Lab with arthritis

Hellrazer

Need a bit of help here.

Had my lab at the vets today and as I guessed she has arthritis in her hips--shes almost 9 btw.

She isnt in pain and its early enough to make treating it a bit easier.


Vet put her on a strict weight loss diet---Pro Pac low fat food.He also put her on a regimen of injections--One a week for four weeks that should give her 4-6 months relief.

So my question.

Is there anything else I can do to help her out??
Anyone got any helpful hints/tips to make her life a bit easier and possibly relieve the symptoms??
Anyone been through this??

tipseymcT

I have my retrievers on salmon oil,its supposed to be good for their joints & they love it.It might be worth a try.

Inexile

A friend of mine gives her dog Devil's Claw to help with arthritis. Its seems to help.

But if your dog is on any other meds please check with your vet before you give them anything else.

the_syco

Used to give my dog Holly a small scoop of Sashas blend on top of her meals everyday, which allowed her to run around like a mad dog when she wanted to

lorebringer

ArthiAid is really good, I was very surprised how much it helped with general movement in a Springer we had with very bad hips. You could also try human glucosamine and chondriotin tablets, dose it the same as an animal product (I have one if mine on this at the moment and he got through the winter better than expected -stiffness in particular was pretty good). Hip problems are very common in older dogs but getting the weight off, ans with some supplements, will really help.

Cherry Blossom

Orthopaedic dog bed, also it's time to start cutting down on exercise - of course you have to balance this with the dogs fitness and weight loss needs.

Not so much an issue now but they suffer more in colder weather, so keeping her warm when we start coming back into winter is important, something like a snuggle safe heat pad comes in handy for this.

suziwalsh

Highly recommend YUMOVE supplements and affordable work amazingly well with dogs with hip dysplasia. Make sure if you are getting supplements that they are canine specific as glucosamine for humans is not the same as for dogs and doesn't work.

Millem

Hellrazer wrote: »

Need a bit of help here.

Had my lab at the vets today and as I guessed she has arthritis in her hips--shes almost 9 btw.

She isnt in pain and its early enough to make treating it a bit easier.


Vet put her on a strict weight loss diet---Pro Pac low fat food.He also put her on a regimen of injections--One a week for four weeks that should give her 4-6 months relief.

So my question.

Is there anything else I can do to help her out??
Anyone got any helpful hints/tips to make her life a bit easier and possibly relieve the symptoms??
Anyone been through this??

My old lab who has arthritis and hip dysplasia gets 3 pumps of arthriaid every day and metacam. She is a different dog! Very bouncy Sometimes vet will need to order the big bottles in for me and I have to wait a few days she will be very stiff and find it difficult to get in and out of car etc! I have heard of a vet on the north side who does acupuncture and there are also a few hydrotherapy places around however I have never tried them!

VETCARE

You could give her Arthri aid or UBAVET and you could change her food to a low fat mobility food for something like Hills J/D Reduced calorie, if you are near any of our branches you can pop in and we can discuss or you can call us.

you can fine our branches on
www.vetcare.ie

Cherry Blossom

VETCARE wrote: »

You could give her Arthri aid or UBAVET and you could change her food to a low fat mobility food for something like Hills J/D Reduced calorie, if you are near any of our branches you can pop in and we can discuss or you can call us.

you can fine our branches on
www.vetcare.ie

If you wish to represent a commercial entity in an official capacity, please contact reps@boards.ie. Please refrain from posting in the forums until your identity has been verified. This does incur a charge.

lorebringer

suziwalsh wrote: »

Make sure if you are getting supplements that they are canine specific as glucosamine for humans is not the same as for dogs and doesn't work.

If a product contains Glucosamine, from a chitin source (ie. shellfish) how is this different if it is put into a human tablet as opposed to a canine one, if both are liquid forms? If the ingredients are the same, literlaly, how will it not work? I understand that there are certain animal products that vary significantly from human ones (for example, Omega fish oils being significantly better than Omega seed oils) but I really don't get how something that contains that same ingregdients can be different??

Anecdodtal evidence obviously not applicable here, but I have found that giving human glucosamine and chondroitin (along with Omega oils) to my own dogs has worked well in helping with their stiffness and it really isn't a placebo effect because the dogs didn't know what they were getting and I didn't believe that there was a difference until several people pointed it out to me.

ppink

Our vet was telling us he uses a memory foam bed for his dog who has joint issues so we picked some from Aldi, i think, and I find them very good. They were thin enough(about 40/50mm I'd say) so we use 2, one on top of the other and then vet bed on top of that. the dogs love them and seem to be moving better than on those old quilt beds with no support. The only issue I have with them is drying them after washing, they take hours in the dryer.

tk123

suziwalsh wrote: »

. Make sure if you are getting supplements that they are canine specific as glucosamine for humans is not the same as for dogs and doesn't work.

Human flexicose is the same as pet flexicose - it says so on their site? http://www.flexicose.com/questions.html#Question5

Anyhoos OP my dog has problems with his legs and I give him flexicose from and Luposan pellets (from zooplus). He hasn't needed any metacam etc since starting him on the pellets a year and a half ago- still needed it with flexicose. I'm planning on dropping the flexicose when it runs out and trying a double dose of the pellets to see how he gets on. If you take a look at the flexicose site it gives you the dosage of glucosamine etc so you could possible use that as a guide?

theghost

I used to give my lab a teaspoon of cod liver oil on her breakfast every morning, also a stick of Pedigree Jointcare every day. If your dog is on meds check with the vet before giving him anything though

doctor evil

Surely the supplements get broken down in the digestive system, what mechanism makes them go straight to the joint and would they not be too big of a molecule to pass through the cell membrances?.

I think are much more for peace of mind than anything else.

Loopie

Not sure if I'm hijacking this thread or if I should start another thread but since you all seem quite knowledgeable, here goes. Is there anything you can do for a lab (she's only 10 months old) that will help her not get arthritis in her later years or is it inevitable given the breed?

Cherry Blossom

Loopie wrote: »

Not sure if I'm hijacking this thread or if I should start another thread but since you all seem quite knowledgeable, here goes. Is there anything you can do for a lab (she's only 10 months old) that will help her not get arthritis in her later years or is it inevitable given the breed?

A large part of it is genetic, the best way to minimise the risk is to get a puppy from parents with good hip-scores, other than that diet can be big factor, avoid high impact exercise (like running on the road, agility etc.) and keep the dog slim which lessens the load on the joints.