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Old March 29th, 2020, 04:12 PM
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Myka Myka is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Saskatoon, SK.
Posts: 945
Senior dog, weak hips, lots of allergies, what to do?

Hi all!

Roxy is just over 15 years old now, and 60 lbs American Staffordshire Terrier. She has allergies to chicken and fish (inc shellfish).

She is on a raw beef diet that is 83% beef, 7% bone powder, 10% organs (liver, kidney, spleen) that comes from the abattoir. This correlates to 19% protein, 13% fat, 0.4% fiber, 0.9% calcium, 0.5% phosphorus. She eats one pound of this per day split into two meals. A few times a week I add an extra tbsp of ground bone (the same stuff used in the diet mix).

I add about 3 tbsp of a veggie mix in the morning meal that I steam and grind up fine. It is broccoli, brussel sprouts, butternut squash, carrots, parsley, spinach, red cabbage, and blueberries. There is also bone broth added to this veggies mix before it is put into containers and frozen.

I also add in the morning meal 1.5 tbsp freshly ground flax.

A couple weeks ago I also started making "Golden Paste" out of turmeric, black pepper, and coconut oil. Roxy gets 1.5 tsp per day split into each meal.

Over the winter Roxy hasn't had much exercise, but now the weather is warmer she has been going for a lazy walk almost everyday for 0.8-1 km. She trots along for most of it, but I lets her stop and sniff things so she doesn't stay trotting the whole time. This is mostly on fairly soft, sandy, natural ground (we live on an acreage). She is noticeably sore in the evenings after the walks.

We have 7 stairs the dogs go up and down to get outside to their pen, and also a flight of stairs to go to our bedrooms, so she's been doing a lot of stairs since we moved here 18 months ago. I think this has helped keep range of motion for her hips.

I'm not sure the Golden Paste has made any difference at all, though I will continue using it until the 1 lb bag of turmeric powder runs out. I'm going to try adding MSM powder next time I'm out and about (with CoVID, who knows when). She can't have glucosamine because she's allergic to fish.

Anything else I can do for her? She's starting to get that "skinny butt" look around her hips, she's slow to get up from lying down, she walks base narrow, and accidentally drags her toes/trips frequently when walking/trotting. I'm starting to think she's getting close to the point where I will need to consider medications to help with discomfort/swelling.
__________________
Ella - Jun '20 - Reg AmStaff
Squeak - '15/16? - Tabby cat (adopted Nov '18)
Streak - '18 - Black cat (adopted Nov '18)
Peewee - Jan '06 - 6.5 lb Chi (adopted May '09)
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Roxy - Feb '05 to May '20 AmStaff (adopted Jul '11)
Myka - Nov '98 to Jan '10 - APBT X
Lacy - Sep '92 to Jul '03 - Sheltie
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