u/roamingandy

• Borgi (border collie / corgi)
• 7yrs old
• Male
• Uncastrated
• No other health issues
• Weight 17.5kg
• Medication: 50mg Carprox in the morning for the knee. It makes a big difference to his mobility.
• Injury rear left leg. We've been told it's the knee.
• Time since injury. About 10 months.

Initial injury: Not seen, he just came into the room hopping. I suspect it may have occurred while jumping up onto the couch. We had guests/friends staying for a few weeks right before the injury. They were all feeding him and he put on a little weight which probably contributed.

Treatment:

• 3 weeks rest, walking improved, then gradual return to exercise.
• On light play with a ball (favourite activity) the knee failed and returned to limping and trying not to use it.
• Went to vet for x-rays, which showed extensive swelling
• Went to specialist for exploratory knee surgery, expecting an ACL tear.
• ACL found to be intact, recommended PRP injections and diet.
• 3 rounds or PRP injections 3 months apart, but no improvement shown
• Dropped 1.5kgs with dieting
• Began taking 50mg daily of Carprox, which helps a lot.
• Eats two chewy Glucosamine, MSM and Chrondritin treats a day

My main concern is that the specialist hasn't offered any diagnoses as to what the issue is. Is that normal? I feel frustrated not knowing what the issue is. I'll happily keep paying for treatments if they are working, but don't see any progress.

I asked if it might be arthritis and they rejected that, although didn't give a reason.

Daily symptoms:

• Dog always limps heavily after standing up from sitting/laying for a while
• Avoids putting weight on the leg after standing up
• Leg improves after 2-3 mins walking.
• Avoids jumping onto chairs and beds like he used to.
• Doesn't like energetic games in the house any more. Likely because they hurt his knee.
• Its summer now and that may be part of the small improvement we've had.

Routine:

• We have returned to playing with a ball on days when his leg is good. probably 4 times a week. We use less bouncy balls than before and limit the play more carefully. He has also learnt to be more careful rather than diving around everywhere.

• He has anxiety issues and his quality of life suffers a lot without it as its how he socialises with people and other dogs. Without a ball he struggles to interact and gets stressed. At some point he's probably going to need to stop, but i am reluctant to take that away from him.

• We have almost stopped beach visits. His other favourite thing. The specialist/surgeon told us they would be excellent for his knee as long as he was only allowed to run on wet sand and swim, but when we get home after beach visits he isn't able to walk and often is still struggling the next day.

• He's a high energy dog breed so if the knee is good i often take him for runs now rather than playing with a ball. Its not clear whether he has pain on these. He seems to enjoy them but wants to stop more often then when younger on runs to sniff things and pee.

Is dog ever able to play like before the injury without pain later: no.

Re-injuring the leg:

• When overdoing play/injuring the leg he occasionally pulls up and starts limping, but this is rare.
• Usually there are no obvious signs at all until 10-20 mins after play when he stops being able to use it.
• Re-injuries i define as when he's still limping or trying not to put weight on the leg later in the day after walking for a bit from standing.
• These probably happen once every two weeks. Usually he recovers after a day of rest.
• A few times he has really re-injured it, which looks the same at on-set. Ok walking home, but it doesn't recover and he limps heavily for a week or two
• These often occur if he dives in to catch a ball on the floor. I can see during play he avoids bending the knee/leg when diving to catch a moving ball on the floor
• Jumping to catch a ball in the air too often can also aggravate the injury.
• Unfortunately his passion is using the ball to play with new people he meets (then hanging out with them for pets and cuddles when he gets tired), and they are not always able to throw the ball carefully/correctly.

What i would like to know:

• What should i do next?
• Is it normal to not be given any diagnosis after this many treatments?
• Should i accept the injury is chronic
• Do you agree that it doesn't sound like arthritis i ask because the specialist was.. evasive when i asked that. It wasn't a confident response and i've wondered about it since
• Would an MRI or CAT scan, or some other evaluation be a good idea?
• Oh, i suppose. Is it possible the ACL is damaged and it was just missed during the surgery?

I can upload an x-ray in the comments if it'll help.

It led to a panicked vet visit with x-rays as its too big to pass out the back exit and if it got into the colon, i think that would require surgery.

He struggles with anxiety and arthritis though. When i talk to someone he needs an activity, which used to be a ball, but the arthritis is too bad for balls now. So, he either barks loudly or eats mud as he needs to be doing something. Sitting in a spot and waiting doesn't work as an activity.

Turning the eating mud into chewing a toy he only gets in that situation should work, but i'm reluctant to give him the ChuckIt toy after how scary it was last time.

Anyone have a similar but tougher toy idea?

• Borgi (border collie / corgi)
• 7yrs old
• Male
• Uncastrated
• No other health issues
• Weight 17.5kg
• Medication: 50mg Carprox in the morning for the knee. It makes a big difference to his mobility.
• Injury rear left leg. We've been told it's the knee.
• Time since injury. About 10 months.

Initial injury: Not seen, he just came into the room hopping. I suspect it may have occurred while jumping up onto the couch. We had guests/friends staying for a few weeks right before the injury. They were all feeding him and he put on a little weight which probably contributed.

Treatment:

• 3 weeks rest, walking improved, then gradual return to exercise.
• On light play with a ball (favourite activity) the knee failed and returned to limping and trying not to use it.
• Went to vet for x-rays, which showed extensive swelling
• Went to specialist for exploratory knee surgery, expecting an ACL tear.
• ACL found to be intact, recommended PRP injections and diet.
• 3 rounds or PRP injections 3 months apart, but no improvement shown
• Dropped 1.5kgs with dieting
• Began taking 50mg daily of Carprox, which helps a lot.
• Eats two chewy Glucosamine, MSM and Chrondritin treats a day

My main concern is that the specialist hasn't offered any diagnoses as to what the issue is. Is that normal? I feel frustrated not knowing what the issue is. I'll happily keep paying for treatments if they are working, but don't see any progress.

I asked if it might be arthritis and they rejected that, although didn't give a reason.

Daily symptoms:

• Dog always limps heavily after standing up from sitting/laying for a while
• Avoids putting weight on the leg after standing up
• Leg improves after 2-3 mins walking.
• Avoids jumping onto chairs and beds like he used to.
• Doesn't like energetic games in the house any more. Likely because they hurt his knee.
• Its summer now and that may be part of the small improvement we've had.

Routine:

• We have returned to playing with a ball on days when his leg is good. probably 4 times a week. We use less bouncy balls than before and limit the play more carefully. He has also learnt to be more careful rather than diving around everywhere.

• He has anxiety issues and his quality of life suffers a lot without it as its how he socialises with people and other dogs. Without a ball he struggles to interact and gets stressed. At some point he's probably going to need to stop, but i am reluctant to take that away from him.

• We have almost stopped beach visits. His other favourite thing. The specialist/surgeon told us they would be excellent for his knee as long as he was only allowed to run on wet sand and swim, but when we get home after beach visits he isn't able to walk and often is still struggling the next day.

• He's a high energy dog breed so if the knee is good i often take him for runs now rather than playing with a ball. Its not clear whether he has pain on these. He seems to enjoy them but wants to stop more often then when younger on runs to sniff things and pee.

Is dog ever able to play like before the injury without pain later: no.

Re-injuring the leg:

• When overdoing play/injuring the leg he occasionally pulls up and starts limping, but this is rare.
• Usually there are no obvious signs at all until 10-20 mins after play when he stops being able to use it.
• Re-injuries i define as when he's still limping or trying not to put weight on the leg later in the day after walking for a bit from standing.
• These probably happen once every two weeks. Usually he recovers after a day of rest.
• These often occur if he dives in to catch a ball on the floor. I can see during play he avoids bending the knee/leg when diving to catch a moving ball on the floor
• Jumping to catch a ball in the air too often can also aggravate the injury.
• Unfortunately his passion is using the ball to play with new people he meets (then hanging out with them for pets and cuddles when he gets tired), and they are not always able to throw the ball carefully/correctly.

What i would like to know:

• What should i do next?
• Is it normal to not be given any diagnosis after this many treatments?
• Should i accept the injury is chronic
• Do you agree that it doesn't sound like arthritis i ask because the specialist was.. evasive when i asked that. It wasn't a confident response and i've wondered about it since
• Would an MRI or CAT scan, or some other evaluation be a good idea?
• Oh, i suppose. Is it possible the ACL is damaged and it was just missed during the surgery?

I can upload an x-ray in the comments if it'll help.

For context, I’m a branch manager in a relatively well known national store. A few years ago I did the usual UK thing of accidentally signing off a few work messages and emails with a couple of X’s after first replying to my wife. No bother, we’ve all done it.

At first, a couple of people replied and also signed off with the kisses. A month in, the kisses were almost store-wide and appeared more often than not in any communications. Two months in, all communications in store had kisses. By month three, if a communication didn’t have a kiss, relationships were questioned and “Have I pissed you off?” was a regular occurrence.

By month six, just about everyone had accidentally included a kiss to at least one supplier, regional manager, or someone at head office… Sometimes a kiss was returned. Fast forward another six months and almost all communications with some suppliers were signed with the trusty X, regardless of age, gender or position. Same for head office.

We’re multiple years in now, most of my staff weren’t here for the dawn of the kisses but have picked up the habit. Not a single person has ever questioned why it’s a thing. Last year I noticed that other regional managers that I’d never spoken to before were signing emails off with the X’s. This morning I opened WhatsApp having been added to a group for an upcoming event only to see the big boss had… Signed off with a fucking kiss.

Unprofessional it may be, but the gradual spread has been incredible to see the most British display of “Eh, not gonna question it” and I like to imagine that at this point it has cheered countless dozens of people up. If you have been affected by this, apologies/you’re welcome (Delete as applicable) 😂

Anyone else accidentally influenced your entire company?

Edit: I sincerely apologise for not signing off correctly. Sorry love you xxx

My older dog is nervous and often runs to hide if i accidentality do something that maybe could be directed at him.. like stubbing my toe causing the door to bump a tiny bit, or maliciously dropping a pen. Hit him with a pillow though and its immediately 'how dare you!' and we're play fighting beautifully.

Tried with my teenage puppy who's a bit princessy and only likes rough play on her terms, will go off and grump if i do anything she doesn't like, like picking her up, so i didn't think to try with her as it didn't feel like her vibe. Hit her on the head with a cushion yesterday though and immediately she's 'outraged' and having the best time ever.

If you haven't already, hit your dog with a pillow today and see how they react.

There's a few more test vids here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvOEMmVGDe1Kv9cgb4f5KS3JTs6c2rR2z

I feel us mods should be able to sue them for the amount of our time they are wasting.