Hi Margaret,
my boy just turned 9 a few weeks ago & about 5-6 months ago I started using a heat wheat pack you put in microwave for 1-2 mins, he has a weird spiral thin bone with nerve endings from his spine growing out of the top of his left back leg, the vets working that day said they have never seen anything like it before, we found it by accident when he had a xray for stones blockage, he doesnt seem to have any arthritis but after he wees & poos he kicks his back legs sometimes & then that’s only when he starts his limping & walks very slowly, I’ve been telling him “No Kick” after he poo’s & he’s been better…I see a Phsiotherapist fortnightly & he puts a heat pack on my lower back & neck/shoulders for about 20mins then I have a gentle massage & what a difference this makes also stretching excerises really help as well, so I started applying a heat pack to Patches left leg lower back side after he limps home, then I give him a very gentle massage & I do streching exicises to his back legs while he’s laying on his side, he’s been doing really well since I started doing Physiotherapy on him it’s made a big diffence & he’s been doing really well lately & he hasn’t been walking home slowly anymore…
Ask your vet if he knows someone that does “dog physio” also swimming is really good for stiff bones & sore joints can you take him to a doggy heated pool, my Patch was presribed Gabapentin for his IBD pain & this weird spiral bone when vet found it, the Gabapentin made him sleep I don’t like giving him any drugs or joint supplements he has IBD/stomach & reacts to alot of things plus I don’t know if the Gabapentin helped his lower back, I think the heat pack & massage helped more….I feed him a diet high in Omega 3 foods, he gets tin salmon in spring water drained with boiled potato for lunch + 2 Green Lipped Mussels they’re “K-9 Natural” freezed dried mussels + 3 Almonds a day as a treat, he acts & runs like a puppy, you’d never know he’s 9yrs old & has a few health problems when you met him…
