[arolbiecki]

About 2 weeks ago I noticed our 7 year old female shepherds front legs split out when she was chasing a ball. I figured it was just a temporary issue and was just a muscle injury. 2 weeks later she still falls just walking with her front legs splitting out and her skinning her chin on the ground either biting it or what not. She gets up and is somewhat shaky but walks normal a few minutes later. She can't play anymore because this is constanly happening. I know she has showed signs of joint problems after standing up after a long time of laying down by limping around until her joints are loose (usually the back legs).

Anyways, does anyone have any idea what this could be? I feel so bad and this time she actually had blood on her chin from falling. We have our yearly vaccine/check up this week and am going to talk to the vet about it. Just thought some knowledgable GS people may have an idea...THANK YOU!

 

[arolbiecki]

hey thanks for the info!

 

[arolbiecki]

we are headed in tomorrow AM-will post an update. the husband doesn't think it is anything serious as she is fine when she is around him all day. i know it is not normal so hopefully the vet can give us some insight tomorrow.

 

[arolbiecki]

so we went to the vet. Nothing overly alarming. The vet said we could do x-rays but she said she was pretty sure it is elbow arthritis in the front legs and arthritis in her back legs or elbow dyspasia. she gave us some omega 3/glucosomine chews-Phycox- and we have to keep her on those for at least 3 months to see if it helps. after that the option would be surgery. we could have done prescribed medication but as she said they have a lot of negative side effects especially on the organs so we didn't do that. On a side note, I asked about the required shots and over vaccinating. apparently they are changing their shots over to every 3 years now instead of every 2 for the distemper plus shot. a lot of studies have been done about over vaccinating and vets are changing their recommendations to make it every 3 years. Many of you probably already know, but it was news to me.

so we shall see how she gets from here, less strenuous activity for her. it is going to be tough for my dutch shepard since she is a lot younger and always wants to play.