Arthritis in back legs

mg1982

Im just looking for some advice. I have a Golden retriever 9 year old female. She has big problems with her back legs and its a big effort for her to walk very far or even get up when shes lying down. I thing its arthritis thats causing this. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what might help? Thanks.

madmaggie

Do get her to a vet. I had a sheepdog with the same problem, she was prescribed Metacam anti-imflammatory pain relief in liquid form. The vet said "the day will come when it won't work anymore", but she got about 3 years out of it. But please, do bring her to a vet.:)

andreac

You could also do hydrotherapy which would be great for her and as its non bearing she will find it good.

Also, how is her weight? Is she overweight? Is she on any supplements?

mg1982

Thanks for getting back to me. I forgot to mention she is also overweight, last time i weighed, she was 45kg, that doesnt help but i know that breed is prone to it. I did have her on metacam for a while and i have her on supplements now, she seems a bit livelier with the supplements but she probably still in pain the poor thing so i might try them with the metacam as well. Hydrotherapy might not work because she has a phobia about deep water, we have a river beside the house and she wont go near it.

doubter

mg1982 wrote: »

Thanks for getting back to me. I forgot to mention she is also overweight, last time i weighed, she was 45kg, that doesnt help but i know that breed is prone to it. I did have her on metacam for a while and i have her on supplements now, she seems a bit livelier with the supplements but she probably still in pain the poor thing so i might try them with the metacam as well. Hydrotherapy might not work because she has a phobia about deep water, we have a river beside the house and she wont go near it.

Get previcox from the vet, it will elevate the athritis-I've had a dog on it for 3 years and it works fine.be VERY careful with metacam as it's extremely strong on the liver and kidneys, previcox is much safer.Try and get her to loose weight, that is very important as well, if you can't do it by exercising, do it by feeding lower calorie food(fiber rich - Burns chicken and rice is perfect, though pricey).

andreac

Regarding the hydro, dont let that put you off trying it. Most dogs that dont swim love the hydro and they are not expected to swim by themselves. They wear a life jacket thingy and are supported by the handler. Mine dont like swimming by themselves at all, (rotties) but when i brought them to Hydro (Flo for her Cruciate repair) she loved it once she was in there.

Also, some only have a treadmill too so they arent swimming, just walking through the water, if you get me.

If shes over weight you really really need to get this down asap as it is only making it worse for her. Cut out all treats and cut her food right back. I cant stress it enough how important weight is in relation to making conditions worse.

What do you feed her daily at the moment?

andreac

Do you actually know that its Arthritis thats the problem? What does your vet say? Has she been xrayed?

maggiepip

doubter wrote: »

Get previcox from the vet, it will elevate the athritis-I've had a dog on it for 3 years and it works fine.be VERY careful with metacam as it's extremely strong on the liver and kidneys, previcox is much safer.Try and get her to loose weight, that is very important as well, if you can't do it by exercising, do it by feeding lower calorie food(fiber rich - Burns chicken and rice is perfect, though pricey).

As far as I understand theres no huge difference between the NSAIDS used for dogs, as far as side effects go. Some types work better on different dogs etc., but they all carry a slight risk to the liver, kidneys and stomach.

OP you could also ask your vet about Cartrophen, its a different type of treatment to NSAIDS with relatively no side effects, however if your dogs arthritis is fairly advanced NSAIDS may be a better option.

jimf

andreac wrote: »

Do you actually know that its Arthritis thats the problem? What does your vet say? Has she been xrayed?

+ 1 then you know what you are actually treating

tk123

maggiepip wrote: »

As far as I understand theres no huge difference between the NSAIDS used for dogs, as far as side effects go. Some types work better on different dogs etc., but they all carry a slight risk to the liver, kidneys and stomach.
.

Yeah my vet said the same but imo you have to weigh up what's most important - keeping the dog in pain and possibly affecting their quality of life or keeping them comfortable and pain free.
I actually have both "in stock" myself lol and don't see any difference in them- both from my own vet who prescribes extra for me to have for the odd time Bailey needs it they also over subscribed when he had his op 6 months ago. Unfortunately they use a different brand (of the same drug) to my vets - otherwise they would have taken it off me and credited my account!!!
As well as his joint supplements I give Bailey milk thistle to cleanse his liver and also I've started giving him turmeric paste which is meant to be fantastic for almost anything.


That said I'd never give something in place of actual medicine if that's what he needed and would always consult the vet first.

maggiepip

tk123 wrote: »

Yeah my vet said the same but imo you have to weigh up what's most important - keeping the dog in pain and possibly affecting their quality of life or keeping them comfortable and pain free.
I actually have both "in stock" myself lol and don't see any difference in them- both from my own vet who prescribes extra for me to have for the odd time Bailey needs it they also over subscribed when he had his op 6 months ago. Unfortunately they use a different brand (of the same drug) to my vets - otherwise they would have taken it off me and credited my account!!!
As well as his joint supplements I give Bailey milk thistle to cleanse his liver and also I've started giving him turmeric paste which is meant to be fantastic for almost anything.


That said I'd never give something in place of actual medicine if that's what he needed and would always consult the vet first.

Yeah I'm the same, if pain meds are needed they have to be given regardless of side effect risk, keeping a dog pain free is a priorty. One of my dogs has been intermittently on and off metacam for a few years now and thankfully has never had any side effects, touch wood. Theres always a bottle of it in the cupboard, if needed!

mg1982

Cutting back on the treats is a good idea, but i live with my mum and the message never hits home with her that the dog needs to lose weight. One thing i do notice is that she can walk a lot better on soft ground such as fields or bogland than she does on the road. She never had an X-ray so cant be 100% that its arthritis, but the vet did say it more than likely is. Im going to ask the vet about Previcox as one poster mentioned, i have heard Metacam can be severe on the liver and have heard of dogs dying from it.

andreac

Well you really need to try and get the message across to her. What you can do is measure out her daily amount of food and if your mam wants to give her something then take it out of that.

Try and make her see what she's doing is potentially harming her and making her worse.

By losing weight it could dramatically improve her health and pain and comfort.

Pretzill

I had experience of it with my BC at age about 10 he was heavy - though big for his breed - we got some weight off him and it made a huge difference - at about 13 the arthritis really kicked in and we gave him supplements and at that point metacam when he was bad - kept his bed comfy and supporting too - at that stage though he could still get around and had learned a double skip in his walk! It was'nt until his last year that his trouble got worse - his hips and legs were like jelly - so at that point we started him on constant pain relief - and helped him get up etc - he lived until 15 when we knew his quality of life was pretty poor near the end -

But at 10 when he was quite bad it was weight loss that gave him 5 more years doing what dogs love to do - but I knew what his problem was after vet visits - I didn't expect weight loss to prolong his life but it helped greatly. Talk to your vet, it could be something else altogether -

ihatewinter

I second that. Too much weight will aggravate the arthritis and cause huge problems in the future. The excess weight will cause pain on the affected joints and literally cripple your dog.

Your dog is young, she's only 9. If you can get it her weight down, it will increase her quality of life as she will still be able to enjoy her walks and exercise.

If you can buy an orthopedic dog bed, do as they make so much difference. My own dog has arthritis and I could see a huge improvement within 3 days as her weight and joints were well cushioned.

mg1982

Thanks a lot for the advice folks. I love my dog to bits so hate to see her suffer in anyway so its good to get some advice on this issue. Its funny though, ever since she got to 5 or 6 tears she has bad mobility in the back legs, maybe its the breed or something or that pedigree dogs are more prone to these ailments. Im tempted to buy her the nuts the sell in the vetinary shop as well but my are they expensive. Wonder if they are worth it?

maggiepip

mg1982 wrote: »

Thanks a lot for the advice folks. I love my dog to bits so hate to see her suffer in anyway so its good to get some advice on this issue. Its funny though, ever since she got to 5 or 6 tears she has bad mobility in the back legs, maybe its the breed or something or that pedigree dogs are more prone to these ailments. Im tempted to buy her the nuts the sell in the vetinary shop as well but my are they expensive. Wonder if they are worth it?

You should get her assessed by the vet too. She could be in a lot of pain.

Eta ...apologies, missed the part where you said you plan to do that!

tk123

Definitely see what the vet says. My boy was limping a few weeks ago so I rested him and gave him metacam and he seemed ok after a few days - not limping anymore but sometimes it looked like something wasn't right . He was due in for a checkup anyways so I brought him last night and sure enough he's in pain in the leg/paw - I didn't realize how much pain until the vet was examining him and he growled/pulled away. Back on rest and meds for the week to see how he gets on