Pooch and Mutt: Dog Health Supplements

Wilfie is my own collie cross and is he is almost 9 years old. Over the lst year or so, I had noticed some stiffness in his hindlegs which I isolated to his hips. An xray in Oct 2009 showed that he had some ********** changes in his R hip, so I began to give him 50 mg Rimadyl tabs once or twice a day as needed. He was still very mobile and happy at this stage; just a little uncomfortable after a long walk.

In Dec 2009, he went in the garden one Sat night and didn’t come back in. My husband and I heard him screaming and rushed outside to find him dragging himself along, completely paralysed in the back legs.

After an urgent trip to the Out of Hours surgery up the road, we were referred to the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals in Hertfordshire. He was admitted and had an MRI the next day that showed he had had a fibrocartilagenous embolism or FCE- this is where part of the disc between vertebraes breaks off, gets into a blood vessel and blocks it. Part of the spinal actually dies and this causes the damage. Like most dogs who suffer a ‘spinal stroke’, Wilfie slowly improved and regained mobility but was left with nerve damage in his L hind leg.

He will always be weak in this leg and is prone to collapsing on it when he corners but feels no discomfort from it. His main problem was now his R hind leg, which is very stiff. He was putting most of his weight on it and was in a lot of discomfort.

He struggled to get up stairs and into the car and if he walked more than 5-10 minutes he would lie down, crying.

At the time he started the Mobile Bones trial he was having 50 mg Rimadyl 2x a day and was still in discomfort. He could only walk for 10 mins a day and spent most of his time home, asleep.

After about a week he seemed more comfortable and I stopped the rimadyl. He was still quite stiff in the R hind leg but he managed a 30 min walk with no crying in discomfort on the 8th day.

On the 12th day of his trial, we acquired a new puppy and he became a lot more active. He plays and gets jumped on by her but I haven’t heard him yelp or show signs of being sore. He is sound and comfortable on that R hip, despite being weak on the L hind and gets walked for at least 45 mins a day, which he always looks forward too.

I will be recommending Mobile Bones to anyone with a dog in discomfort from joint disease and Wilfie will be continuing with his daily dose.

I just have to make sure the puppy doesn’t get to it first!

J.Mitchell BVSc, RCVS

As part of the trials both the vets were asked to keep a diary to monitor the dog’s progress. Click on the thumbnails below to read the feed diary.

“Please note.  Due to veterinary legislation, we are permitted from making any claims about our
products or allowing our customers to do so.  We have therefore had to remove certain words from some of the following comments.  Any alterations
by ourselves are in red text or italics.”

We hope this doesn't affect your enjoyment reading these experiences.