Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Happy Hips and Joints

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Last week we shared a natural flea and tick spray with you.

At the time we were contacted by Pet Naturals of Vermont we were offered the opportunity to to do a Flea and Tick review as well as a Hip and Joint supplement.  I don’t typically do a lot of reviews on this blog, and I admit I was slightly concerned with the timing because both posts needed to be up by the 13th, but honestly I just couldn’t choose between the two!  I love their Flea and Tick spray and I’ve been talking to my vet and she REALLY wants Sampson to be on a Glucosamine/MSM supplement, so I said yes to both.

We were sent Hip+ Joint for Dogs, medium and large version.

Hip and Joint

Hip and Joint

I don’t start my dogs on anything that I haven’t run past my vet, so at Delilah’s wellness exam I said to my vet, “I want you to tell me what you think of this.”  I pulled the bag out of my purse and she almost ripped it out of my hands.

“My cat LOVES these,” she exclaimed. “There are lots of great things in here and from what I’ve heard it’s a very good company. Go ahead and start him on them.”

So we did.

According to the package there are 45 supplements in the bag and a dog Sampson’s size needs between 4 and 6 per day, this means I have a 10 day supply.  Considering Delilah is also a “Senior Dog” I’d like to start her on something as well.  I reached out to my contact and questioned her about this because at that rate, I’d be using three packages a month, per dog, if kept on the low dose.  After a quick calculation on her part, she said for both my dogs it would cost me $150 a month, which is definitely not cost effective. She did tell me there is an XL version of this supplement which I’ll definitely be looking into.

According to my contact the cost is about $25 per bag, but I did find them on Chewy.com for $15.99,

I love that they are soft and chewy and they must be pretty tasty because the dogs love them.  Because of their softness, I can break them up into threes and use them when we are walking for my positive reinforcement instead of filling the dogs full of calories they don’t need. 

The little bone shaped supplements are maybe an inch or so long.

The little bone shaped supplements are maybe an inch or so long.

 

But they are easily broken up into smaller pieces.

But they are easily broken up into smaller pieces.

 

 For the purposes of this review, I have only been giving them to Sampson, to make sure the bag lasts the full ten days.   Although I did let Delilah try one when I first opened the bag.

After about a week on these supplements I can say that something is working with Sampson.  Hubby and I both think he is walking better and I can tell he is happier.  He is becoming more and more like his old pre-injury self.  He has more energy on our walks too.  In fact, it’s becoming difficult to keep him walking slowly. 

YUMMO!

YUMMO!

I won’t say with certainty it is the supplements, because we have done and continue to do many things (more on some of that on Friday) to help Sampson heal.  In general though, I am very pleased with these supplements.

So would you like to try this? Pet Naturals of Vermont will be giving away 1 free bag along with a valuable coupon to the first 100 people who fill out their form.

Full disclosure: I was sent a free sample of Pet Naturals Hip+Joint for Dogs in exchange for my honest opinion. If I liked the product I would receive a year’s supply in exchange for sharing it. While I have been compensated with product for this post, Heart Like a Dog only shares products and services we feel are of value to our readers and would never promote something we didn’t use ourselves.

Sampson’s Saga Continues

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As I mentioned in Friday’s post, Sampson’s X-rays looked good.  The surgeon felt his Psoas muscle and Sampson turned around quickly, which indicated the muscle was tender.  The surgeon placed Sampson on some Gabapentin and wants to recheck him in two weeks.  He’s not ruling out a meniscus injury, but he wants to try the Gaba and see if it works.  I dropped Sampson’s walks down to about 15 minutes twice a day and am going to try and fit some cavaletti’s in when I can.   

On Saturday Sampson had his Physical Therapy and I shared all of this with the therapist.  What I took from that visit is she feels because of the way Sampson is ‘loading his knee’ that it very well could be a meniscus injury and this tosses me right over the freaking edge.

The biggest issue is I don’t want him to have surgery again.  First off, the meniscus surgery means he will have bone touching bone, which I think must be very painful.  I mean, they replace people’s knees when that happens, right?

Also, we are seven weeks into a twelve week strict limitations recovery.  In two weeks we will be three weeks away from (hopefully) having some restrictions lifted and Sampson getting back to enjoying more of his life.  If surgery is suggested it will probably be scheduled within a week or two, which puts us right on the verge of finished.

The therapist says that some dogs have the meniscus surgery and turn the corner and recover quickly, but how do I know that will be Sampson?  How do you know it’s the right thing to do?

But the bigger question is How.  HOW can I put him through this again?  How can I ask him to start over?

Oh Mama, you worry so much. I thought you were trying to be more like me?

Oh Mama, you are such a worry wart.  Don’t cross the worry bridge until you have to.

I’ve been struggling with this since Saturday and Saturday night I decided I’m putting my faith in a higher power.  I know some people do not believe in God, and I’m not here to sell you differently, if you believe awesome and if you don’t, we’re still cool.  But I believe.   And I believe in the power of prayer and the power of positive thinking.  So every night when Sampson and I lay down to sleep, I lay my hand across his leg and I pray for healing.   If you believe in the power of prayer, I sure would appreciate you keeping Sampson in yours.

Do any of you have any experience with a dog having ACL surgery and then needing meniscus surgery?  Or have any of your dogs had meniscus surgery?  If any of you can share your experiences, I’d certainly appreciate it.

I Always Feel Better After I Talk to MY Vet

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Yesterday was a rough day.  Tuesday Sampson started keeping his leg up when he was inside.  When he’s outside he walks, but inside, he’s been a three-legged dog again.

He had physical therapy yesterday and the therapist said he’s not progressing, she also said she felt something ‘clicking’ in his knee and his hip is tight. I tried to get her to tell me what she thought, but she just kept saying “let’s wait until he sees Dr. Leshem again.”  He’s slated to see him tomorrow for his six week X-rays.

She also said, it’s not fair, you get some owners who do everything right and the dog still has problems, while there are other owners who don’t do anything and the dog recovers in a snap.

It’s emotionally, physically, psychologically and financially draining.  I’m totally exhausted.

To top it off,  Sampson’s been at it again.  By this I mean, he’s back to licking himself to the point where he’s worn the fur off.  And it’s not just one spot this time, in fact he has a couple of spots on each front paw.

This is his paw. This is his paw with lick granulomas. Any questions?

This is his paw. This is his paw with lick granulomas. Any questions?

I had a call in to my vet to talk about adding some Glucosamine to his diet so naturally I ran all of this by her.  All I have to say, is I always feel better after talking with my vet.  She’s just so awesome.

First she reassured me the surgery that Sampson had, has a very low rate of failure.  She’s seen some screw back out sometimes, but it’s a quick and easy fix.

She said there’s a muscle that runs under the spine called a Psoas muscle, it is a very deep muscle that runs from the spine to the chest and she’s seen dogs who have had the ACL surgery end up straining the Psoas muscle, so if the X-rays show no issues with the surgery sight, have the Dr. check the Psoas muscle.

She is less concerned about the lick granulomas, as he’s more than likely very stressed at this point, with all his restrictions and the changes in his life and routine.  She said let’s get him feeling better, and then we’ll worry about the granulomas.

Oh and yes, let’s add 1500 Mg of Glucosamine and 1,000 Mgs of MSM to his diet. 🙂

See what I mean?  I always feel better after I talk to my vet.

All I want is to have my life back to normal. Is that too much to ask?

All I want is to have my life back to normal. Is that too much to ask?

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