K9 Muscle Massage

rocky_dp

rocky_dp

Citizen of Zooville
Hey there folks.

Question for you.

My girl is getting quite old these days (nearly 16 years) and with age of course comes problems particularly with muscles, bones, soreness and mobility. My girl is no exception. She gets around remarkably well for her age but I can tell she hurts sometimes and i wanna do anything and everything I can to help.

I've been giving her muscle massages, particularly in the back legs once a week/as needed for quite a while now and it seems to help but I'm wondering if anyone has any first hand experience with muscles to focus on, tips, tricks and techniques or the like to help me out and be more effective.

Normally she will lay on her side or back and I can just sit next to or behind her on the bed and manipulate her legs as I wish. She actually seems to enjoy it and she gives me feedback on what feels good and what doesn't but honestly I haven't the slightest clue what I'm actually doing. I can feel her muscles and ligaments and such, some feel more tense than others so I try to focus on the tense bits and watch for her reaction (if any) and go from there.

Any insight or useful rescue would be greatly appreciated.
 
Tumeric and black pepper in the food , Google for quantities and to read about what I'm saying

Curcumin the active ingredient in tumeric works wonders 💗
 
Horselover27SA said:
Any antiinflammatory can assist no matter ...yes I agree there is a point where jointe fuse but before that we can assist
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Meloxicam and Methylprednisolone, but these are only issued by a veterinarian. If it is difficult to stand up or sometimes collapses, it is worth talking to the vet. I've buried some old dogs, the large breeds usually this end.
 
MashaSobaka said:
Meloxicam and Methylprednisolone, but these are only issued by a veterinarian. If it is difficult to stand up or sometimes collapses, it is worth talking to the vet. I've buried some old dogs, the large breeds usually this end.
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She is nowhere near that. She can still get up and down, it's difficult sometimes but she can, she can "run" sorta.... not like she used to but she can move quicker than walking, we'll put it that way. Hell she can even jump up onto the couch or into the chair and then onto the bed with no assistance. It's just getting harder for her.
 
rocky_dp said:
She is nowhere near that. She can still get up and down, it's difficult sometimes but she can, she can "run" sorta.... not like she used to but she can move quicker than walking, we'll put it that way. Hell she can even jump up onto the couch or into the chair and then onto the bed with no assistance. It's just getting harder for her.
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That's good.
 
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rocky_dp said:
Everyone says she's doing hella good for her breed and age which is absolutely correct. Belgium Malinois don't usually even live this long so I'd say we doing pretty damn good. Think their age range is like 10-13 years or something like that.
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You have looked after her beautifully 💗

I believe natural ways are the best (just my opinion)

Thank you for caring for your dog like this
 
dddoggonedane said:
The main treatments have been covered. Methylprednisolone and prednisone have horrible side effects so that is absolutely last resort. Galliprant is liver-sparing so it is safer than other anti-imflamatory drugs. You can start galliprant with a prescription anytime your dog is having trouble moving like before. Your dog should be on joint supplements if not already. They start taking effect in about a month after starting them.

Massages would help. Laser therapy is recommended for this: https://www.aaha.org/your-pet/pet-owner-education/ask-aaha/laser-therapy/. Physical therapy can help. There are phsyical therapists for dogs who can create an at-home regiment for you. PEMF therapy can help. The common theme here is stimulating blood flow. As dogs age their blood flow gets weaker and all of these treatments help with that. Better nutrition can help by making your own dog food. There are dog nutrition specialist vets but I wouldn't bother with that. Recipes are online.
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I'm always hesitant to give medication unless I have too. I don't like taking pills and meds that I don't need cause they seem to cause more hell than they are worth so stands to reason it's the same for dogs. However she is on a joint supplement.

I hadn't heard of this laser therapy so imma look into that and see what it would take and if there if I have a provider local to me. Tha k you for that!
We do a bit of PT of sorts (leg stretches and strength training) but as with the massage I realistically haven't the slightest clue what I'm doing and I think I need some guidance from a pro.
As far as nutrition goes she has been on a high quality "human grade" (whatever that means) diet tailored for senior dogs for quite some time now so I'm thinking she might be good there.
 
dddoggonedane said:
Sound like you are going to do everything you can. Galliprant can turn a dog from unable to walk to walking almost perfectly. That is one medicine that I would not forget the name of.
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Good advice. Thanks a bunch.
I found that Galliprant on Chewy so I'll see if my vet will prescribe it.
 
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