucky (and handsome) guy.

A great place to start that will address both his anxiety and his arthritis is by first addressing his BEAM.


Is there anything he loves to do?

Once you find it, using the Happiness Protocol will help him psychologically and physically re-balance.



 

BiancaP

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Hi Dr Jeff,

Thank you for the reply and the remarks!

I realise that I forgot to mention another important matter: Chiqui licks himself a LOT around his genitals and bum.

BEAM:
- his behaviour did not change much, he is still pretty calm or pretty barky and anxious when he hears noises outside the property.
- his energy is quite the same as well, it is as high as it can be (I suppose) for a dog that suffers
- his appetite goes up and down, he self regulates. I was a bit worried the past days, as he does not seem to enjoy his meals (meat) as much, but today I have weighed him at the vet (we went for myotherapy) and he weighed 1-2 pounds more than usual. So I guess he is eating as much as he needs and self regulates quite well.
- his mood: this is not an easy one. He was a looooot calmer when he was left alone (without his brother), but he got a bit more scared the past days.

He loves walking! and sniffing during the walks, he is like in Disneyland ?. The problem is that we were told to limit his walks to about 15 minutes. Since we live in the countryside, he has plenty to sniff around here as well. I am not sure how I can help him more with that, maybe find some interesting things for him and bring them home to him so he can sniff? What we sometimes do is to sit down after the walk and like this he can still sniff, not necessarily walk. But if the place is too interesting and he has lots to sniff, he wants to continue walking.
Another thing that he likes is to be pet and spend time with us. We try to give him as much time possible and pet him when he wants, and stop if he is uncomfortable.

As for the happiness protocol:
1. food: a bit difficult, as he is not really crazy about it
2. He does get to sniff quite a bit when he sits outside or during the walks. Snuffle mats etc are not interesting for him anymore, since he does not like kibble (neither meat based kibble)
3, 5 covered :)
4. I don't necessarily agree with this, as I don't agree with training (following Turid Rugaas and other similar dog educators). Nose work we do sometimes, check below :)
6. we sometimes played tug, but we stopped, as I was not sure if the pulling affects his bones in any way. Sometimes we do treat hunting, and would love to do more, but since he is not food motivated, we don't do that much.
7. Working on having more peace in the house and now we do have more, but we are a bit concerned about when Chiqui's brother will come back
 

Dr. Jeff

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Hi Bianca,

You're super welcome! It is truly my honor and privilege to get to share your time and interest in helping Chiqui using his natural vitality and balance.

I am not sure how I can help him more with that, maybe find some interesting things for him and bring them home to him so he can sniff?
Chiqui's fundamental underlying issues may be his poor appetite and low level of environmental engagement.

From what I've seen, as those 2 important parts of BEAM improve, he will gradually also improve in other ways.

More sniffing can help with his BEAM and function of every cell in his body (by increasing and balancing energy and cell to cell communication).

Why is there a 15 minute limit on outside sniffing?

He should be able to sit outside and sniff the super interesting air currents for hours a day! And doing so will help (and maybe even relieve altogether) his other symptoms.

Is Chiqui's brother away because of attacking Chiqui?
 

Dr. Jeff

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Hi Bianca-

AAre you able to get freeze-dried hearts (chicken, duck, turkey, etc) in your part of Spain?

I'd love you to see (even before our next HMDM call) if he likes tiny bits of them.
 

BiancaP

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Hi Dr Jeff,

I was not really clear. I am almost 100% sure that Chiqui's problem started (hip dysplasia) because of the dog attack and it advanced to arthritis because of the attacks of Morel, his brother.
It can be that his other issues are appetite and low level of environmental engagement.
Sniffing is indeed his favourite thing to do! The 15 minute limit is on the walk, not sniffing. He is almost all day long outside.

Yes, Morel is away because he was attacking Chiqui and he was also 'threatening' us, he was growling at us, but he also bit us quite a few times. That is why were also afraid of him and it made everything worse (because he felt it obviously). So we needed to take a break, because we were going down the spiral...

Yesterday we had a meeting with the myotherapist and she actually told us (again) to just let him be, to rest as much as possible and that he does what he wants. Which I also think he probably needs, as we took him to too many vets, tried too many things...

No, I cannot buy freeze-dried hearts, sorry...He did have chicken hearts raw before, but he was not crazy about them
 

BiancaP

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Today Chiqui woke up with pain, he could not walk (did not even pee and it is 3:30 pm here) and he vomited twice. We went to the vet, did some blood tests and radiographies and saw how bad his arthritis is...
The vet thinks that he has immune mediated polyarthritis and he gave us Prednicortone and Metadona injections!
We are a bit lost, we only saw him like this after the arthroscopy and another time, after magneto therapy...

WhatsApp Image 2022-04-07 at 3.35.20 PM.jpeg

WhatsApp Image 2022-04-07 at 3.35.14 PM.jpeg
 

Dr. Jeff

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I'm sorry to hear about Chiqui.:(
:pup:

Great news tho that his bloodwork looks fine (even the out of range results are OK).
 

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