I am going to write about this at great length elsewhere, but ... the last day of the AVMA Convention, I listened to lectures on joint disease from two top boarded veterinary surgeons -- Dr. John Payne and Dr. Denis Marcellin-Little. If there was one take-away for how you care for your dog (especially your large dog) and on avoiding the misery of osteoarthritis, it was this: TAKE THE WEIGHT OFF HIM. Dr. Payne told the story of a Labrador who was 30-40 pounds overweight but whod had both hips and both knees surgically repaired, and at no point and with no amount of advice, cajoling and blunt laying out of the facts would his owners do what he really needed: TAKE THE WEIGHT OFF HIM. Dr. Marcellin-Little showed study after study after study linking excess weight to health problems in dogs. Look, Ive been guilty, too. Fabes finished all her mothers meals when McKenzie was in the final stages of cancer, and ballooned to 76 pounds. Fabes blew one cruciate ligament (surgically repaired) two months after McKenzie died and will likely blow the other eventually and need another TPLO. She is now 68 pounds, normal weight, with 3-4 pounds to go to our goal of slightly underweight, BCS of 3ish. While she may have a genetic predisposition to having a CCL rupture, the first may never have blown had she been 10 pounds less than she was when it did. Surgeons love their work. The chance to cut is the chance to cure, theyre fond of saying. But what these two told a room full of veterinarians is that they would rather not have to cut on dogs who wouldnt have needed their knees and hips repaired if their owners had just kept them at or below a normal weight. Getting to and staying at just below normal weight is the most important thing you can do for your dog. Cut back. Add green beans for empty calories. Switch to a home-made diet that isnt the highly palatable concentrated calories of kibble. Exercise. If one thing doesnt work, try another. Or better yet, try a few things, together. Talk to your veterinarian. Whatever it takes, if you love your dog you HAVE to do this. Do not ever complain to me about veterinary costs when you arent doing what costs NOTHING to keep those costs down. Your dog will be happier, healthier and will live longer at a normal or just below normal weight. And he will not suffer in pain the last years of his life. Magic? This is it. No TPLOs, No NSAIDS, No supplements. Just good health for life. Cmon, folks. Start right now.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 17:00:15 +0000
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