Karma’s Run and Knee - Lakeside, CA

There is a large natural park-like area on the West side of the park. It isn’t totally fenced and there have been coyote and snake sightings. Karma is not the best on recalls (coming when Ruthi calls her) but if Ruthi has a tennis ball the odds improve. So, once Karma got use to the noisy metal bridge that connects the RV park with the wild lands, she got a chance to chase her ball each morning.

The first morning, there was a young parent with a 2yo boy. Karma would drop her ball in front of the boy and wait for him to do his best to get the ball up and over Karma’s head so she could give chase. Oliver, the boy, was really quite capable for a 2yo and Karma kept returning the ball to him and occasionally the mother.

Then both the mother and I noticed that Karma was favoring her rear right leg. I thought, at first, that she might have gotten one of those awful stickers (common here in California) in her pad. But Ruthi couldn’t see any sticker – so they called it a day and went back to the RV.

Karma continued to favor her leg and needed help getting up stairs into the rig and onto the bed while at the same time not wanting to be picked up. When Ruthi touched the hip area, Karma let out a whimper. So, we made an appointment with our vet (PetSmart’s Banfield in Santee – and across the country, too).

Karma turned 9yo in December ’14, so it is expected that she would begin to show her age and slow down a bit. She had already began to ask to leave the park after 15 or so throws instead of having to be dragged home after 50 throws. We do give her a human version of fish oil and a dog version of glucosamine with her meals. We had a Rimadyl RX from prior strains she has experienced. So, we gave her a dose of that so that we all could get a good night’s sleep.

When we met with the vet in the morning, he commented on her strong rear muscles, called them “jumping” muscles, which fits for Karma. And, he did notice that she was favoring her right knee but there didn’t seem to be any major damage or muscle tears in either rear legs. PHEW!!!! He recommended we continue her usual meds but hold off on Rimadyl on a regular basis until absolutely necessary.