Improving/helping joint mobility on lab with OCD

[Ravenwood]

My labrador has OCD (osteochondrosis) in both elbows. He was diagnosed at 6 months with one and I refused the operation because the success rate was so low and also there was a chance of the second elbow developing it - which it did.

He is now 4 years old and a very fit lab who works about twice a week during the shoot season and the rest of the year comes riding most days.

He has had courses of Cartrophen (which do help) and I have tried Joint Aid and No Bute (Devil's claw) but his joint mobility is quite poor. His gait is stilted and he has developed muscles along his back to compensate and although he looks like he is fat because he is so broad - infact he is not at all.

Today I took him on a ride and we went further than planned and I know he is feeling very stiff. I can't bear the thought of pensioning him off at such a young age when he lives his life for working and going for a ride. He knows instantly what we are doing just by what I am wearing - breeks/jods etc.

Can anyone recommend anything that would improve his joint mobility.

PS: OCD has many forms, sometimes there is a bone spur that can be successfully operated on and sometimes its a disintegration of the cartiledge - which Toby has.

Any thoughts gratefully received

 

[Starbucks]

sorry can't be of any help, but I'm sorry for your dog. It's so sad that he's having joint problems so young!

I hope you get some good advise so he can come and have some fun with you!! I can imagine how horrible it will be for you both if you have to tell him he can't come riding anymore.

 

[Skhosu]

Have you tried metacam or previcox?
I'm not sure if your trying to avoid medication or no but these give significant relief to our lab+ retriever with arthritis.
I feel for you with a similar lab, only hers is hips. Is he the right weight for his type? As we noticed a significant improvement with weight losss on our girl.

 

[KarynK]

What are you feeding him? Often alternative therapies and substances have less effect it they are fighting a grain based diet.

Years ago a friend had a 9 yo GSD which had HD and was loosing the ability to jump in the car, I tried to suggest moving her to a raw diet but he showed no interest so I watched fustratingly.

After a while it began to dawn on him that my 12 yo was fitter and healthier than the 9yo and he started her on raw and just like a reformed smoker her told everyone that would listen !! Within a month or so she was leaping into the car. She finialy died aged 13, after a couple of strokes, not bad for a crippled 9yo?

If yours is cartilage degeneration then raw can help with a more natural delivery of nutrients which are not cooked and elements particularly within the bone part of the diet can help in these situations.

 

[Ravenwood]

I have looked into the Barf diet quite extensively as this seems to be the popular thing at the moment although I have to say the logisitics of it is quite overwhelming!

TSH - I am not avoiding any medication - just haven't been offered anything other than Cartrophen. I know I could use Metacam but I just feel that as he is only 4 I don't want to use anything that is the last resort - if you understand, ie: If I started using Metacam now, what could I possibly move onto in future years.

 

[Ravenwood]

Just to add he is currently being fed Chudleigh's Working Crunch morning and night with left overs added to his evening meal along with Joint Aid.

I do struggle with his weight, he is a neutered male, but I really do believe he is currently in perfect condition and gets an awful lot of exercise.

 

[Skhosu]

I totally understand, FWIW, my lab is 7 now and has been on it, off and on for 2-3 years and its working perfectly for her, then there is previcox for if it becomes less useful.
I believe Tia talks about green lipped mussels as being useful? I couldn't get a hold of them so haven't tried them

 

[nadinek82]

I put my 12 year old dog onto Superflex for dogs and later got him a magnetic collar. Wasn't too sure if the superflex was doing anything so i took him of that and kept the collar on. Since then he has been acting like a puppy again, carrying on alot and wanting to play all the time. I would suggest giving a magnetic collar a go and see if it helps. If not you could always sell it again on ebay.

 

[woolly]

Our late Irish Wolfhound had OCD at 10 months old of the shoulder and we optedfor the operation which was a great success in his case. We immediately put him on a loading dose of Synoquin but were told arthritis would affect him from that moment on. Haz died at 5 and 1/3 years old and had a ridiculously active life (up to 6 hours hard work a day and even when he was near death 2-3 was not unusual as he loved to hunt). We had Cartrophen but that was for his back legs and back but Rimadyl was used well for the last couple of months of his life or as and when it was needed. We never ever experienced any further problems with the OCD shoulder.
Weight management and maybe a reduction in exercise. We also had some success with acupuncture again for his back legs.
I would maybe change his exercise to swimming more and groundwork less. Best of luck!

 

[BigRed]

Buy him some Cortaflex. It is made my Equine America. You can get tablets or liquid. It really, really works. They sell it for dogs, cats, horses and people. My elderly Whippet could not get out of her bed. A week on these tablets and she was happily trotting around wagging her tail. Any decent pet shop and certainly horse feed shop will have it.

 

[Ravenwood]

Thank you everyone for replying - and lots of good suggestions. I may take him for another course of Cartrophen and discuss the other ideas here with them.

 

[c7mlm]

we had an 11yo arthritic greyhound we put him on cortalex for dogs and he was bounding around like a puppy . we put my 80 grandad on the cortaflex for humans and he said he felt a bit easier moving around (he has very bad knees) but did not feel up to "dancing"