My yellow lab Cutter is 5 years old. He’s 85lbs and in great shape. He’s always been very active and well exercised. He tore his CCL (main knee ligament) when he was 8 months on his back left leg and underwent surgery. It worked well, however he now, at 5, has a severe case of arthritis and I was wondering if anyone has had experience with this in such a young dog.

I took him to the vet a week ago when I noticed he wasn’t putting any pressure on that leg when he was standing on all fours. He would put pressure on it when he walked and when he ran. The vet took X-RAYs of that leg, as well as his hips and back to make sure it wasn’t anything else, they were clear. The XRAY showed a severe amount of arthritis in his knee that had the surgery.

He has been resting for almost a week and he’s been on an anti-inflammatory. Since his surgery he gets Super Joint Enhancer once a day. The vet recommended I double that to 2X/day & that I put him on S.O.D. twice a day to see if that helps too.

Does anyone of any recommendations to help alleviate arthritis? I live in Brooklyn, NY, so it’s too cold now for him to swim. My vet is very concerned about his knee, he’s actually going to have weekly calls with me to check his progress, but I was wondering if anyone out there has dealt with this too. Any advice, comments are appreciated!
I have a very energetic dog that isn’t getting much exercise then house play and he’s starting to get mischievous!!!!

Damn, everytime I want to add a comment, Raggs has been there first. (Good going Raggs)
If and when the massage doesn't work, find a vet who will help you. It took me 3 vets, and we had good results. I am in no way capable of giving advice about your problem, but ours was solved after repeated visits. Yeah, it cost money, but it was worth it, our dog lasted alot longer then the first vet said she would!

Thanks for the input!
I'll try to see if I can do the therapy myself.

Helly, What's DMSO?

Hold on with the DMSO. That is very powerful stuff and can also do damage. I've worked with horses all my life and yes they do use it at the track, but they really know what to do. Also if you get the stuff on your clothes, and put your clothes in the laundry, it will get in the rest of the clothes and lingers on the walls of the washer. People can get cancer from improper use of DMSO. Farm supply stores also sell the industrial form and you wouldn't know the difference. I think if you want to go that route, you should speak with your vet first.
Also, DMSO is a carrier so anything that is on the dogs leg will also be carried into his bloodstream.:roll: