“Alfie was born in April 2014 with deformities resulting from both elbows being congenitally dislocated. Because of this, he crawled all over the place on his front legs and this resulted in him developing a barrel-shaped chest and also showing an inability to fully straighten his hind legs. Without surgery he would have had to be euthanized for humane reasons as his mobility would have deteriorated as he grew and he developed sores on his front legs by the age of 8 weeks.”
surgery
Three surgeries later and all before the age of 12 weeks, his recovery was aided by significant physiotherapy input from SMART Clinic. At 7 months Alfie was an active puppy with only a short term lameness affecting his left front leg. It stayed that way until Alfie turned 3 years old.
"By then he had been able to manage regular walks of up to 10 miles or more (the longest was about 17 miles), but at this age he began to become lame, requiring intermittent use of NSIADs and restriction of activity. By age 4, he required continuous medication to maintain a happy, active lifestyle, and grade 3-4/10 left forelimb lameness was observed after rest or vigorous exercise.”
Antinol < /a>
On the recommendation of a veterinarian, Alfie started taking Antinol in the fall of 2018 to support his joint health and mobility. The driving force for owner Steve, who knows Alfie's need for a happy, active lifestyle.
“Since then he has been taking a combination of Galliprant and Antinol. He still enjoys walking 5-10 miles regularly but needs some "days off"! His lameness is variable but he remains a very happy and active dog with a good quality of life. Further surgery was at times considered, but to date his disability has never been significant enough or long enough for this to be deemed appropriate.”
Avid animal lover, father of Alfie and KOL, Steve Butterworth has been an RCVS specialist in small animal surgery (orthopaedics) since 1995 and was awarded Fellowship status by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2019. Steve graduated from Cambridge and post wards in 1986 in general medicine and at Bristol University Veterinary School he founded the Weighbridge Referral Service in Swansea in 1995.
