My 9-10 year old GSDx Harley was diagnosed over a year ago with lumbosacral spondylosis when I was noticing some lameness in her back end. We tried physical therapy but towards the end it seemed to make her more stiff than it helped so I decided to discontinue that.
We've tried Rimadyl, Previcox, Gabapentin, and Dasuquin with little or no effect. I can't give her Tramadol because she's on Clomipramine for anxiety. Since the back isn't exactly a joint it also puts a limit to what'll be effective for her.
We did a senior panel a few months ago and found she was severely hypothyroid and she's on Soloxine for that, and while it has helped her activity level some the lameness is still there. We can only do short walks before she'll start scuffing her back feet as she walks and her gait becomes uneven, almost as if her hips were bothering her (they looked great in the x-rays). One of the vets at work suggested it may be a nerve issue if pain meds aren't fixing anything, which may be harder to treat.
Does anyone else have a senior with this condition? Has anything you tried been helpful? I'm very open to the idea of finding a holistic way of managing the lameness, as she doesn't seem to be overly painful when her back end is manipulated, but if I can at least help the lameness i'd like to give it a shot.
Here's a picture of the old lady in question:
We've tried Rimadyl, Previcox, Gabapentin, and Dasuquin with little or no effect. I can't give her Tramadol because she's on Clomipramine for anxiety. Since the back isn't exactly a joint it also puts a limit to what'll be effective for her.
We did a senior panel a few months ago and found she was severely hypothyroid and she's on Soloxine for that, and while it has helped her activity level some the lameness is still there. We can only do short walks before she'll start scuffing her back feet as she walks and her gait becomes uneven, almost as if her hips were bothering her (they looked great in the x-rays). One of the vets at work suggested it may be a nerve issue if pain meds aren't fixing anything, which may be harder to treat.
Does anyone else have a senior with this condition? Has anything you tried been helpful? I'm very open to the idea of finding a holistic way of managing the lameness, as she doesn't seem to be overly painful when her back end is manipulated, but if I can at least help the lameness i'd like to give it a shot.
Here's a picture of the old lady in question: