Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Henry Follow-up

A few weeks ago I told you about how Henry started limping and favoring his right leg.  We were very concerned so we took him to the vet to get everything checked.

Much to our relief, there is nothing wrong with his knee and his hip condition has not worsened.  Unfortunately, though, Henry has developed arthritis in the area around his hips due to his hip dysplasia.

The vet recommended that we start giving Henry glucosamine and on days when things seem to be bad a baby aspirin to help with the discomfort.  We have been giving Henry the glucosamine for a little over a week now and I can’t really say that I have seen it make a difference.  We are going to keep it up for a bit longer and hopefully it will start to work its magic.  In addition to the glucosamine, we are also working to help Henry shed a few excess pounds.  Despite our diligence, it seems that Henry (and Benjamin for that matter) have gained a couple of pounds.  If we can get Henry back to his ideal weight this will help to relieve some of the burden off his hips.

Fortunately, Henry is handling this all very well.  He is a little slow getting started in the mornings (especially on cold and rainy days) and after he has been sleeping for awhile he gets a little stiff.  But he still is able to play in the yard and chase Benjamin & Luna and to Benjamin’s dismay he still is as fast as ever.