Arthritis help urgently needed

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CazD

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My dog has just been diagnosed with arthritis in his hips and knees. He was absolutely fine last week and then got poorly over the weekend. He didnt want to get out of bed and was completely uninterested in food. He seemed to be having trouble going for a poo. I took him to the vets on Wednesday and they suspected he might have eaten something which had got stuck. They prescribed liquid parafin. He seemed worse by Thursday evening, crying when he was picked up. Friday morning he was X rayed. They cant find anything apart from the arthritis and have prescribed metacam. He does seem a little better having taken the metacam. My questions are:

1. Would arthritis really come on that quickly?
2. Should he have a glucosamine supplement? he currently eats JWB senior food which does have some glucosamine in it.
3. What about a heated bed pad/fleece coat. He is currently clipped quite short.
4. Do magnetic collars help at all.

Does anyone have any other advice. He is really miserable at the moment and I cant bear to see him like this.
 
We have had a sudden dip in temperature here in West Sussex, my old boy has really felt it. Normally they sleep in the hall but he has been in our bedroom for a few nights as its warmer. Hes really slowed down. Although ok in himself. I use metacam, codliver oil and a magnetic collar (well until puppy ate it :( ). I have also just bougth him a jumper from a charity shop as hes a skinny old man.


I used a equimagnets collar from Ebay. I personally really like them, have them on the horse as well.
 
Temporary pain killers?

Is he lame, has he strained something (back as hips are involved?)

You could add Pooch and Mutt Mobile Bones supplement but if it's a sudden onset, I'd want painkillers for a week or so. You could stick tinned pilchards/mackerel on top of his food or get some salmon oil.
 
I agree with Cinnamontoast. It could well be your dog's back.

My GSD X whippet, now 13, went like you describe a few years ago. It came on quite suddenly - vets couldn't find anything wrong with her. We muddled along for a week or two, and then as she was creeping past our pub on the tiniest of toddles, the pub landlord noticed her condition. He felt very very gently along her spine (which to be fair the vets had done 10 days before with no reaction) and she winced at a certain very precise spot. A centimetre or so on and she didn't react.

I went back to the vet, and she was disagnosed with an arthritic spine. She now has Metcam when needed - not all that often - and I stopped doing obedience demonstrations with her, as she had started to hate the quick Down, Sit, Stand etc. routines.

The magnetic bands, wraps etc. are good. Have used them on my horse and myself. My science boffin friend says the underlying principle is simply that the magnets attract the iron in the blood, making the blood whip round the system that much quicker - i.e. a circulation booster.
 
I've found when my dog gets a new arthritic change the pain does come on very quickly, she was first diagnosed with it in her hip area at 7, she'll be 11 in october and recently had a new area develop in her neck, and we manage it with keeping pain killers in the house, dosing her when she's bad, keeping her moving and daily glucossamine and chondrotin tablets (I use human ones, she has 2 x daily) and as a result on a whole she's not on daily pain meds, just has them when she over does it from time to time. She also wears a magnetic collar.
 
the thing is with dogs is they don't complain, so could have been coming on for a long time, and only complained and showed symptoms when it got really sore. My old collie had spondylosis of the spine and that affected her gut, as the nerves come off the spine and can interfere. I would get a full MOT and some Xrays. Acupuncture works incredibly well in some dogs and not at all in others, so you could ask for that too XX
 
My mum developed severe arthritis in her hands and knees from the age of 40, and one of my dogs has literally just been diagnosed with it both of his hind knees - I had the disease as it is degenerative and so limiting. My dog has significant muscle wastage on both his legs - one more than the other - and can't put weight on it in 'canter' but is ok in 'walk' and 'trot'. He can no longer jump up on the sofa, bed or car, all of which he was doing quite happily last week! I should think that your dog has been compensating for a long while before the disease became openly apparent. I agree that dogs don't complain (of only animals could talk!) as, in my case, the vet said that my dog had been in pain for a fair while but had been compensating so hadn't seemed unhappy or in any pain. I am devastated as, with the nature of arthritis, it's only going to get worse and I can just try to minimise its progress and keep him as pain-free and comfortable as possible - keeping him gently active without overdoing it - but in the end he will become very unwell. I can't afford surgery so he will have to be put down when the time comes. He's only 9. Good luck with your dog and stay positive :)
 
Mine has fusing vertebra rather than arthritis but is just as painful and can have arthritic side affects. I noticed him stiff last night when he got up after lying by the door in a draft all evening with the temperature dip. I started rugging him up last year in a similar way as I would rug my horse. I start with a thermatex (weatherbeater) at night about now then go to a thick fleece (weatherbeater) rug and when it gets colder he has a quilted (Robinsons own brand) rug at night and his thick fleece during the day with a waterproof quilt (weatherbeater) on his walks. In the extra cold freezing snow bouts he also has a fleece blanket over him when he is tucked up in his bed at night. I have found keeping him warm like this definitely helped last year and have just started again this year.

Medication wise he is on Tramadol capsules (human drug for back problems) which I get from my vet and it is not expensive neither does it have side affects to worry about that you get with most of the animal steroidal drugs so he can stay on it long term and I just adjust the amount I give him according to how he is.

He is also on ArthriAid HA (glucosamine, MSM, Chronditin, etc) and as I have it for my other dog Yumega Oil for his Omega 3 and 6 which are also supposed to help with joint problems.
 
What a worry, I have total sympathy, but yes the arthritis can apear sudden, problem is it is something they will endure for a while before telling you! Plus if one leg aching they will overuse and perhaps strain another, which will look more acute.

Acupuncture was really helpful for my old collie, doesn't work for all but if it works it really works and will mean less drugs!
 
Should also say I got her a memory foam mattress bed from Pets at Home and she loved that!

No evidence for magnets but my friend bought her the brod pod ones and she wore them too.

The turning point was definitely the acupuncture though.
 
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