Best food/supplemements for arthritic dog?

[kayla]

My dog is very arthritic in one of her legs and I am trying to find a good dog food that will help with it. She was on Wellness Core (high protein, grain-free) for several years but I switched a few months back to Nature's Domain (lower protein but still grain-free) as I heard you shouldn't give older dogs too much protein. Anyways she seems to have gone downhill since the switch (not that she was great to begin with) so I'd like to try something else and was hoping for recommendations? Also if anyone knows of a good supplement I'd love to hear about that too. Thanks!

[kayla]

Oh I forgot to mention that she is a 7 year old boxer/lab mix.

[marko]

Hi Kayla,

I have no direct experience with this but you may wish to investigate both glucosamine and chondroitin

Here's a thread where DR. Lee chimes in. Hope it may help
http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....ose#post582357

[Longblades]

I don't consider 7 to be old in a dog that should expect to live around 12 years, average. I say this because when my first Lab reached 7 the pet food store started pressuring me to buy "senior" food and for the same reason I think you are quoting, that too much protein is not healthy for an "older" dog's kidneys.

Both my Vet and the breeder said "baloney" to that. My breeder never feeds anything but an adult maintenance diet from weaning to death. If a special diet is required, determined by annual Vet visits and attentive ownership, then she might feed a diet tailored to declining kidney function.

My last girl showed some signs of arthritis at age 8. We started her on Cartrophen Vet injections and they were like a miracle.

But then I read an article about 50 year old humans not being able to be "weekend warriors" ie. exercising hard on weekends and working office jobs midweek. I reasoned dogs might be the same so I INCREASED my girl's midweek exercise so that she was not doing all her longer/harder outings only on two days, one after the other. For us this meant about an hour skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, bicycling a day with at least 2 hours and sometimes 4 on Wednesday, and the weekend. IT WORKED. Took her right off the Cartrophen.

Now, I did have her on Glucosamine/ Chondroitin/ MSM 1300, twice a day, whatever human brand was on sale as per Vet. I kept that up and if I forgot a day it was apparent, I think. This regime held her till her back went at age 12.5 when she then had to go on something much stronger for pain management. But till then she was a happy girl and did all day hikes with us on vacation and portaging on canoe routes. On one of those longer days I did often give her an aspirin as well. 325 mg of aspiring once in a while is OK, says my Vet.

Good luck with your girlie pup.

[kayla]

She has been on glucosamine with chondroitin for 3 years (900 twice/day) and it helps, but lately it has been much worse. I will look into msm too.

I don't walk her at all anymore because it looks so painful, but I can easily start her walking daily as I am a stay at home mom.

We put her on medicam for the pain but it didn't help, I will ask my vet about those injections. Thanks for the advice!

[pbpatti]

I have been giving Sasha Purica Recovery SA every day with her breakie for the past 4.5 years and she seems to do very well on it. She is a 50 lb Choc Lab and gets one tsp a day. She is also 7 yrs old and likes to be very active. There are days when she has over exerted and seems a bit sore but overall I believe the Recovery SA works for her.

[Koteburo]

Have you heard or tried MMS?
I have yet to try it myself but so far I've heard good things about it. Among those for arthritis. I think it's worth a check, and who knows... Maybe even a shot

[Kasianni]

The only thing that I know of that is good for the joints is Glucosamine which both my dogs get daily. My friends dog suffers greatly from arthritis and now does acupuncture/osteopathy for dogs and has had amazing results. Perhaps you can look into that.

[Melissa62003]

Hi Kayla,

So sorry to hear about your dog. I know how much it pained me to see my little guy suffering. My dog Neno (I didn't name him, I adopted, I know better than to name a dog something that ends with a command "no"!!) came down with early-onset arthritis in both back legs, at only 5! It was heartbreaking! He's not a bit overweight, and gets a healthy amount of exercise. It's just his breed (pitbull/american bulldog). I did an extensive amount of research on the topic and found out exactly what type of vitamin/mineral/food regiment is best because I was determined not to kill his liver and kidneys with pain medication at only 5. ORIJEN!! ORIJEN!! ORIJEN!! It literally saved his life. The food is top-notch quality and contains massive amounts of naturally derived, omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, gloucosimine and chondroite, all beneficial to any mammals suffering arthritis. Within two weeks of feeding him Orijen, Neno was no longer on any medication, no longer limped, and was back to his regular spunky, fun-loving self. I'm not made of money, but the food is worth every penny. When you consider that I no longer need to pay for medication, the food pays for itself. Two years later, and Neno still loves Origen. I rotate between the 6 fish formula, the regular adult formula, and the Senior type now. Orijen is a high protein diet, and I understand your concern in that respect, but all versions of Orijen have limited amounts of calcium and phosphorus. That's the real danger in high protein diets, so no need to worry there. Once I ran out of Orijen accidentily. Just two weeks of Blue Buffalo Wilderness, and Neno was limping again!! Broke my heart! I'll never let that happen again. I wish you and your little lady years of happiness and pain-free fun.

[RUSTYcat]

Originally Posted by Koteburo

Have you heard or tried MMS?
I have yet to try it myself but so far I've heard good things about it. Among those for arthritis. I think it's worth a check, and who knows... Maybe even a shot

Just a CAUTION for anyone who might consider using MMS for ANY ANIMAL...OR...THEMSELVES:

Advisory
February 15, 2012

Health Canada is advising Canadians that using "MMS", also known as Miracle Mineral Solution or Miracle Mineral Supplement may cause serious health problems. The product information lists sodium chlorite as an ingredient and is promoted as a substance that can cleanse toxins from the human body. There are no therapeutic products containing sodium chlorite authorized for oral consumption by humans in Canada.

These serious problems include poisoning, kidney failure and harm to red blood cells that reduces the ability of the blood to carry oxygen. Additional health problems may also include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media...012_21-eng.php


Information Update
May 18, 2012

Further to our previous communications, Health Canada is advising Canadians that a new website has been identified selling "MMS", also known as Miracle Mineral Solution or Miracle Mineral Supplement. The website is http://www.buymms.biz http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media...012_74-eng.php

.......WORSE than snake oil.....downright dangerous.

[Dog Dancer]

When my then 13 year old AkitaX Shadow was suffering from arthritis we did the cartophen shots also. They did seem to help somewhat, but I think they would have been better if I had started them earlier. As far as I recall you don't need to do them forever, but for a few months on and then a few months off. Good luck dealing with the arthritis and I think you will find that nice walks will help greatly. I kept Shadow walking for as long as I could, I felt it was important to keep the muscles moving. We walked at her pace, and rested when she wanted to, but we kept on going.

[Barkingdog]

Originally Posted by kayla

She has been on glucosamine with chondroitin for 3 years (900 twice/day) and it helps, but lately it has been much worse. I will look into msm too.

I don't walk her at all anymore because it looks so painful, but I can easily start her walking daily as I am a stay at home mom.

We put her on medicam for the pain but it didn't help, I will ask my vet about those injections. Thanks for the advice!

Does your dog like to swim ? I was told have my dog swim when he had arthritic but my Standard Poodle did not like to swim. Swimming is a way great for a dog to get exercise and is easier on their aching joints. I made sure there was no wheat in the dog food as wheat can be bad for arthritic .

[Koteburo]

Originally Posted by RUSTYcat

Just a CAUTION for anyone who might consider using MMS for ANY ANIMAL...OR...THEMSELVES:



.......WORSE than snake oil.....downright dangerous.

It was a typo I meant MSM not MMS
MSM Methyl Sulfonyl Methane which is not the same as MMS
I'm not here to try to poison anyone but I did make a mistake when typing, sorry.

[Longblades]

Originally Posted by Koteburo

It was a typo I meant MSM not MMS
MSM Methyl Sulfonyl Methane which is not the same as MMS
I'm not here to try to poison anyone but I did make a mistake when typing, sorry.

Hah! I wondered. I googled MMS and got this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_Mineral_Supplement Seems people do use it. Scary.

[Koteburo]

Yeah, there's a lot of controversy surrounding MMS although apparently it has never killed anyone (that we know of) but it does causes a lot of diarrhea , stomach ache among other harsh things. It's related to bleach.
But yesh I mean MSM the one that is very used for arthritis
When I came to check I saw MMS and I was like no, no I meant M-S-M!