My 11 year old boxer, Jerry, has been limping for the past week. Its his front right leg that is bothering him. It seems to come and go. He has no loss of appetite, and doesn’t appear to be in any pain. He doesn’t react if we touch/massage his shoulder or leg/foot. I think its arthritis.
I have been keeping him quiet - or as quiet as you can keep a boxer. He loves to go for a walk, and begs for one every morning. 11 is pretty old for a boxer, and I just want to make his ‘golden year’ as happy as possible. Yes- he’s a very spoiled dog.
Is it safe for me to give him some low dosage/baby aspirin?
Has anyone tried this?
When my veterinarian has suggested aspirin, I’ve been comfortable giving it. He had me give buffered aspirin, and he had me give 10 mg/kg. Of course, he knew my dog’s general situation, etc.
Could also be a pulled muscle. As dogs get older that becomes a little easier to do. For that matter as I"VE gotten older, same thing. Last year I pulled a muscle getting out of a frickin car.
Anyway, your vet can narrow it down between skeletal or tissue damage.
Take him in for x-rays. I had my 8-year-old golden in for x-rays for something unrelated to her hip, but the doc saw the hip and was like “OMG that’s some major osteo arthritis there!” She said that exercise actually helps, it’s when the dog is at rest that the joints get sore.
The x-rays weren’t as expensive as I thought, and the glucosamine was cheap from 1800petmeds.com
Your pup might not have arthritis, it might just be a muscle pull. Mine had one of those last year (we did not have x-rays) and a short run of anti-inflammatory (prescription from the vet) helped her get better quick. She also did not react to any touches of the area whatsoever.
I had been giving her aspirin for a short while but it didn’t help nearly as much as the anti-inflammatory did.
I give our dog an aspirin when she seems sore. Sometimes she just overdoes things, aspirin relieves the symptoms. But that’s on an occasional basis, not daily.
I’d try some aspirin and see if it works. If he’s not better in a couple days, see the vet. Don’t start giving aspirin regularly until you talk to the vet, as you need to find out what problems can result from that.
Our old dog also gets glucosamine chondroitin (is that spelled right?) for her joints. It seems to help. Recommended by the vet, you’d have to see one for dosage.
There is glucosamine in his dog food - Nutro Max, but maybe he needs more as he is getting older. I think I will try a small amount of aspirin this evening, he tends to be more active in the morning and the evening when its a little cooler. He sleeps most of the day!
I know I need to take him to the vet - since he’s a boxer, I’m just so scared they’ll tell me its cancer.