Hello and welcome to Storm. Such a happy, massive labrador.

Poor thing has been suffering arthritis in his hocks from an early age. It was so bad that he was referred to a specialist orthopeadic surgeon who felt the only solution was an arthrodesis. This is not uncommon and involves using a plate to stabalise the joint. Once stable, bone forms and no movement is allowed. As a result there is no longer pain.

However the recovery was complicated by an infection getting in. So Storm had a long time on antibiotics and restricted excercise.

He was eventually referred for physiotherapy to help. He was very painful and still holding the limb in the air most of the time.

We gave him a gentle excercise plan to slowly get him to have some faith in the limb and place it on the ground.

We are pleased to say that with teamwork, between us and the vets, we are starting to make some headway and Storm is now using the limb. We will continue to rebuild his muscle and look after the other limb too.

Good luck storm, mum and family!