I took my dog Missy to the vet today because she has been having trouble walking and was really favoring one of her back legs for the last couple of days. After doing x-rays and the like his conclusion (pretty obvious from the x-rays) was that her hips are basically trashed and she does have arthritis. Her hip joints have several flat spots and are not at all rounded any longer. He prescribed daily dosages of Rimadyl for relief from the pain of arthrits and Cosequin to help regenerate cartilage in the joints. I am kind of pissed off at this point because he did not tell me any of the potential side affects of the Rimadyl and only gave me a pamphlet on the Cosequin. It seems like there are many potential side affects of Rimadyl. Do any of you have any experience with either of these drugs? Do any of you know of any alternative therapies?
Just as a side note, when Missy was young, she is 10 now, I taught her to fetch and play frisbee. She dearly loves both activities and will jump several feet into the air to catch a frisbee. All I can say is the ignorance of youth. I fully attribute her degeneration to those activities. I will never teach another dog to play frisbee. I am glad my Akita Rylee never learned.
