Old dog started limping

[fankino04]

Asking for a friend, she's got a 13 year old lab who has intermittently been lame on front leg, generally it has wore off after the first 5 minutes of a walk, then last year it disappeared altogether ( he had lost some weight then too), it's come back now and doesn't get better with exercise and she's wondering if she should try him on a joint supplement ( riaflex or you move) before going to the vet or just go straight to vet. I'd say vet first but she thinks it would be better to see vet when she can say if he has responded to the supplements in any way, obviously assuming with his age it's arthritis.

 

[meleeka]

Yumove is excellent. She’d need the extra strength one, but I noticed a difference in a few days. Mine is lame when not on it, but then normal when she has it.

Whether she should see a vet first depends on how painful she thinks it is. They will likely give her Metacam or similar and either suggest Yumove, or prescribe an anti inflammatory medicine. If it’s only just a niggle she could wait, but if it’s anymore than that I’d go personally.

 

[fankino04]

Ignore that I've convinced her to go to the vet in case it's something like elbow displacia etc

 

[fankino04]

Yumove is excellent. She’d need the extra strength one, but I noticed a difference in a few days. Mine is lame when not on it, but then normal when she has it.

Whether she should see a vet first depends on how painful she thinks it is. They will likely give her Metacam or similar and either suggest Yumove, or prescribe an anti inflammatory medicine. If it’s only just a niggle she could wait, but if it’s anymore than that I’d go personally.

I'd say he's pretty lame but still wanting to run about etc, she says he's not lame when she walks him only if he's just got up after lying down for a long while.

 

[Clodagh]

I was told (I don’t think on here but maybe) that you support your dogs joints with supplements when young, when old if they go lame they will need more. Saying that but I do think supplements can help, but only if it’s a very minor issue.

 

[skinnydipper]

I wasn't going to bother commenting when I read the OP this morning but posting this again now, it might help someone recognise when their dog is in pain and seek the advice of their vet. You can add ear position to the list.

To me it is no worse than not recognising the signs that a dog is in pain and letting the dog struggle without appropriate treatment. A dog doesn't have to be limping to show that he is in pain. Panting, stiff on rising, reluctance with stairs, hesitant to jump in/out of car, playing less, lazy sit, lowered tail, walking slower, etc, etc.

Dogs aren't suddenly at end stage arthritis and in chronic pain. It starts with pain in the joint, left untreated or inadequately treated, this follows a pain pathway leading to maladaptive pain.

Not all drugs work for all dogs. Sometimes different drugs will need to be tried before finding ones that work for that particular dog.

Inflammation and pain in joint > muscle pain > neuropathic pain > wind up. This doesn't happen overnight so, when the dog finally receives the appropriate treatment, the owner should not expect immediate improvement.

If an owner hasn't noticed the subtle signs their dog is in pain (a whisper) and only notices when their dog is limping or can't walk (shouting) then it is likely that poor dog will have been suffering for some time and may need to go straight to a multi modal approach - different drugs for each type of pain. Inflammatory (joint pain); muscle/soft tissue pain, nerve pain (neuropathic).

On AAD there are owners who have said their dog is limping, reluctant to treat with veterinary prescribed, evidenced based, treatment but quite happy to fart about with supplements.

ETA Arthritis is a progressive degenerative disease and over time dogs will need additional medication or therapies adding to their treatment regime.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I would want an elderly lame dog on Metacam or similar, the time for supplements was when she first noticed intermittent lameness.