I have a 14 year old german shepard

by Jane

Hi I have a german shepard Kim is her name she is 14 years old and she has athritus in her back end, she has started to drag her back legs slightly and is taking the skin off her feet and damaging her nails.

Im looking for a solution for my baby. I bought her some boots to wear but they just make her feet very sweaty and they although soft are a little awkward for her to walk in.

have you any suggestions that would help, she is taking metacam now and seems a little better but she needs help. how much are the wheel chairs roughly. thanks in advance jane


Total German Shepherd:


Hi Jane,

Congratulations on your senior GSD. That is quite an accomplishment to have a German Shepherd reach that age.

As for the leg issue I would assume that that is basically because she has arthritis but if I were you, to be sure, I would have her checked at the vet to make sure that the problem is not because of any other issue.

That being said, I can suggest that you put her on glucosamine to help those old joints. But I would also ask your vet about giving that to her to make sure that there are no potential drug interactions, etc.

And if you go the wheelchair route, you can get a good used one for probably around $300 or so. I have gotten one from doggon wheels (http://www.doggon.com) before and they were excellent to work with. Good luck!