Update on Raven

 Raven has improved since his last post.
We have not let his issues (still popping, still in pain, awkward gait) go untreated.  Turned out that our surgeon had never seen such an outcome from TPO surgery.  This led to further studies at a neurology clinic in another state, which revealed that Raven has fibrotic myopathy of his gracilis muscle. No idea how it happened, but we apparently caught it early enough to treat it so it doesn't cripple him.
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After a solid month of physical therapy, hydo-therapy, muscle stimulation, massage, heat therapy, laser and ultrasound therapy, Raven seems to be in less pain and more physically active, less limping and less painful.  He can now even jump to catch a ball.  He will need to continue water therapy and possibly laser for life.  He has also been taking herbs and tinctures (black walnut, irish moss, ligaplex 1,vitamin c, and others) to build up his ligaments, and the popping has lessened, but not gone away completely.  He is finally up to 83 pounds.


 

Sula has been on herbs and tinctures as well (osha, mullein, ligaplex 1, vitamin C and cod liver oil) to help her build ligament strength, and her hip popping has decreased far more than Raven's.  She is still much smaller than Raven (around 65 pounds), probably due to some lack of minerals during early development.  She was markedly smaller than Raven as a puppy, so she'll just be my little Hobbit agility dog. 

Hopefully they both will continue to improve. And again, if you are interested in getting a German Shepherd, make sure that the breeder has ALL dogs OFA certified.  Save yourself a lot of trouble.  I also recommend insurance for at-risk puppies as well, and get it as soon as you get the puppy so nothing is pre-existing.  It's been a life-saver for us and our dogs.