We've got our boy back!

ARLI THE 2 YEAR OLD 65KG GREAT DANE – EARLY ONSET WOBBLERS AND HIP DYSPLASIA SYMPTOMS

It’s well known large and giant breeds are more genetically predisposed to experience rapid growth, which makes them more susceptible to developmental joint disease. This post is about one such giant breed – Arli the 2-year-old Great Dane who was displaying numerous pain signals and signs, including reluctance to jump, vocalising and anxiety. This is his Antinol story as written by his Mother.

ARLI’S STORY

“Our beautiful Great Dane (not pure bred, his mum is a Dane/Mastiff and dad is a pure-bred Dane) will be turning 3 in November, his name is Arli and he weighs around 65kg.

At around 18mths we started noticing that he continually fell over, especially when running, we thought he was just clumsy and, in all honesty, it must be hard trying to work out how to run and stop in such a large body. We also noticed that his nails dragged along the ground and he always wanted a boost up to get in the car or on our bed (which is a rare occasion). We put this down to laziness.

HIS BEHAVIOUR STARTED TO CHANGE

2020 was a rough year all round, being in an extended lockdown (VIC) we started to notice some changes in his behaviour, so we let him stay with some family for a weekend so that he could play with some other dogs. He came home exhausted, which we thought was normal until that night he woke us up at 3am crying in pain. I was so worried it was bloat but he was hanging his head really low, his ears were pinned back and he cried with every step he took. We went to the emergency room who offered him pain relief and he met with a new vet that afternoon (after suffering some trauma from previous vets and nail groomers)

Wobblers Disease, if you read about it online it’s really quite daunting and scary, but we started him on weekly acupuncture treatments straight away and added in some basic supplements and anti-inflammatory meds when needed, as advised by his vet, she also instructed twice a day massages and some general physiotherapy, which I was able to manage at home. He spent a few weeks just resting and we started to notice an improvement in his neck, but we were becoming aware that his hips weren’t quite right.

SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

I spent some time researching a raw diet and slowly started the transition, his neck has continued to improve but his vet suggested he may have hip dysplasia and could possibly need two hip replacements. This was a scary thought. With Arli being so large and scared of almost everything (his acupuncture treatments were done outside until he enjoyed and trusted seeing his new vet) he isn’t the sort of dog that you can force to do something, we weren’t sure how we would X-Ray him without it becoming a traumatic event, as he would need to be under anaesthesia, we held off on the X-Rays and I continued to research and completely switch him onto a raw diet, I also stumbled across Antinol Rapid and the results seemed too good to be true.

ENTER ANTINOL

After just two weeks on Antinol, we can see a huge difference in his behaviour, coat, his gait but most of all he wants to run and play again. He still hasn’t played off leash with another dog, we will get there though, he is back running and smiling again. He can jump up on our bed or in the car without hesitation.

Antinol Rapid, along with raw feeding and acupuncture have changed his life, changed our lives and hopefully saved or at least put off any major surgeries. To see his fun-loving personality return, after almost 12mths of pain, brings us so much joy. We have our big beautiful boy back and will be forever grateful.”