Leg Braces 4 Copper

It's taken me a while to post this because I really didn't know how I wanted to handle it.

Copper is Dad's dog, his little buddy. He, in a sense, was Dad's first dog since his childhood, as most of the dog's we've had were family dogs. When Dad passed away, we promised to take care of his little buddy.

So, here we are. Copper is approaching his very senior years. When Dad got him, he was estimated to be abt 2 yrs old, that was 11 years ago.

Now, Copper is suffering from debilitating knee problems. To make matters worse, he has, for most of his life, also suffered from a twisted joint in one if his front legs, which has progressed with time. He struggles to walk, and I have to pick him up and place him outside. Most of the time, I have to stay with him, as his legs, the right more than the left, buckles under him causing him to collapse on his rear.

I can only imagine the pain he is in. He is on Novox, which is Carprofen, also known as the generic of Rimadyl(R), twice per day. Because of his daily intake of this drug, he will need to have blood work done every 6 mos to test for organ malfunction/failure. For everyone's FYI, here is the FDA's sheet in PDF format on Carprofen: FDA Sheet - Novox (Carprofen).

In addition, he has already been experiencing some liver problems, which he is taking Milk Thistle & S-Adenosyl (SAMe). You can read about how S-Adenosyl (SAMe) helps liver function at Dr. Foster and Smith's peteducation.com website. He also has a hypothyroid. He is on Levothyroxin to help get his thyroid working properly. It must be working because he dropped from 52 pounds to 40 pounds. He could stand to lose at least another 5-10 pounds.


Copper's vet does not believe him to be a good candidate for surgery, which is one way of handling the situation, because of his other medical issues. She state because of the debilitating nature of his knees, in the future, a decision will probably have to be made about his quality of life. Of course, those that know me know I am not an easy person to convince euthanasia is in the best interest of anyone other than the humans who do not wish to watch a loved one grow old, weak and need constant care.


As an alternative to euthanasia, his vet did mention leg braces that may help him walk. She told me to do a search on the Internet for them. I did. They are expensive and well beyond my means. Because of this, I have started a Chip-In page for Copper. I am hoping we will stumble or convince some warm-hearted dog lovers
to help Copper live the remainder of his time, be it months, a year or more in the best way he can and in as little pain as possible.

You can read more about Copper on his Chip-In page, as well as donate as much or as little as you can, for any amount, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated!