Max - Back To The Future
August 12th, 2008 by ComputerBob
I believe that God brought Mini, Pookie, Petey and Max into my wife’s and my life for a purpose, so I take my pet care responsibilities very seriously.
As a result, I’ve always been on the lookout for anything that could help them be happier, be healthier, or live longer.
Twice in the past, Max has had very bad back problems. I’m sure that the underlying causes were twofold:
- He’s a dachshund, so he has a long spine that makes him more susceptible to injury, and very short legs that aren’t very good at absorbing the shock that occurs each time he jumps up or down on anything.
- He has back injuries that are very obvious in x-rays, from being hit by a car before we adopted him eight years ago, when he was 3 or 4 (according to our vet’s estimate). Someone found him, injured on the side of a road, and took him to an animal shelter in the Frostbite State. A woman who worked with my wife at the time foster-cared for him while he was healing from his injuries and fell in love with him, but her husband wouldn’t let her keep him, so she asked us if we would consider adopting him. That was one of the best decisions we ever made.
Each time, Max did something to hurt his back while we were out somewhere, and each time, he was in so much excrutiating pain that I thought we might have to have him put to sleep, to put him out of his misery.
Fortunately, both times, it turned out that all he needed was a very strong pain medication and lots and lots of rest for several days.
Also fortunately, each time his back healed, he was completely back to normal, with no apparent residual pain, loss of motion or loss of enthusiasm.
Regular readers of this Journal know what I think of our wonderful next-door neighbors, Mike and Annamarie. We’ve been through a lot together, and have always been there for each other for more than four years. I think of them as family.
Annamarie has a real heart for animals. She fostered many dogs before she met Mike, and the two of them have fostered several more since they became a couple, including Scooter. One of the things that they sometimes give to older dogs is Anicare Glucosamine Glide 5000, a cherry flavored liquid that was formulated for racing greyhounds. Just one ounce of that stuff contains almost 3 1/2 times as much glucosamine and as much chondroitin and MSM as a daily dose of the glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM pills that my wife takes every day.
Here’s what’s in each ounce of Glucosamine Glide 5000:
- Glucosamine Sulfate: 5000 mg
- MSM: 1500 mg
- Chondroitin Sulfate: 1200 mg
- Vitamin C (buffered Ascorbate): 1250 mg
- Perna Mussel: 1200 mg
- Boswelia: 50 mg
- Sea Cucumber: 50 mg
- Tumeric: 50 mg
- Hyaluronic Acid: 50 mg
- Hydrolyzed Collagen II: 25 mg
- Bromelain: 25 mg
- Papain: 25 mg
Here’s what it says it will do:
- Maximize Performance
- Thickens Joint Synovial Fluids
- Helps Prevent Stiffness
- Strengthens Muscles
- Strengthens Ligaments
- Strengthens Tendons
- Reduces Joint Friction
A couple of days ago, it was Annamarie who suggested that we might want to give some of it to Max.
Of course! What an incredible idea! Why didn’t I think of that?
So, yesterday, Annamarie gave me a nearly empty jug of it to take to my vet, to see what he thinks of it. One of his technicians called me a few hours later to say that he thinks that it would be very helpful for Max to take it every day — and since it is so strong and he only weighs 10 pounds, the proper dose for Max is only 1/2 teaspoon of it each day. But he also said that it certainly wouldn’t hurt Max, and could possibly help him even more, if he were to take more of it.
That was great news for my wife and me — and for Max, too. Instead of 1/2 teaspoon every day, I’m going to give him at least 1/2 teaspoon of it twice every day, at his two normal mealtimes. I gave him 1/2 teaspoon of it last night and another 1/2 teaspoon of it this morning, and he absolutely loves it! Although a gallon of Max’s cherry stuff isn’t cheap, I consider it to be very cheap insurance because an antire year of cherry stuff costs just a tiny fraction of what each of Max’s back injuries have cost in the past.
UPDATE, November 3, 2009: For more than a year, Max has loved taking 1/2 tablespoon of his “cherry stuff” every morning before breakfast and again every evening before supper. I know it’s way more than he needs to take, but I’m just making sure that he’s getting as much as his little body can possibly use.
During the first month or so of taking it every day, Max’s entire back — from his shoulders to his hips — permanently grew almost 1/2-inch wider, and he gained more than 1/2 pound, even though, underneath, his little tummy stayed just as flat as it had always been.
I’m sure that’s because his cherry stuff did its job and made his back a lot stronger.
It’s been more than a year since I first wrote this Journal post. Max is about 13 years old now, and we’ve had him for 9 years. But even though he’s a senior dog, he still jumps and runs around and is still just as active as he was when he was a youngster.
And he hasn’t had any more back trouble!
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August 12th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Bob,
This may be a stupid comment, but I assume you know about doggie stairs, right? Our Chihuahuas are prone to the same problems as Max and we cannot afford to let them jump up or down from even minimal heights.
Regards,
Rick
August 12th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hi Rick,
Yes, and for the benefit of everyone else reading this post, I’m really glad that you brought that up. We have five sets of doggie stairs, placed strategically around our house. Max uses them almost all of the time, especially those few times that he has had back or tummy trouble. They do a great job of protecting his back, but as a happy doxie, he sometimes excitedly jumps down from the bed or sofa or loveseat or chair to greet us, instead of taking the time to use the stairs. We’re working on training him to use the stairs 100% of the time. In the meantime, we have carpet runners in all of his “jumping places” so that, when he does jump, he lands on two layers of carpeting instead of just one.