AGE: 14
CONDITION: Cruciate Ligament
LOCATION: AUS
"Overall he is happy in himself, and looks forward to his daily walk"
I'd like to introduce my beautiful boy Sam. Sam is 14 1/2 years old. Sam's life with us started at the very beginning, his mother was our beautiful Goldie, and Sam (the pick of he littler) was given to my husbands father as a gift. When Tom passed away in 2009, it was only right that he come back to live with us.
Not long after settling in, Sam tore his cruciate ligament when on our morning walk. Richard from Castle Hill vet operated and Sam recovered very well, and we were able to return to our daily walks, (Sam's favourite pastime). We knew that joint problems would become an issue in time and agreed that he would stay in the house on those cold winter nights.
Early last year we could see the joint issues were knocking on the door, so anticipated Cartrophen injections to help through the colder months. When walking one morning Sam had trouble pickup up his back feet, and I had to help him hope with the lead under his belly to get home. Of course it was off to the vet, to find he had a growth in his spine, that was far too difficult to consider operating especially given Sam's age.
Sam struggled to recover from the die injected to conduct the X-ray, and we felt sure his time was nigh Our daily walks shortened, and Sam struggled to get up and about. Then I went to a local dog show, where Dr Katrina Warren was demonstrating the Wonder Dogs, and representing RHV. I spoke to the young man at the stand, as well as a customer who told me of the improvement of her 14 year old dog. So thought I'd give it a try.
We have been giving Sam RHV since May 2013. We mix it with an egg to ensure we don't waste any, and he loves the gooey raw eggs, so for him it's a real treat. I didn't think Sam would have made it till Christmas, and I know that his hips are far from great, but he barks at me at 6am, everyday day to go for a walk, so I can only assume that he is not in any pain and as long as he wants to go for a walk I'll take him.
We know Sam doesn't have all that long left with us, but I believe giving him RHV every day has given us more than we expected. He struggles to get up of slippery floors, and sometimes needs our help, but overall he is happy in himself, and looks forward to his daily walk. I have managed to find RHV on eBay, which makes it a little cheaper, but I'd be happy to pay the RRP if I had to knowing how well Sam is because of it. Thank you Rose-Hip Vital.
