an Alfie crisis

Alfie is fast winning the heart of everyone at Borough Farm, he’s got loving eyes, a fantastic nature, he’s clever and obedient, and although he’s only eight months old he’s showing an amazing ability with the sheep. He seems to have a quiet authority and he picks up his commands in just a couple of lessons. All in all he’s a bit of a dream!

So imagine the panic when he seemed to be developing a chronic lameness in one of his front legs. Not the sort of lameness caused him to carry the leg altogether, just a tenderness that reappeared three or four times over the period of a fortnight.

My real reason for concern was a condition called Osteochondrits Disseans (OCD) It’s an inherited condition whereby a piece of cartilage protrudes into the joint socket. We’d had a pup with the condition several years ago, and despite an operation on each shoulder, he eventually had to go to a pet home, as the stresses of work would have proved too much for his joints.

So with some trepidation I took Alfie down to Argyle vets in Braunton, where Jo Dyer is usually pretty good at dealing with any sheep dog dramas.

An initial examination only confirmed a tenderness in one of his front shoulders, I had to book him in for an x-ray a couple of days later, and returned home.

Things were tense on the day of the x-ray. So when Jo rang late in the day I was mighty relieved to hear that although not 100% sure, she thought that his shoulders were probably ok. He was prescribed two weeks rest and a course of anti inflammatory tablets. If there was any re occurrence of the lameness after that, she would need to make further investigations. A couple of weeks have passed and this week Alfie has returned to light training. I’m on tender hooks, delighted with the way his work is progressing, but anxious about his shoulders. It’s so far so good, but i won’t really feel confident that the lameness has passed for several months. We’ve all got our fingers crossed at the moment

 

Alfie’s shoulder x ray