Unsure as to what could be wrong with my dog

[Otto44$]

Ok let me try this again, I don't see my original post so if I'm just missing it. Sorry for repost. Anyhow, I have a black lab and she'll be 12 in July. She's had to have surgery on both ACL's her right leg about 4 yrs. ago and her left leg in Feb. 2011. She recovered tremendously. However, she's now having issue's with her right front leg. She's been limping on it for a couple of mnths. now and licks it all the time. At first she chewed a hole in it, thankfully we were able to get that healed. We took her to the Vet and he moved her leg around to see if she was in any pain and she doesn't appear to have pain in it. We are puzzled as to why she's limping, could it be arthritis? also, I have a concern because all she does is sleep, very sluggish and won't eat  her big bones anymore. She is eating her food and drinking. Thank you for your assistance. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Otto44$]

Hi there! thanks for the response. I stated in my above post that we were giving her missing link and she did great with it. However, after her second surgery, she won't eat her food if we put in there, so gave up because I want her to eat. So, I have a 30.00 bag sitting half full in my frig. Thank you for the blessings. She is my baby and I'll do whatever I've to to give her a great live, after all they don't live as long as people and deserve the best of care. You know, I never grew up with animals so didn't want a dog. Well, my daughter begged and begged me for a dog. So, needless to say we have Lucky, I named her Lucky because I would tell my daughter, she's lucky to be here. Well, let me tell you I wouldn't trade her in for the world and now tell my daughter joking, if I knew how much I'd love animals I would've always had them and not had kids, lol! Anyhow, she is very spoiled. Don't laugh but she doesn't eat dog food and that's my fault. As I mentioned above i didn't know anything about animals. Well, I would always make her turkey breast, roast beef, meatballs, ect. she even eats shrimp when we do. So, she is spoiled. The Vet said he wants to be one of our kids, lol! because she had to go back after her second surgery for 2 days on IV because of a fever and dehydration due to her not eating and drinking. Anyhow, we had to tell the Vet she definitely will not eat dog food, so could we bring her food daily to try and get her to eat. Anyhow, that's how spoiled she's. I was able to find glucosamine and chondroitin supplement in a liquid thru pet meds, my husband and I have decided to try that. Hopefully, it works or now that ginger informed us about the contraption for getting the pill down her, maybe we'll try that first.  

[ginger899]

I don't know how "into food" your dog is...this plan only works on a dog who likes food a LOT (ie my dog!)
I get something which wraps around the pill nicely, and will cover it properly, like a tiny piece of brown bread, or a little mashed potato or cheese. I then get a couple of pieces which have no pill in them. While I'm preparing this, I get her interested, saying something like "would you like a little treat?" (she's drooling!) I then throw a tiny piece at her mouth (no pill in it) she swallows it fast. I then throw the piece with the pill in it with one hand, while showing her the third piece with the other hand! She reckons that the faster she gets the second one down, the quicker she'll get the third one! It works a treat every time. That pill goes down without touching the sides!

[Ghilly]

I have found that the human glucosamine supplements are quite a bit cheaper than the dog versions.  One of the larger chain drug stores (I want to say CVS) has a bottle of I don't remember how many but it's at least a month's supply at one a day, and it was only $8 and change as opposed to the $30 or more that the dog supplements cost.  And it's the same stuff!   I had two different types, one was big horse pills and the other was capsules.  Sometimes, if you put a bit of cooking oil on the capsules, they're a lot easier to slide down their throats than the tablets are.  There is also something called a pilling gun that has a little clampy thing at the end that you fit the pill into, and then you insert it into the corner of the mouth, point it back toward the throat and push the little plunger and the clampy thing lets go and the pill is too far back on the tongue for them to spit it out.   Just a little bit more info for you.  :)

Ghilly

[chainsawmaggie601]

Could be arthritis, maybe try glucosamine, or there's a product out there, Missing Link, that helps with the older dogs, and is a good supplement to start them out on when young. God bless you for giving her such a good life, and such excellent treatment. Remember, she is 12, and probably enjoys all that sleep. Wish you loads of luck.

[Otto44$]

Thanks for checking for a duplicate posting. I'm new to this site and still trying to figure it out. She actually has tramadol left from her surgery in Feb. 2011 and there's no expiration date. She also has Glucosamine tablets we purchased from the vet. However, we can't get either down her. We try with a piece of turkey, roast beef whatever will help get them in her. She's spits them out. My husband holds her mouth open and trys to shove it to the back of her throat and he holds her mouth shut. Well, needless to say when he lets go of her mouth out comes the pills. We then purchased a bag of missing link it's called thru pet meds. She would eat her food with it in there, but now she won't eat at all if it's in there. Thanks for the tip about giving her glucosamine and chondroitin for humans, I never knew that and not sure if what the Vet ordered her at time of surgery is for humans. She's so so stubborn. I'm guess I'll have to try somehow to get it down her. Thanks so much for your quick response and I will definitely keep you posted.

[Ghilly]

I looked for your other post but didn't see one anywhere.  This forum has a habit of "eating" posts from time to time so it's entirely possible that you posted it just as you were supposed to but it fell victim to the strange things that happen here.  

As far as your dog is concerned, yes, it absolutely could be that she has arthritis.  Chewing on the legs is most definitely a sign of pain and with her being 12 years old, she is certainly a candidate for being arthritic.

Please be careful about what you use to treat her if she is arthritic.  It would be better to use a medication that was formulated for humans but used off-label for dogs (like Tramadol) because the preparations that have been developed for dogs to help with arthritis pain, like Rimadyl (carprofen) are extremely dangerous to give to Labradors.  It's not uncommon for even a dose or two to make them quite sick or even lead to death.  

I would also put her on a glucosamine and chondroitin supplement.  Even if she is only mildly arthritic this will help her.   It works by rebuilding the cartilage that is eaten away by arthritis.  It works pretty quickly, too.  You might see some results as soon as two weeks after beginning treatment and usually by the time you are 30 days into treatment you will see a significant difference in her behavior with regard to showing signs of pain.

Please keep us updated on how she is doing.

Ghilly