Arthritis in dogs

[foxyferret]

Sam, my 9 year old labrador has arthritis in his hip. Can anyone recommend a supplement I can put in his food to help the condition? He has to have an operation to mend a ligament he damaged when jumping over a gate, and the vet said I should be aware that arthritis showed up on the x ray so he may still limp after the op. The vet didn't want me to think he had not done the op properly. Any recommendations much appreciated.

[woofgang]

ask the vet about rimadyl. Its niot suitable for all dogs, some, few, react badly to it but it helped a lot when our old girl had arthritis

[foxyferret]

Hi Woofgang, thanks for your info. At least I had a name to check on the internet. I am glad it worked for your dog, but when I read about the side effects it MAY have, it put me off completely as there are so many and some sound really awful. I may try Glucosame tablets, (probably not the right spelling) as a neighbour said they were good. Just wanted any other recommendations and thanks for your suggestion.

[boxtops]

Foxyferret, just a word of warning - meds that are good for humans are often risky for pets, please do take your vet's advice, not even herbal stuff can be 100% good for animals.

[jules77]

I have used human glucosamine/chronditin on dogs without adverse effects.

A warning on Rimadyl.......

http://home.online.no/~roeysla/rimadyl.cfm

[Rodge2]

Our yelow labrador cross golden retriever (12.5) has been taking green lipped mussell. We have noticed a difference in that she doesn't groan as much as she did previously, when she lies down.

It took about 4 weeks or so to make a difference, but interestingly when the tub ran out, we were a bit busy and neglected to buy another straight away. After a week or so without it, she started groaning again. Again it took the 4 weeks back on the tabs for her to stop. Pretty sure it works. Think it is called vetri-flex, available from viovet.

[boxtops]

Rodge, not joking, it was the same with my mum. She swore by the green lipped mussel extract for keeping her moving - I didn't know you could use it for animals too!

[ruthann58]

our gsd had a human dose of glucosamine chroditon and msm bought from http://www.agestop.net/Agestop/index.aspx ,our vet recommened this and they helped her also she had a bioflow magnetic collar

[brenda]

Give my dogs -- halibut oil caps 1 per day, 1 glucosamine, and 1 vit e .

[yelenots]

We have a 14yrs old diabetic border collie with arthritis and we give her Devils claw and glucosamine - dont know if its doing any good but she keeps going! The vet has given her metacam in the past which is brilliant but they cant be on it for long because it has side effects

[lankeela]

None of the steroidal medication should be given long term, but any of the products with glucosamine/chondroitin are ok. Denes Greenleaf tablets are good too, and as someone else said a Bioflow collar will help. I would keep the dosage to a minimum as he is only 9 so you can increase it in future if he needs more. Biggest help will be keeping his weight down.

[jules77]

I have heard some good reports on Yumove.

http://www.lintbells....ge/joint-pain-in-dogs

[foxyferret]

Thank you all for your suggestions and help. Jules, I have ordered some Yumove from Lintbells so we will see if that helps.