Arthritis in dogs

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Jesstiggs

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Hi

I have just taken my 8 year old lab to the vet and she more than likely has arthritis, I just wondered how other dog owners handle this, and weather they feed anything for it ie supplements etc? if so which one would you recommend?

Many Thanks
x
 
My dogs been on seraquin and trocoxil since June and not had any lameness/stiffness. She's like a puppy again, even with the cold weather we have had no problems. Xxx she has arthritis of both shoulders and left elbow x
 
Trocoxil and occasionally tramadol, ruddy marvellous! It won't suit every dog, but it does mine. He doesn't get to run like a loony too often and the park walks mean he isn't throwing himself round too much (as opposed to wild woods walks)

The youngster with HD had green lipped mussel tablets for ages, but with careful management and limited exercise (well, we try! :rolleyes:) he is fine.
 
MSM first of all, and glucosamine if you can afford it. Bromelein is a good pain killer in cases of arthritis. Don't bother with vet supplied MSM products as they contain very little active ingredient. I buy from www.a1msm.co.uk and their site is good at explaining types of product etc. Worth a try before you end up on the usual steroid products that many vets advocate.
 
Salmon oil is fab, tinned oily fish just as good as supplements IME. Avoid tinned fish with tomato sauce as an ingredient in tomato exacerbates arthritis. Rinse fish in brine to remove the salt.

Remember that glucosamine needs chondroitin to be activated.
 
I do really swear by Hill mobility food. Mine has arthritis in both his front elbows and originally was looking at an operation. Not a great option for an active stafford. He had the pain relief, wasn't sound, had the 4 cartrophone injections, didn't completely stop it and before I had him operated on I tried the food and it works. 3 years on and he still looks completely sound and the vet is very happy with him. The one thing that is a pain the backside is that he will NOT go out for normal walks anymore. I can't often get him to walk from my house and he flatly refuses to go out with my dogwalker. I am very lucky in that he can come up to my yard and I can walk him and throw balls for him in our fields. He can choose how much running around he wants to do (keeps the ball when he has had enough) and is very happy pootling around afterwards. I always feel horribly mean when I take the girls out of the yard as he goes to the gate, then legs it back to the car..
 
Trocoxil is just a once a month tablet whereas previcox and Rimadyl are daily. We saw some terrible adverse reactions with previcox and we don't stock it anymore. Wouldn't give it to my dog but that's just from my experience xx
 
My dog reacted really badly to Trocoxil and it was a nightmare because it is so long lasting. Every vet I have spoken to since has said they would not prescribe it because of this. I have managed her stiffness with a good joint supplement (I use this one - http://www.equimins-online.com/blooming-pets/179-blooming-pets-flexijoint-powder-.html), plus 1 cod liver oil tablet and 1 turmeric tablet (both from Healthspan). It was the addition of turmeric that really made the difference. She is now well into her 14th year, which is pretty good for a dalmatian and doing really well (chasing rabbits, playing with her toys, enjoying a good walk).

Also having seen my previous dog suffer badly from stomach ulcers caused by Rimadyl I would personally not give any drugs from the vet unless absolutely necessary (most vets are only to willing to push them when in my experience arthritis is better managed as above and with regular exercise).
 
Gem's arthritis has been managed for the past two years with Seraquin and a year ago we added Fish4Dogs Salmon Oil, BioFlow Collar and the occasional CSJ Noake remedy when she is particularly stiff. Not sure if this will be sufficient this winter but we shall continue with this regime and see what happens. If her arthritis gets worse we will probably commence Cartrophen injections.
 
My old boy has Arthri Aid HA powder which has high levels of Glucosamine, MSM, Chronditin and HA. He also has memory foam topped beds which have stopped him having dead legs in the morning when he gets up and he has a good wardrobe of rugs.

He wears a light fleece during the day and then either a thicker fleece or a quilted rug at night depending on the weather and he has a padded waterproof to wear outside. The quilt and waterproof are Requisite ones which are Robinsons own brand. They are the best I have found and are really good value for money. They are well darted and have cross surcingles as well as a buckle at the front and I find they don't move at all. The only extra I got for them were rubber surcingle stops but at £2 for 8 from Robinsons they are not a problem. His thick fleece is a weatherbeeta new market stripe one and his thin fleece was made for him by http://www.fiveoakdogdesigns.co.uk/ really pleased with it as it is in my colours has cross surcingles and is personalised with embroidery!

Quilt:
http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/dogs/clothing/dog-coats/cosy-dog-quilted-rug.html

Waterproof:
http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/dogs/clothing/dog-coats/cosy-dog-waterproof-rug.html
 
My 14 year old patterdale x lakeland has just gone on Tramadil he started 2 a day morning and night and now ive got him down to 1 in a morning he is also on vetvits joint tablet 1 a day . He wears his thermatex coat when really cold outside and a waterproof one if wet, I also bought him and his 10 year old sister (Jack russell) a lovely bed off Amazon that heats up when they lay on it, it is plugged in the socket and have found that to be great they are under our bed so they are very cosy at night the beds are in a lovely leopard print velvet. We really do have to look after our OAP's.
 
Adequan helped our old dog. The loading dose is given IM once a week for a month, then every 5-6 weeks thereafter. We had her done every 5 weeks. The results were amazing; she was noticeably less stiff after the first two injections.

Prior to the Adequan, she was on Deramaxx, with Tramadol for pain. For her, the Deramaxx was nowhere near as effective.
 
MSM and Glucasomine like another poster said is what we give our older boy. We buy it from Healthspan. He also gets regular short walks and cod liver oil occasionally, along with lots of hip/leg massages :)
 
Plenty of conflicting scientific advice re glucosamine.
My dog had his arthritic hip joint removed a few years ago. I was spending a small fortune each month on supplements. After much research, decided to stop. I have seen no difference in his mobility.
As for fish oils, his food is half pilchards each day which may well help. Presumably it's better to consume in original state rather than via a pill processed somewhere.
Actually, it's all a minefield which stresses me out. I have no idea if I'm doing the right thing. Drug companies want you to spend out on their products which infuriates me. But, maybe those products do work.
I really want a definitive decision on what works and what doesn't!
 
Does anyone treat their dog with metacam for arthritis? My 12 year old is now getting regularly stiff and and shore around his back end and his back is very tender. He is still very active and loves to play but feels the affects of it.

He's currently on glucosamine and green lipped muscle extract but speaking to a friend who is a vet, it was suggested that the issue could be successfully treated with metacalm.

Does anyone else use with with success?
 
Meta am is a very good non steroidal anti inflammatory! We use it a lot for arthritic patients successfully and also for post op analgesia. Although we have been putting new cases on tricoxil instead because of its simpler dosing regime. Xxx
 
Ps before starting any Non steroidal a blood test should be carried out to assess organ function. Important that liver and kidneys are working well to toleraate the drug Xxx
 
twiglet84 said:
Ps before starting any Non steroidal a blood test should be carried out to assess organ function. Important that liver and kidneys are working well to toleraate the drug Xxx
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Yes that's what my friend suggested - a blood test and if kidney and liver function is fine he could go on metacam with a check up ever 6 months to ensure it wasn't causing any issues.

He doesn't have any liver or kidney problems that we know of thankfully.
 
My boxer has cartrophen injections when needed and a quarterly massage. He was on a green lipped mussel, devils claw supplement and mega high dose glucosamine but seems to have stabilised and is no longer on them. We now go 3 months between cartrophen injections after an initial 6 month trial of monthly injections :)
 
twiglet84 said:
Meta am is a very good non steroidal anti inflammatory! We use it a lot for arthritic patients successfully and also for post op analgesia. Although we have been putting new cases on tricoxil instead because of its simpler dosing regime. Xxx
Click to expand...

Is there seriously anyone who can't be bothered to remember to give their pet a daily tablet? Giving a long lasting drug when you have no idea how the animal is going to react seems a bit irresponsible to me.
 
It's not about bothering!! Don't be so harsh! It's about suiting pet and owner. Elderly owners may forget to dose everyday. Given the choice most clients go with trocoxil! It suits them and their pet and I don't call that irresponsible! my dog vomits with rimadyl should I have just kept using it incase I was seen to "not be bothering" using trocoxil! It has it's place as does every drug! Just because u wouldn't choose it doesnt make it wrong for everyone else!!
 
twiglet84 said:
It's not about bothering!! Don't be so harsh! It's about suiting pet and owner. Elderly owners may forget to dose everyday. Given the choice most clients go with trocoxil! It suits them and their pet and I don't call that irresponsible! my dog vomits with rimadyl should I have just kept using it incase I was seen to "not be bothering" using trocoxil! It has it's place as does every drug! Just because u wouldn't choose it doesnt make it wrong for everyone else!!
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I'm sorry if you think I was harsh. Of course I don't expect you to continue giving your dog a drug that makes it vomit but there are plenty of others to choose from and a lot of dogs are better off without vet drugs at all, supplements do work for many and after my experience I would certainly try these before resorting to drugs.

I took an 11 year old dog who was a bit stiff to the vet, gave her one trocoxil tablet and then had the worst 2 months. She could not keep any food down at all and then just refused to eat - this is a dalmatian I hasten to add, if they don't eat there is something seriously wrong. We only managed to keep her alive (and I know a lot of people will be horrified by this) by feeding her Bakers Meaty Meals - literally hand fed, a tiny piece at a time. Now I'm sorry but I think if a dog is likely to get a reaction like that then prescribing a drug that stays in their system so long is irresponsible.

I have spoken to several vets since and they all say they would NOT prescribe this drug for this reason.
 
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