Whoa Nelly – it’s been a while.  I always think “I should get back onto the Shorthairs site” but then I get distracted and forget.  I’m sorry for the long hiatus!  Facebook has spoiled me because it’s easy to keep in touch that way.

Anyway, I am wondering about arthritis in older dogs.  I think that Osiris might be getting stiff in his joints as he ages.  He is around 9 years old – not exact because he was a rescue – but we have noticed that he sometimes seems stiff in the mornings and whimpers when he jumps up onto something or down from something.

We know that he has no fractures (because of the ER vet visit on Monday) and he had a full blood panel last month during his dental cleaning and wellness exam – everything was perfect.

So what are some things to be looking for?  What kind – if any – supplements should we try?

At what age are they considered “senior?”

As many of you know, Osiris has had an adventurous week.  On Monday night, he got out and was gone for 6 hours and came back limping, so we took him to the ED.  No fractures but they put him on Rimadyl.  Then, on Friday night, he went on a 24 hour adventure and was out gallivanting around in the cold 24 degree temps all night.  He is ok be just seems to be stiff, especially in the front leg that he was limping on Monday.  He is tired but he has taken food and water.  I’ll be keeping an eye on him for a while.

(Long story short, my parents watch Osiris when we work, and recently, discovered that he can jump the fence in their yard.  After two escapes in one week and several panic attacks on my part, we are going to be getting an invisible fence to put inside their fence and also a GPS tracking collar.)  Why, after 8 years in the same backyard, would he start jumping the fence now???

I PROMISE to be better about posting more often.  I miss you all!

Merry Christmas!

I have never understood why the get the urge, but obviously something got his attention outside of the fence enough for him to try and get out and then of course, once they figure it out and if the adventure started out fun, no doubt they will do it again.  The radio fence worked extremely well for us.  Of course, it did not keep another dog from digging into our yard when our lab was in heat . . . but that is a totally other issue.

I have a chocolate lab who is now almost 10 and she is arthritic.  No doubt the affects of her romps with the outdoor world out of my site did not help matters with her either.  We have done the Adequan injections, but I also give her the glucosamine and chondrontin supplement, the kind for people as it is so much cheaper and she will eat anything, just wrap it in peanut butter or cheese, but also a supplement that has egg shell membrane.  There was one from Membrell called ReNu that was awesome and worked great, but right now they are not available.  I am not sure the reason so have just gotten another supplement with NEM in it, but do not recall the name.  She seems to be pain free around the house as no more yelping, but she is no longer allowed to run for the frisbee she so loved.  Controlled leash walking outside of the yard for her.

Again, I am so glad Osiris is back home.

Roz.