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Glucosamine recommendations?


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Gibbs went to see the ortho vet this morning, and got a clean bill of health. His very intermittent mild lameness is due to being a senior citizen.

 

The vet did recommend glucosamine, and said the human kind would be fine. Any recommendations? I prefer the human kind both for cost and availability.

 

Ruth and Gibbs, who got a nice full body massage as part of the exam

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After checking with my vet, I use a bottle of horse glucosamine. The dose in 1/8th of a teaspoon twice daily. It cost me around $70 from the feed store. I've had it for two years and have used only about a sixth of the jug. It's a powder that I mix in meatballs.

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I get mine from Greyhound Gang http://www.greyhoundgang.org

 

ETA: In the interest of full disclosure, the certificate of analysis is from a company in China, so even though I have never had a problem with the product, I will probably discontinue buying from them.

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I get Cosequin at Costco. Normally $39 (180 count) and I usually wait until they advertise it in their flyers for 5 or 6 dollars off of that price when I buy. It's chewible and they always look forward to me throwing a tablet at them to catch right after breakfast.

 

http://www.costco.com/Cosequin%C2%AE-DS-Plus-MSM-Joint-Health-Supplement-for-Dogs-180-count-2-pack.product.11529852.html

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My rehab vet recommended that I alternate Cosequin DS and Platinum Performance CJ, about every six months.

I've been doing so for several years (dog is now 10 and has hip dysplasia with no symptoms), and overall, I'd say he does better on the PP (but obviously that is only anecdotal).

 

If I were doing glucosamine only, I'd use Cosequin DS. The larger bottle you buy, the cheaper per capsule (and I don't like the chewable - just more "junk" in it!)

 

diane

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I use Dasuquin + MSM - which I believe is made by the same company as Cosequin. It was recommended by my rehab/ortho vet and the surgeon who performed Torque's shoulder surgery.

 

I buy the Large Dog size (for dogs 60+ lbs) and give 1/2 tab to my ~40 lb dogs. Saves a bit of $$ that way.

 

Also, save more money by buying from Chewy.com [Note: I have no connection to Chewy. I just like saving money.]

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If you are going to try it, consider this. It looked like it was going to be a promising treatment, the evidence showed otherwise in humans, now people mostly recommend it either because they have not kept up with the evidence or as something for the pet owner to do that won't hurt but doesn't have much evidence of helping. The reason it was tried in dogs was mostly because of promising early research in humans- later research showed little evidence of benefit. The evidence in dogs is weak and conflicting. I have two arthritic dogs and I decided that it didn't seem good enough evidence to give it to mine. I'd rather spend the money on the petrol to drive them to their beach to swim. I found swimming really, really seems to help her. As does simply paddling. And of course it's vitally necessary that they get to go to new places to swim so that they can roll in interesting things.

 

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/glucosamine-update-a-new-study-and-a-new-product/

 

http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2015/02/what-you-know-that-aint-necessarily-so-glucosamine-arthritis-in-dogs/

 

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-top-ten-pet-supplements-do-they-work/

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Have tried the various glucosamine and chondroitin and msm combinations both for aging dogs and for myself, and also for a cat, and never saw or felt any difference from their use.

 

I think it may just be hype. Each time that I have heard from someone that it made a difference in their dog, they would say something that to me indicates that their belief was not based on anything really reliable as evidence, such as saying that only one dose made a difference between one day and the next. It takes a lot longer than that for something like a supplement to help a chronic condition, so it is highly likely that the dog was just having a good day and it had nothing to do with the supplement. Apparently the current research supports my belief that there is no real benefit to be had from these supplements.

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I thought it was hype, too, but the ortho vet said it's one of the very few supplements that makes a difference. I am fiercely aware of marketing claims, and would not give it a second thought to trying it if Dr. Gurevitch hadn't mentioned it.

 

Thanks for the all input, my friends!

 

Ruth and Gibbs

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