Gemma is a JRT who is between 6 to 8 years old and she is my first dog. We adopted her 3 years ago without any of her history. We have taught her to play, go for long walks and to chew tasty treats. She has learnt quickly and enthusiastically. She has Patella Luxation or 'trick knee' which she usually copes with well but a few days ago she lost her bounce. Anyone who knows Jack Russells know that they are normally full of bounce. The verdict from the vet is that it is her knee playing up with a bit of arthritis and also being a bit overweight. To help her with this we have decided to try her on a Raw Food Diet. I have got advice from the woman at Nurturing by Nature in Ferndown and Gemma starts her new diet tomorrow morning. It will take 3 days until she can go onto the diet exclusively. Her goal is to lose 2 kgs. I was also advised that she should only have moderate exercise which I find surprising as she is so energetic but we will moderate her walks and see how she responds.
I've included a picture of Gemma and I on the little boat going over to Christchurch from Mudeford Spit. I've inlcuded me in the picture in honour of Max who I have read about on Honey the Great Dane's blog. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Honey's blog and that is where I was introduced to the idea of the raw food diet.
Hi Gemma,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for coming to visit me! I always love making new friends. You sound like you were very lucky to find such a wonderful family to adopt you.
I hope you do well on the raw diet - it has been very good for me, although I understand it is not always suitable for every dog but most doggies I know who have swapped to it would never go back! :-)
By the way, I was thinking for your athritis - because you cannot do a lot of exercise - have you thought about canine hydroptherapy? This is swimming in warm water. It is very good for tiring out energetic dogs but has not impact on any joints or anything and is also great for weight loss. When we were living in Auckland, my humans took me to this great place to do this - even though I don't have arthritis - but just to try it out for fun. Here is a link to the place with more info on hydrotherapy: http://www.clubk9.co.nz/dog_hydrotherapy_and_swimming.htm
I also posted about my experiences here:
http://bighoneydog.com/1st-swimming-lesson/
and here:
http://bighoneydog.com/water-baby/
I think if you could find something similar near you, then it might be very good for you. Since you're little, you wouldn't need to find a place with a big pool but just a smaller "bath" with a water flow - these types of hydrotherapy places are more common than the big, warm pool that I was in.
Anyway, good luck!
I will add you to my blog list so I can come back and check out what you're up to!
Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane
Hi Honey
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you. Gemma enjoyed her first new breakfast this morning and I have written about it so we can look back at it in the future. I like the idea of hydrotherapy and will look into it in this area. We are moving back to New Zealand later this year so we can have a look there if we don't find anything in Bournemouth. Gemma is not too keen on water unless she is really hot so it would be interesting to see how she responded to warm water. She hated water when we first got her. As Honey would say, she was very stressy! But in the summer now she quite enjoys it and even manages with a small surf especially if she is playing with another dog.
Big hug to Honey from Gemma and I.