Alfie (4 month old Irish Setter) has injured his knee.  He started limping and holding up one of his hind legs about a week ago, took him to the vets Friday and were advised to make him rest it by shutting him in his cage / taking him in the garden on a lead.  He is now abosolutely climbing the walls, all he wants to do is run and play :( 

His leg seems to have improved, he walks on it but when standing he doesnt put his full weight on it.  I dont know whether to go back to the vets for anti-inflammatories or rest him up for another few days (its getting very stressful all this resting :rolleyes: ) Or is there a homeopathic remedy which I could give him (I dont like the idea of too many drugs at such a young age) I have read about arnica (sp?) would this help ?

And to top it all off Fagan has kennel cough, so no doubt Alfie will catch that soon :( 

Claire

Hi Claire, I have had Irish Setters for thirty years and I've come across something similar to this before. My boy Cassidy, now deceased, had a problem with his knee joints at this exact same age. He was diagnosed by Malcolm Ness, a nationally known Orthopaedic specialist, with Patella Luxation due to tibial tortion. In simple terms it means slipping knee caps because of the rapid growth in a twisting fashion of his tibial bones. In Cassidys case the treatment involved lots and lots of free running and as much jumping as he wanted to do. This kind of exercise strengthened the ligaments of the joint so holding the knee cap in position.

Now I'm not saying Alfie has the same thing, it would be wrong of me to contradict your vet, but you could mention to him that you've heard somebody elses experience and what it turned out to be. That might just make the vet consider other possibilities.

Please let me know how you get on.

Best wishes, Dawn R.:)

Thats a real scary thought, how did it affect him long term ?  I will go back to the vets if I can tonight I think and see what they say.

I should say the reason im extra paranoid about Alfie is because I own him in partnership and I will feel so responsible if something goes wrong and he cant be shown (especially after Fagan with his one ball - although that couldnt be helped)

Hi Claire, it didn't affect him at all in the long term. Once his bones had stopped growing, and the ligaments were strong and doing their job, Cassidy had no problems with his knees. Had an operation been neccessary, then that would have been a different kettle of fish.

I can understand your worry about the partnership thing though, I own two American Cockers in partnership, and I do get a bit extra conserned when it comes to their health. For instance, the bitch I have on breeding terms had an episode of ?open pyo at new year, and I was frantic trying to contact her other mother (Champdogs Gwen) on new years day. The things we put ourselves through!!

Dawn R.