Arthritis treatments

[Bellaz]

Our Border Collie Jess is 8 years old and already showing signs of thickening in some of her joints the Vet says this is arthritis. She's a very active dog, generally swims every day and goes for long walks, sleeps in a warm area of a night. Any ideas of what we could give her, don't want to start her on Medication from the Vet this early if we can try something else.

[Bellaz]

I should mention Buffy our previous Border Collie only suffered arthritis in her latter years (she lived to 16 1/2)and she had cruciate ligament surgery on both legs, but Jess hasn't had any surgery at all.

[Bill Fosher]

You don't mention whether the arthritis is bothering her or if you've just detected it by exam. If there is occasional pain, you can give her enteric coated asprin -- one full-strength (325 mg) tablet up to twice a day for a 50-lb dog. You don't want to give this to her every day for more than a week or so at a time without talking to your vet.

 

We also used to add a product called Synovi MSM to our old dog's food, and I think it helped at least some.

[Bill Fosher]

NB do not substitute other pain killers for the aspirin. They do not have the window of safety in dogs that is needed.

[Bellaz]

Thanks Bill, on odd occasions when she gets up she will give a little whimper but not all the time. The Vet was doing her annual vaccination and exam and said he felt some thickening.

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

We have been using nupro silver on Pep but, it's a taste that dogs like or not. Pep does My guys did not. It's a powder that goes on food.

 

The cheapest price I found is at omaha vaccines pet supply.

[bc friend]

Glucosamine and chrondritin(sp?) supplements may help some. Also you might look into a orthopedic type bed. Some dogs have some sensitivity to grain products which can aggravate arthrits - Sara's arthritis improved dramatically when I changed her food to grain free.

[Bellaz]

Someone said you can get chewable glucosamine tablets, which would work better with Jess as with the Powder we got for her she has to have it morning and night and as she has toast (she's eaten since she was a puppy) for breakfast it's not possible to give it to her.She doesn't eat any other human food...

[Katelynn & Gang]

Have you ever heard of "Hip Bones" dog treats?

 

http://www.lelandcherry.com/

 

I recently bought a few bags. They are dog bones that have cherry juice in them. Cherry juice is suppost to help joints, in dogs and humans. All my dogs get them now, even the young ones.

 

Katelynn

[Maralynn]

There are a number of canine chondroitin/glucosamin/msm supplements on the market. Drs Foster & Smith have several to choose from. They are a natural supplement with no drugs, and many are in the form of a treat. Remember that they are not an instant fix - it can take a few weeks to see a difference. But I've heard many people have had very good results with this type of supplement

 

Hope this helps!

[Bellaz]

Thanks so much for your replies, will see what we can find in the chewable kind for our Jezabell.

[SoloRiver]

Solo was diagnosed with severe arthritis in his right hip last month. It is affecting his gait and mobility -- he is not unwilling to run or jump, but he limps especially after exercise and his right leg has lost a lot of muscle because he has been favoring it. For immediate treatment the orthopedic vet prescribed Metacam, which did not cause digestive upset and did somewhat relieve his symptoms but I believe it affected his appetite. So I discontinued the Metacam (except on an as-needed basis) and started Solo on Adequan, which is kind of like an injectable form of joint supplement.

 

http://www.caberfeidh.com/Adequan.htm

 

Some owners balk at the cost of Adequan but personally I think it's well worth it. Solo's only had three doses so far so I can't say anything about results but clinical studies demonstrate that it's quite effective. You start out with a loading period during which the dog gets an injection twice a week and then taper off until you find the lowest frequency that still gives the dog relief. For Solo, for the first month (eight doses for a 50-pound dog) the cost was $160. My vet gave me pre-loaded syringes and I give Solo the injections at home because he is so stressed by vet visits. Before this was not possible (or at least, less feasible) because Adequan was given as an intramuscular injection, but recent studies show that subcutaneous doses are just as effective so that's the way we are doing it. All I do is pick up the scruff of Solo's neck and give him the injection and he doesn't notice or care.

 

I decided to do this because (a) it's therapeutic (it could improve the joint and support the one hip that is still good, rather than just cover up the pain) and ( I'd like to avoid NSAIDs as much as possible. I personally think painkillers like Metacam are extremely safe for most dogs but since Solo is already on daily medications I like to limit his other drug intake.

 

Solo has been on joint supplements for a few years already and still gets those. Currently we're using Synovi G3. Fly has no signs of joint disease but she gets supplements too.

 

I did switch the dogs to a mostly raw diet (Primal lamb patties, which are a complete prepared diet) with lots of raw treats that are supposed to be good for joints (gullets, tracheas) but I have no idea if it's making any difference. I haven't seen the miraculous results that most people who feed raw will claim (the same thing happened the last time I put them on a raw diet -- they really liked their food, but they did not turn from Clark Kent into Superman, nor did they glow with a supernatural light, and sorry, their breath still smells exactly the same as it always has) and mostly switched the dogs as an experiment and because it is super easy to find raw food for dogs in San Francisco -- pretty much every pet supply store carries at least one brand and there is a co-op that makes ordering random animal body parts very very simple on a monthly basis.

 

[i would not be feeding raw if I could not be sure that I was feeding the dogs a complete and appropriate diet. I don't think most people who feed raw are doing their dogs any favors because I don't think that feeding random body parts with no plan other than "variety" is a responsible way to feed dogs. The reason I'm saying all this is that I don't want you to think I'm a big advocate of feeding raw. I'm totally not, unless you are willing to put in the effort to analyze the diet yourself and make sure you are feeding something that is covering all the bases, or buy a product that has been analyzed and known to not be deficient in something the dog needs, which isn't healthy for any dog, joint problems or not. End of soapbox.]

 

I'll keep you updated as to how things go with the Adequan.

[Alicia]

I would keep her on a Glucosamine, Condrotin, Supplement. Like horses, it helps prevent as well as ease arthritis. My Parents GSD in on it as well as Metacam (a non steriroidal, anti-inflammatory because he has advanced arthritis) and did well until recently as his arthritis is getting more advance as are his spondyls (hook like growths in the vertabrae). I also have BOTH my horses on it. My older mare (21) does great on it and I have my younger gelding (10) on it for prevention.

 

Although mostly used for treatment, Cetyl M is suppossed to be good stuff too.. although rather expensive. Our GSD is going to try it out because of his advanced stage.

 

Swimming and keeping in shape is good. As is keeping them lean but being a BC she probably already is pretty lean. BUt if she's still not quite ribby, the little bit between ribby lean and non ribby lean can do wonders of help.

[juliepoudrier]

I used Adequan on Jill when she dislocated her hip (the IM injections, which I did myself for a while before switching to SQ on the advice of a fellow trialer whose opinion I trusted). I did not see a noticeable difference in her comfort level or mobility as a result of Adequan treatment. I say this not to argue with Melanie but simply to point out that not all dogs respond to the same treatment the same way. I have recently put her on the Synovi G3 (we used a different product for years) for the arthritis associated with her HD, but it's too soon to tell if it's helping with the stiffness she has on getting up or after hard exercise. My point is that you may have to do some experimenting with various products/supplements to find what works best for your dog.

 

J.

[KrisK]

Bellaz, you might want to check out Sasha's Blend which is a supplement I used with my miniature schnauzer. It was developed in Australia so should be readily available to you from your vet.

I found Zachary had much better mobility while he was using it. I've stopped because he has other health issues and I wasn't sure what the interactions would be.