Hi all,
I have booked in with the vet for next Saturday for Ellie our Labrador to have a booster shot of Zydax. She originally had cartrophen about 2 years ago as she was limping....at the time she was under 2 years old. So the vet suggested the cartrophen to see whether that helped. Which it did not seem to make any difference. So we went for the xrays........which at the same time I suggested they xray her hips to check for hip displaysia. Which they did and yes she has hip displaysia but with no signs of arthritis just yet that we would have to worry about......and then 18 months later another xray was taken (Apr this year) and they are still looking good. I then changed vets as the original vet didnt think I was doing the right thing by not operating on her partly torn crutiate ligament in her knee......the limping problem. The new vet was happy with me to wait and see what happens and to manage her pain etc.....so we started the zydax as they had had much better results for the joints with that. And sure enough, the limping stopped. The vet did say that it was highly possible that she would tear the ligament fully.I said well then we operate. She is a very active lab and we live on 3 acres so her weight is always around 32/33kgs, which is really good for both the knee and the hips. I'm very happy with zydax. Anyway she had a booster back in about March, which is what the vet recommended. I then received the reminder letter that she was due again and upon calling to make the appointment for what I was originally told would be booster shots every 6 months that now she would have to have the 4 weekly injections again! I have noticed upon reading other posts that it seems the norm to have the 4 x weekly shots but I am wondering if it is truly necessary in such a young dog with no signs of arthritis. As I said her hip xray was only 5 months ago. The reason we have been giving her the zydax is purely preventative measures. She also has glyde powder and glucosimine tablets. The xrays taken in April were because she had been run over! My poor little girl. The vehicle went over her hips and I thought for sure she had broken something but she got up and walked over to the bush to lie down. As it turned out she had not broken anything but we had to amputate her tail as it had been degloved. I was desperate to save the tail........as you all know Labs are goverened by their tails!!! But after a week of bandaging every couple of days she was in too much pain still so the decision was made to amputate. After a couple of days she was her usual happy self. She has about 10cm of tail....enough to cover the bits!!! And I am sure that the tail goes even faster now......no wind resistance now!!! And the cups on the coffee table are safe..mind you the other night she had backed up to the coffee table with the tail going a hundred miles an hour and it was hitting a cup!!! So it is still possible to knock things off!
So if anyone has any advise as to whether I should do the whole 4 injections again or just stick with the one shot then that would be great.
Rochelle