Troy started limping on his left front after longer walks recently. He also was not eating properly over the last few days, which we thought was probably down to being uncomfortable. I felt that it was probably arthritis setting in, but we decided to let his chiropractor have a look at it first before we went to the vet's with him.

And sure enough, she found that his neck was out again and a few other bits and pieces down his spine. We are not sure why, but just as well he is now walked on a harness, which will take the pressure off his neck. It could well be possible that he hurt himself when he was on a long lead attached to the collar... There are other possible reasons as well!

Marisa reckons that the neck was the cause for his limping (and it probably gave him headaches again too). I hope she is right! The initial signs are good, Troy looked a lot brighter last night, wanted to play (which he is not allowed to for a couple of days) and he ate his dinner and his breakfast without problems!

It looks like Troy will be a regular visitor at Marisa's, perhaps every couple of months just to keep everything balanced properly!

Vera

Aw glad Troy got sorted out again Vera it's such a worry when they are not themselves eh?

Give Troy a huge squidge from me please :D

Fiona xx

After temporary improvements Troy was limping again after a walk on Saturday... so I talked to his chiropractor and we have now booked him in to go to the vet's on Thursday. Not sure what the next step is, possibly MRI scan or x-rays, medication I would have thought...

Here's the big boy himself:

Well, Troy went to see our vet today. As Troy is a high risk dog with anaesthetics, our vet suggested to hold off with that for now. He thinks that it is definitely the shoulder which is the problem and it is either arthritis or a ligament problem (or both). So Troy was put on anti-inflamatories for now to see whether it makes a difference.

Our vet will also get in contact with Marisa, our chiropractor, and discuss things in more detail with her. He suggests to continue the treatments with her and hopefully with his input, Marisa can give even more specific treatments.

We will also start taking Troy to hydrotherapy sessions maybe once or twice a week. Again, our vet is happy with this and will do a referral for us (so the insurance will pay for it).

Troy is also already on glucosamine and herbs for his joints in general.

In addition we will watch his exercise for now, he will get not much more than 30 minutes or so a day. Luckily he is one of those dogs that doesn't really care that much, despite not having a large garden available. Just as well it is not Flash we are dealing with here, he'd go bonkers with such a small amount of exercise...

I am happy with the outcome for now, but of course we will be monitoring the situation very closely. I am just so glad that we have a very open-minded vet that is prepared to co-operate with Marisa! This way we can hopefully achieve the best possible result for Troy.

Vera

I am so glad your vet is happy to work hand in hand with other practitioners for Troys well being Vera give the handsome boy a great big gently hug from me please and i hope everything works out well for him in the long run , he is so lucky to have found people who love him enough to go to any lengths to help him feel better :D

Fiona xx

Troy went swimming for the first time on Sunday to help with his shoulder. Things went rather well, although all three of us (OH, me and Troy) found it quite stressful...

They wanted to hoist Troy into the water as he had never been in water before, but I asked them whether we could try the ramp first. After some hesitation, he got in at the second attempt. At this stage, he went into a panic for a short while... although I sort of expected it, I was quite worried and actually got quite emotional. I could feel his stress so well and I have never seen him like this before.

But he soon calmed down, started paddling properly and started breathing properly.

He did 3 x 1 minute swimming on the spot (being held by his life jacket by the very nice girls at the pool). He had another couple of moments when he panicked and splashed everyone in the process!

We knew that it would be stressful for him for the first couple of times and we are quite pleased that he did calm down and swam quite nicely in the end.

When we got home, he went to sleep almost immediately and didn't move for a few hours. Then he got up and started to go mad with Dylan and Flash. He also ate very well. So the swimming actually made him feel much better (he had been a bit off colour over the last few days for some reason, probably due to the discomfort in his shoulder). He wasn't limping after and he looked very relaxed this morning - no stress panting (another thing he'd been doing over the last few days).

So overall, it was successful! We will continue with it and he has got his next appointment on Wednesday!

Vera