Regular visitors here at the land of milk and honey know that our older Newfoundland, Ellie Mae, has had problems with her back right leg – to the point where she couldn’t put any weight on it at all. We had X-rays done, and she was examined by an orthopedic specialist. They looked for every kind of problem including cancer.  In the end, they could not diagnose the problem and sent us off with an assortment of pain meds. She responded to the meds very well and in a few days she was walking without any – or much difficulty. As we ran out of first one kind and then a second kind of pain pills, she started to limp again, so we re-upped her prescriptions and now she’s back on Metacam liquid and two varieties of capsules. After a few days back on the meds, she’s once again going for walks and not limping.

For now, we’re going to simply keep her on the pain medication and keep her on reduced exercise. We’re also cutting back a little on her food intake, hoping to take off several pounds – less weight can only help with her mobility.