#dogs with hip arthritis

[laservetbcure]

Nutrition plays a crucial role in managing hip arthritis in dogs. A well-balanced diet that includes essential nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, glucosamine, and antioxidants can support joint health and reduce inflammation. When choosing or preparing food for your dog, prioritize high-quality ingredients and consult with a veterinarian or veterinary nutritionist to create a diet tailored to your dog's specific needs. Avoid foods that can exacerbate inflammation or lead to weight gain. With the right nutrition, you can help improve your dog's comfort and quality of life despite hip arthritis.

[lavampira]

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[unusualsims]

[valoale]

I’m starting to be convinced my dog is having joint/structural damage pain and I’m scared

[coffentyme]

Call me a German Shepard the way my hips give me problems

[my-wildflwr]

it is rough having one sick dog but no one prepares you for having two sick dogs

[noracharlesandherdogasta]

I just watched my dog deliberately use her booster stair assistive device wrong 5 times in s row, before she deigned to use it correctly.

I know she's doing it on purpose, because a) I know she knows how to use it, and b) she stared me in the eye as she used it wrong, every time.

She just hates it, and is stubbornly hoping to wear me down until I give up on it. Jokes on her; I'm going to be even more stubborn and force her to have a better quality of life.

[fingertipsmp3]

Do you ever just stare at your dog like “how the hell do you have the energy for all of that”

[cripplecharacters]

Whats your opinion on fantasy races/ethnicities where every/most member has a disability? As an example from my writing my fantasy races with wings have less bone density to accommodate for wings and all of the people that live in one place of my fantasy world are deaf/hoh because they just have a gene that makes it congenital (Pretty sure this is a real thing, but rare)

Thank you for your ask! I think it depends on by fantasy races you mean sentient non humans or actual humans from a made up country / human based ‘species’ like dwarves or halfoots.

With the first scenario, I think it’s completely fine! After all, there are a lot of animals that would be considered disabled by human standards. Some species of fish don’t have eyes, certain breeds of dog are very likely to develop joint issues such as arthritis or hip dysplasia, and most animals don’t have hands! It also creates fun word building for cultures with different ideas of accessibility and healthcare.

For your winged person question in particular I think it’s fine! Birds in the real world are much more at risk of developing osteoporosis, especially in situations where they aren’t getting proper nutrients.

The second example should be avoided. Making an entire species that’s just a human with a disability is incredibly dehumanizing and frames disabled people as ‘others’. a-little-revolution made a good post regarding fantasy dwarves about the subject.

If you want your fantasy ethnicity to be more genetically likely to have a certain disability/disabilities that’s fine, that happens in real life! Just note that more likely doesn’t mean everyone will have it, such how deafness is more common on Martha Vinyard’s island than other parts of the US at 0.65% [x]. Just be careful to not imply that the populations disability is what makes them different from neighboring populations.

I’d say to be on the safe side, if your story has humans, make sure your humans have disabilities and not just the fantasy creatures!

I hope this helps!

Mod Rot

[normal-with-adhd-is-a-joke]

If you apply "adopt don't shop" to people looking for service dogs and get mad at people for getting SDs from breeders you're not an ally to people who need SDs.

Health is of the utmost importance when selecting a service dog. A dog with cancer, hip dysplasia, arthritis, or many of the other common genetic dog illnesses can't be ethically expected to work and would need to be retired. For a person who spent thousands of dollars and/or several years training their dog, this could be devastating. Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to predict the health of a well-bred dog vs the health of a dog with unknown genetic history. An ethical breeder will be able to test their dogs for genetic illnesses and not breed dogs that are likely to end up sick later in life. They can also test their puppies before they go to their new homes, ensuring that you get a dog that has as few genetic problems as possible that could lead to early retirement. You should still always have money set aside for if an accident or illness does happen, genes are only a small part of health, but good genes are a good start.

There's also the factor of personality traits. Most people who train service dogs get puppies to train. It is possible to train an adult dog to be a service dog, but it's not as easy because an adult pet dog will likely have developed some cute but service-dog-unacceptable behaviors like whining/begging for food, barking when excited, or jumping. When adopting a puppy from a shelter, their adult personality is almost completely up to chance. You can pick a puppy that seems calmer or more attentive or more gentle, but that could change as they grow. With a breeder, you can observe the parent dogs in action. Of course, every dog will have a unique personality, but two calm parents are likely to produce calm puppies, two obedient parents are likely to produce obedient puppies, etc.

Training a pet dog you already have is good. Adopting a dog of any age to train is good. Buying a puppy to train is good. None of these is morally better than the other and which one you choose depends entirely on personal needs.

[image ID: a banner that says "this post is about disability, don't derail" on the first line and "ableds don't speak including talking in tags" on the second line.]

[megpricephotography]

Old dog, new tricks! Guess who has finally learnt how to retrieve toys directly to my hand at the age of 11 years? Oh yes, Flynn has!! Flynn's not reeeally supposed to chase & fetch toys outside these days because of his arthritis (in his hips & his paws, maybe some soreness in his back too). Running around at a steady pace is absolutely fine... but jumping to catch a moving ball, making sudden stops, sharp twists/turns, or sliding around etc makes him sore later & isn't health long-term. At home, we've been casually working for months on doing a marginally more formal retrieve. Flynn sits & waits while I throw a toy, once it lands, I tell him to go get it & bring it back, he places it directly in my hand, he gets a treat. Retrieval like this does not come naturally for Flynn & it's taken a while for him to get the idea but he still likes a challenge... Finally, we have success & Flynn's now able to play a slower version of "fetch" outside on walks, which he still enjoys & is much safer for arthritic joints.

[laservetbcure]

As our loyal canine companions age, they may face various health challenges, including the development of arthritis in their hip joints. Arthritis in dog hip, also known as canine hip arthritis, can cause discomfort and limit their mobility. However, with proper management and care, we can significantly enhance their overall well-being and quality of life. In this blog, we will provide valuable advice on managing hip arthritis in dogs, focusing on modifying their environment, implementing a joint-friendly diet, and incorporating exercise routines that are gentle on their hips.

[smytherines]

∇owen (make it fluffy? pretty please?)

A fluffy aging/old age headcanon for Owen 💜

(I'm having kind of an emotional day so... sorry in advance)

Okay. In order for Owen to actually grow old, this has to be an au where he doesn't die on the staircase. I think there'd be a long, complicated, painful reconciliation process, but ultimately Curt and Owen would get back together. In this version of reality they get out of the spy game, and have a remote little place somewhere far away from either of their countries. Maybe Costa Rica or something like that. So let's take all that as read.

I like to think that Owen gets to have a home. A real home. That someday Curt brings home a stray dog he finds on the side of the road and Owen is dead set against having a dog, but eventually he and the dog become inseparable. I like to think that he gets a little patch of land, and spending his time growing things- beautiful flowers, vegetables he uses to make dinner- helps to heal something in him. Something he thought was broken forever after the fall.

I think as Owen gets into his 40s, a lot of the injuries he sustained in the fall start to get worse- arthritis in the places he had breaks, scar tissue, etc. Modern knee replacement surgeries last for around 15 years. I'd assume 1950s joint replacements are not quite as durable, so maybe ten years on he needs to have surgery to replace the worn out knee and hip replacements Chimera did for him.

And even though they've made a lot of progress, Owen hides how much pain he's in for a long time because he's terrified that Curt would leave him- if not for needing surgery to begin with, then certainly for all the care he would need for the long recovery afterwards. Curt wasn't there after the fall. He doesn't know how bad things were. Owen explained some of it to him, but couldn't bring himself to talk about having trouble walking, needing help to go to the bathroom, being constantly on the verge of tears for months because the pain was unbearable. The stuff nobody likes to talk about with injuries like that.

He has a lot of insecurities about himself that he didn't have when they were together before- burns, scars, limited mobility, chronic pain. His body is different now, and it's a long, slow, horrible grieving process to deal with that.

But eventually he has to have these joints replaced. He could hide the pain, but he can't hide it from Curt when his knee starts suddenly giving out on him. He was using a cane only on really bad pain days before, but as the joints start to break down he has to use it every day. So he gives Curt an out, tells him to go, maybe even tries to push him away. Owen tells himself that this would be easier for him to survive than Curt seeing the reality of his injuries after the surgeries and choosing to leave when Owen needs him the most. At least this way they're parting on terms Owen has some control over.

But Curt is older now. He's had a chance to be in a real relationship. The kind of thing where you wake up together and go to sleep together and have a home and a life together. And also he's stubborn as fuck. Curt has never had a problem caring about people, but he's never really been able to care for someone. To take care of someone. Hell, he could barely take care of himself sometimes. But he refuses to leave. He refuses to let Owen push him away. He chooses to commit, to stay, even if its messy and uncomfortable.

I think before all this, Curt was probably doing some defense/security contractor work- there's plenty of it out there for someone with his background. He does enough to pay the bills, which isn't much. And in his spare time he takes up woodworking. It keeps him busy. Keeps him doing something with his hands, something he gets to be creative with. So when Owen comes back home after having these big surgical procedures, Curt has built a little ramp so the wheelchair can get up the stairs. He's put up railings and hand-holds everywhere he can think of. He rebuilt a couple of doorframes to make them wider. He made a little cart on wheels that fits over the wheelchair, so Owen can still prepare and cook food if he's up for it. He really goes wild with it. He's still him, he still struggles to say how he feels in words, but he finds other ways to express it. He takes care of Owen's little garden while Owen is recovering (and accidentally pulls half of it up because he doesn't know the difference between a weed and a growing vegetable, but it's the thought that counts)

And they get through it. Curt understood on an intellectual level what happened to Owen after the fall, but didn't really have any way of knowing exactly what it means to be that injured, that dependant on the people around you to survive. So this thing that can and does drive a lot of couples apart (seriously look up the stats on men leaving their partners when they become sick/injured, its bad) ends up bringing them closer together. It ends up soothing that constant fear that Owen has had ever since they got back together- that at any moment Curt might just get sick of him or decide he isn't worth the trouble and leave him again. It helps Curt understand how vulnerable Owen was when Chimera convinced him to work for them.

Eventually Owen heals up, the chronic pain issues go back down to his post-fall baseline. He is still a full-time cane user, but Curt loves to find the most beautiful downed branches, exotic hardwoods, and make Owen a variety of canes. He gets into woodcarving so he can decorate them. He tells Owen that the cane makes him look distinguished, that its actually kinda hot. And Owen chooses to believe him.

By the time Owen is in his late 50s, maybe early 60s, he's a full time wheelchair user. He can walk short distances with a cane, but for the most part its better for him to just use the chair. But thats okay, because the house is pretty well adapted for him already. Curt helps him when he wants to tend to his garden, and he makes big family dinners whenever Tatiana and Barb come to visit.

Curt's mom visits while she's still alive, and although Curt and Owen never outright tell her about them, she knows. She knows the same way a kid knows that their unmarried aunt with short hair and a longterm female roommate is probably a lesbian, even if nobody ever says that word in front of them. She treats Owen like a son.

That's my soft, sappy, overly sentimental alternate universe headcanon for Owen Carvour growing old. That someone cares about him. Someone cares for him. Not because he's useful, not because he has skills they can exploit for their benefit. That Curt cares for Owen just because he loves him. And Owen loves Curt.

My dumb fluffy headcanon is that after the first half of their lives being so brutal and violent and painful, they get to have a second chance. A second chance they never should have gotten. A chance to find things that are beautiful and wonderful and hopeful. And they take that chance together.

[percygranate]

Hey, so I usually don't ever ask people for money, but I am kind of at the end of my abilities and cried too much today to care about it anymore:

My dog, who I rescued in Croatia in 2017 after he was found eating dirt in the forrest, Lu, is turning 8 years old next mont. He is the sweetest and softest fur baby, and look like an ice bear. He never ever has been in a fight with another animal and thinks everyone, no matter the species, is his best friend.

He is also my best friend, and I initially adopted him after starting therapy after moving out of home for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia, and C-PTSD, which had me not leave the house for years. He is my best friend in fur and helped me to get back out into the world again after it had been nothing but awful to me.

I fixed myself, fixing Lu, when nobody wanted him and nobody wanted me.

For two months now he has been dealing with severe hip and back issues. It started abruptly, with him no longer wanting to play and be on long walk, suddenly struggling to get up, and as something our vet called “just a little muscle inflammation” and a one-week medication treatment that cost us 150€.

Lu felt better for 1 1/2 weeks and even started playing a little again before the pain came back. This time, we paid 100€ for a milder medication as the vet did wanna put him again on those string monster pills he was on before as it would’ve damaged his system. I gave him those pills every day (he, by now, is such good boy at taking them) and he did again better for a 1/2 week without daily medication.

Again, he couldn't get up, started crying at night, is no longer is able to sleep in my bed, no longer lay on his back, and he only lays on the floor, trying not to get up and walk around as he is in pain, he no longer plays… So we went to the vet again.

This time, we paid 80€ for a few of the strong medications he got in the first place. Diagnosis: “Old boy. Arthritis. Inflamed hip.” We were meant to give him two of those pills on days he is struggling more than the by now basic.

Two days ago, I was on a walk with Lu, just leaving my apartment complex, when he collapsed for the first time and fell down in the middle of a crosswalk. There was no chance of him getting up. Car drivers hated us, and I bagged for minutes that he would try getting up.

After I nearly started crying, he finally forced himself up, walked a few meters, and fell again. It was like his hips just couldn't carry him anymore. Watching him to try forcing himself up but struggling so badly is something that kills me every time I see it, but I am used to it by now, sadly.

He finally got up after 30 minutes and we walked home. I gave him his pills and after a nap we ran around pretty well, even the next day he was doing so much better. I should've not thought this was over.

Today my boyfriend took him on a walk. The same thing happened, but this time Lu screamed out in pain first. This time there was no getting up. Even after my boyfriend called me and I ran over in my pajamas as Lu is known to be a mama’s boy.

We called our vet, who told us we needed to go to the animal hospital. The animal hospital told us they would charge us roughly 2500€ for an X-ray and have Lu there overnight and treated.

The secretary from the animal hospital told us we were not allowed to pay it back at monthly rates when we asked.

We asked why it was so expensive; she replied, “We are the only ones doing this in the city, so we can choose our prices as we see fit.”

We asked how other people could afford that, crying in the middle of the street as our dog still lay there, unable to walk or even get up, and she told us, “Everyone can afford that.”

When my boyfriend told her he needed to talk to me about it, she replied, “Yeah, sure. Just call us if you actually need and want our help.”

I am disabled, suffering from Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Sympton, am in the middle of getting a POTS diagnosis, and have Autism and ADHD. I am physically due to the chronic pain not able to work. I don't have that kind of money to just whip out like it is nothing.

For my boyfriend, this kind of money is more than his monthly loan.

There is no worse feeling than when your pet is in pain and needs to be medically treated, but you can't get them the help they need because YOU do not earn enough.

We cried and tried to get up Lu for an hour before calling my mother, who I am low contact with as she emotionally abused my for decates and is part of the reason I have C-PTSD. She drove us the a Animal Hospital outside the city, as they were the last suggestion our vet could give us and the told us they would charge less for the same kind of help and work.

There, we were prepared to pay the 300€ to have Lu no matter how, even if we needed to/manage to have my mother borrow it to us.

The vet was amazing, seeing the problem the moment Lu finally stood up and walked for the first time.

His hips are fucked, probably the back too, and he has Arthritis. But right now, they can't do any of the X-rays because first his fever and inflammation need to go down.

Today we paid 100€, Lu got a big shot, and for the first big pain and fever, starting tomorrow, he will regularly take two of those initially given strong pills once a day so he hopefully can have the x-rays next week.

My dog was mentally a puppy jumping around like a little deer until this started. He always wanted to play, always ran around and did something. This took all the joy in life for him.

I’m asking for help to pay for the X-ray and whatever treatment will follow for Lu after.

https://www.paypal.me/percygranate

UPDATE:

Today we had the X-Ray appointment and paid 352€

Hips and back are okay.

BOTH OF LU’S KNEES ARE FUCKED.

Cruciate Ligament Rupture & the knee joints are fucked.

The operation will be a two timer and cost us 4000€

I am currently not able to tell you how I am going to pay this. I barely managed to pay the X-rays today.

I amcurrently not even in possession of a life insurance that could help my dog if I kick it. /ifywim

Again:

I am BEGGING, if you have even a euro or dollar or whatever to spare, please help me.

https://www.paypal.me/percygranate

(paypal also uses my deadname, so please ignore that)

[lastoneout]

Hey @ disabled people who use wheelchairs I got a question.

So I have the kind of chronic pain where sitting in normal chairs is usually hell on my body for a number of reasons, most specifically because I'm short and so sitting with my legs like, hanging?? for lack of a better word, because they can't be at a 90° angle with my feet flat on the floor, puts a lot of strain on my hips and knees.

But with a lot of lightweight manual chairs I've seen they're set up for your measurements, and your feet are usually flat on the rest while your knees are at that 90° and your thighs are more or less level, so basically I'm just wondering if a wheelchair helps you avoid "sitting in bad chair" pain, or if it's still painful but the trade-off is worth it?

Additional info: I have hEDS and fibromyalgia, as well as arthritis in my neck and back, and pretty bad sciatic nerve issues, and while sitting is almost always better than standing, and I do have knee braces, the braces only extend my standing time by like an hour or so and I can't bend my knees as far in them so they kinda just make sitting worse, and sitting in a normal chair that doesn't fit me for even like 20 minutes starts to cause a lot of pain. I want to go to school in the fall, but I would have to take the bus and that would involve a lot of standing and sitting in uncomfortable seats, and then sitting in the seats at school would also hurt, a problem that would be exacerbated by the knee braces rather than helped by them, I'm wondering if I should stick it out with the braces or ask my pain clinic about fitting me for a wheelchair.

Also sadly online school isn't an option, with the way my ADHD works I need to be at the school to actually learn anything. And while I do have a walker with wheels and a seat it's high enough up that my legs hang and you can't really put a footrest on it, so sitting in it is just about as bad as sitting in a normal chair.

But yeah, yesterday I ran like three errands(dog sat for a friend for a bit, had a doctors appointment, and then had to hang out at walgreens for a while waiting on a prescription) and while I spent most of the time sitting in cars and chairs they weren't chairs that I fit in and so by the end of the day I was at like an 7 and today I'm feeling all sorts of residual pain bcs I clearly pushed myself too hard, but I like really want to fucking go to school so I'm just trying to figure out how to make that happen without destroying my body.

[quakeroaksguy]

Au where everyone in the xmen are retired and has some form of service animal

Storm has a rough collie for her chronic fatigue and POTS

Logan has a bullmastiff for his MS/rheumatoid arthritis

Scott has a vanilla lab as a guide dog after going blind

Gambit has a Great Dane for his ptsd

Jean has a golden retriever for chronic migraines

Morph has a boxer for their bipolar disorder and cptsd

Beast would have a Newfoundland for mobility issues that’re more targeted to his hips and knees

Jubilee would have a Samoyed for her epilepsy