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I've wanted to post this for a while but didn't want to jinx anything. As some of you are aware, one of my top priorities if I ever sell my farm is to get Jake a new pair of hips. He wrecked his in the aftermath of a spine injury, and then they got much worse 15 months ago when Luna jumped on him in the driveway on ice, and Jake went down splat, with one back leg due south and the other due north.
After that, they were loose in the sockets, jangling around and clanging loudly with every step. It was horrible. I could even feel them jostling around if I held his tail when he walked. When he ran, I could hear the knocking loudly from 30 feet away! I nurtured him through the summer, taking him for short walks 3 times per week. He could barely make it for 15-20 minutes, and then would need aspirin. Same with swimming. After the original injury I also got in the habit of rubbing his hips, bringing healing warmth to them and massaging the muscles around them, while he ate breakfast and dinner, and throughout the day. He's gotten into a habit of expecting his hips to be rubbed now -- he enjoys it.
The chiropractic vet had very little hope for recovery. This winter I tried one last thing -- total rest. Short of keeping him crated, we did *nothing* and made that our hobby. He and Luna would wrestled around and sometimes run around a bit. But no walks. No encouraged exercise. After 6 weeks or so, the knocking seemed quieter and his hips seemed "tighter." He started running around in the deep snow, and started to get some bounce back to his trot. His gaits started to look for normal and he started to regain some muscle tone in his butt. I was about to post his improvement in here when he had a setback, aggravating the original injury. His left hip went back to knocking. As soon as an appointment was available, I got him chiropracted. His left hip still knocked, but his whole back seemed much freer and more elastic. We went back to the forced rest -- the warm weather allowed up to sit outside in the sun while I studied back in February! I got in a habit of tying him to a long rope so he wouldn't wander off while I was focussed on chemistry. He took to happily napping in the sun.
And the knocking disappeared again. And his gaits again started to look much more normal. I started taking him for walks 3 weeks ago. Actually, we jog because I discovered he could move best at a fast trot. We go 2+ miles, and now can walk, trot and even canter with no knocking. 2+ miles -- at first he'd get tired at the end, but not sore. He'd lay down for 10-15 minutes, and then jump up and run around with Luna playing. Now he doesn't even get tired, except on really hot days. He's getting some spring back into his stride, which looks so much more normal than the flat hobble he did for so long.
Of course the hip rubbing continues to this day, 20 months along, and I expect will continue for life :D. But he hasn't needed aspirin since last year. Now if I sell my house, surgery isn't on the list. Instead, I'm hoping to fill my dream of taking him hiking in Acadia, now with Luna too!
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