Dog Arthritis Treatment

Dog Arthritis Treatment

Can anyone recommend good Arthritis Treatments For Dogs?

Hi all

My dog is a 12 year old golden retriever and he has had arthritis for a few years now. He gets Cartrophen injections from the vet and also has a glucosmine supplement and I use a magnetic collar for him as well. It's got a bit worse lately and I am taking him to vet on Thursday to see what else can be done.
I just wondered if anyone has had good results with anything they can recommend to me so I can perhaps mention it to the vet when he goes on Thursday to see if it would be good for my dog.
I forgot to put in the original question he is fed on Hill's JD which is a special joint care food which apparently has all the omega oils in he needs to have.

The glucosamine he is on is brand name Synoquin and I get that from the vet as well.

Does your Glucosamine supplement also contain MSM? And what dose are you using? In a Golden Retriever, you probably want to be at 2000mgs per day of each, MSM is a natural anti-inflammatory, which will help with the pain, and it is also a building block for cartilage. I use Glyco-Flex III with my dog , which contains equal amounts of glucosamine and MSM, perna mussels and several antioxidants. The cheapest place I've found to purchase it is at entirelypets.com. They run discounts on the weekend, so you may want to order on weekends!

A good quality fish oil supplement will also help somewhat. Fish oils supply Omega 3 fatty acids, most notably EPA and DHA, which control inflammation (again, this will help with pain). Omega 3s help with so many things-cardiovascular health, brain health, skin and coat, etc. You do want it to come from a wild cold water fish, for two reasons. Cold water fish because these have the highest amount of DHA and EPA. Dogs can't convert the Omega 3s from plant based supplements into EPA and DHA, so you need a supplement that provides it in a usable form, which is cold water fish oil. You want Wild because those fish are eating microalgae, not grain(which is what farm raised fish eat), and therefore produce more of the Omega 3s.

Like the glucosamine and MSM, it will take a month or so to see the benefits of the Fish Oil.

If you can get the dog a raised bed that is several inches off the floor, many large breed arthritic dogs find it helpful. I'm sure you've noticed that your arthritic dog has trouble getting up from the floor. He may also do better with a raised stand for his food and water, and keep water near him so he doesn't have to walk to it.

A memory foam bed will be more supportive to his joints and also holds a bit of warmth, both of which will be helpful.

Your vet may be able to show you some physical therapy that you can do at home with the dog to warm up his muscles and preserve range of motion in his joints.

It may be time to add a prescription NSAID to his routine, like Rimadyl, Deramaxx, Metacam or Etogesic. All of these drugs do present some risk of GI bleeding, although it is far lower than the risk posed by aspirin. You'd also want to get blood work done every 6 months to ensure that the drugs are not producing liver or kidney damage. Most pets respond very well to these NSAIDs.

Some people report good results from acupuncture for their arthritic dogs as well.

And, if you haven't done so yet, make sure your dog is not carrying any excess weight. Extra weight means much more stress on his painful joints.

ETA: There are no kibbles that actually contain useful Omega 3s, unfortunately. Omega 3s are very fragile, and the high heat used in baking kibble destroys them, as does exposure to oxygen (like in the cooking process and when you open the bag of food.) And even if they weren't destroyed in cooking, dogs have little to no ability to convert the Omega 3s in Flaxseed (the primary Omega source in Hills j/d) into EPA and DHA. Humans can make the conversion, dogs can't.

If it were my dog, and I do have a Dog With Arthritis, I'd find a better quality kibble and supplement with a good glucosamine/MSM supplement and fish oil. I think you'd be better off and saving money to find a good food and supplements.

The Synoquin doesn't have any MSM. If you like the Synoquin, I'd add an MSM supplement. And I would buy them both online or make your vet match the best prices you can find online. These supplements are almost always cheaper online than through the vet's office.

The Glyco-Flex III, for example, is $87 through the vet and $47 online. Guess where I buy it? The vet even told me to, as he can't beat that price. My vet is pretty straightforward about these matters, thankfully.

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Dog Arthritis Treatment

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