my (year old next week) border terrier has just come back from the vets. he's been limping on and off for a couple of weeks and the vet says he has possibly strained his shoulder. she has suggested 10 minute lead walks only for a week and has prescribed 'metacam' . he is such an active little chap and it's going to be dreadfully hard not allowing him the excercise he loves. he isn't a huge eater (i think he would be if he could !) but i really don't want him to put on weight while he's 'resting'. he is on hills - natures best 150g a day. i've been wondering if i could change his diet a bit and would appreciate suggestions. would it be worth holding back a bit with the hills, and putting some chicken in with it ?.
thank you.

val

maybe i should have put this under 'feeding'. just been reading through questions there. looks like boiled rice is a good idea.

I'm less concerned about his diet now - his limping seems worse and I feel I should take him back to the vets. I've read a message on here from another lady, her dog has been limping on his back leg but it seems very similar - limps after resting. My boy finds it incredibly painful to walk after resting, but after a couple of minutes he seems fine. This morning when he woke up, it was so sad to watch. The vet told me to wait a week (that was on Tuesday). He's on 11kg metacam a day. Am I being a bit to impatient ?. Has anybody got any advice ?.

Thanks,

Val

seem to be answering my own messages !.
just thought i'd let you know that he had an x.ray this morning. has severely damaged tendon and must rest for a minimum of 6 weeks and has been prescribed plt tablets.
please please can anybody give me ideas on keeping him occupied. he can only have walks of 10 minutes at a time.

thanks
val

Sorry I missed your original posting

It's difficult to keep active dogs like Borders occupied, but have you trying a kong or sterilized bone filled with a porton of his daily food allocation ?

Do you have a crate ? these are very useful for "resting" soft issue damage & you can give him the chewy toys whilst hes in there

Hi Val,
If he isn't allowed much physical exercise you are going to have to exercise his brain instead. So practice your training, and teach him new things that don't require much physical effort - finding things under cushions, etc.
Good luck!

Sorry val missed your post.

As others have said it is the mind that needs to be occupied. I have a ten month old Lab that has had to have restricted excercise so do sympathise! Especially hard when her two year old chum wants to play !

Lucy

Hi Val
when my springer had a similar problem with her shoulder recently, we had great fun in the living room with 3 flowerpots and 3 tennis balls, Heidi got a treat when ever she gave me the old tennis ball, but none when she gave me a new one.
Then we worked on to getting treats only when she gave me the old tennis ball with out knocking the other two flowerpots over, she became very adept at choosing the right flowerpot very quickly and she seemed to get quite a thrill out of it.

Hope all goes well for you

Robert

Hi Val

Going through a similar prob at the moment, my boy is on vets rest ater limping on his hind leg after a walk (more worries cos hip hip score came back worse than we had hoped) I have found that he doesnt eat so much when not excersising but he is a nightmare to feed anyway! We have been doing some obedience work round the garden and house to keep him occupied, I find that mental stimulation tires him out too!! Loads of usless tricks, 5 (left paw) 10 (right paw) high 5/10 play dead, roll over, crawl, say sorry (bows head paw up) and stuff like that, speak on command night mare, he just doesnt get it!! Never mind back to the vets Monday. Good luck on the entertaining front, I cant wait to get out again Im going mad!!!

Hi,

Slightly off track here, but have you thought about seeing a Chiropractor with him? One of our mad beardies has injured her shoulder while running, by putting her foot down a hole, falling and sliding along the ground. She has been to the chiropractor a couple of time and this has helped, but not completely solved the problem, as she is very difficult to keep quiet and calm and won't rest it properly.

manda
x

thank you all for taking the time to reply. he's fully recovered from his anaesthetic now and is flying around the house !. yes, he needs to keep his mind active, i'll make sure i teach him lots of new games. only problem to come in the near future is that we go on holiday on 8th sept and have a house/pet sitter moving in. poor lady, she does it as a favour because she is unable to keep pets where she lives. she's been looking forward to walking him. at least he'll have company and she can take him on lots of gentle walks.

any other advice would be appreciated.

thank you

val