Worried About Ross

 We all like to be right, to be able to gloat and say, well I told you that years ago. Sometimes though, there would be nothing better than being wrong. Ross is lame again, and yes it's front right. Ross first started with lameness on his front right when he was 4 months old, an examination showed that he had pain in his right elbow. 4 months is the age where ED first shows its ugly head. He was prescribed with metacam and did improve. Over the next few months we were back and forth to the vets and Ross was intermittently lame. I guess the fact he never looks where he's going doesn't help, and at about 6 -7 months old he ran into a rock which was partly covered in snow, the poor lad screamed blue murder. To add insult to injury, he developed pano and then showed pain in numerous long bones in his legs, but pano is self limiting and Ross continued to limp on his front right. Though his Xrays were sent to Rutland House the results were inconclusive, and a loud click developed in Ross' elbow. We took Ross to paws for fitness for physio and Gillian did make a valid point, the clicking was intermittent and had it been on the elbow joint it would have been continuous. 

Ross has never looked quite right on his front, his movement seemed restricted from very young, as I said I hate to be right but I told friends that I was concerned from very early on that there was something not quite right. As Ross matured he's limp became less noticeable, though one judge commented in June 2019 that she noticed he was dropping on his forehand. We found that throwing the kong too many times on a walk aggravated things, Ross would retrieve it obsessively and make you feel guilty for not throwing it, but we restricted it to 4 throws a walk and that really did help. Obviously skidding to a stop was putting too much pressure on his elbow, so when I ask people not to throw it again, I'm not being a party pooper, I'm not out to spoil his games, I'm putting him first! 

I so wish I wasn't right, I so wish I was wrong, but I said to Steve when Ross was a young dog that he would struggle with his mobility on that elbow in middle age, actually he's not even middle-aged yet, he's not 5 till May and it's hard to see him so stiff in the afternoons and evenings. Maybe I'll have to reassess the walks, maybe he'll have to go back out with Kaiah, maybe running like an idiot with Sammi is doing him no favours at all.  

I think tomorrow I'll start him on a 5 day course of metacam, he has it on repeat prescription at the vets so I have some in the fridge for him. I did start him on Glucosamine and Chondroitin about 5 weeks ago, but if that is going to help it will take a little longer to kick in.

My poor Ross, so stoic and happy with life. I'm the one stressing and crying, I'm the one worried about what the future has in store, Ross is living for the day .. maybe we have a lot to learn from our canine companions!