arthritis in labradors - any advice particularly regarding food/supplements

I have a 10 year old mixed Labrador/springer spaniel who after years of ball chasing has sadly developed mild arthritis in his right shoulder. The vet has advised for him to lose a couple of kilos which he has (down to 33kg, I’d like to get him down to 30kg) and to add 10ml of omega oil to his food. I have also bought daily supplements which contain the other good things for joint pain. Aside for this, he is fit, healthy, has two good walks a day and still wants a play during the day at home!


My question is has anyone changed their dog’s food to accommodate extra supplements for him/her. Someone at Pets Corner was trying to persuade me to buy their own-brand food ‘More’ as it has everything in so no need for extra supplements, but I am not always convinced by heavy marketing towards own brands.


I would be most grateful for any tips or advice on what to do in order to help my boy, Barney, and to ward off worsening of the arthritis for some time. thanks, in advance for any help you can offer.

 

The supplement Yumove (we got from the vet) really worked well for our old lab. We didn't do any food changes (sounds like marketing to me!), just this supplement which builds up over time so you won't notice improvement for a couple of weeks but it really did make a difference for him.
Also we bought him an orthopaedic bed that was for dogs with joint problems as he was stiff after he got up. That also helped. Regular exercise is good just don't overdo it.
hope this helps!
Sam

 

We did hydrotherapy and daily massage too. It helped maintain his muscle abd movement

 

The best thing to do is check the ingredients on the food - most 'special' food contain pretty small amounts of supplements (e.g. Omega 3). The thing is, no-one knows how much you should be feeding, so no-one knows if the food contains enough or not. They might do, they might not.

I have a dog with cruciate repairs - no sign of arthritis yet, but we do what we can to guard against it in the future. This includes:

Keeping him on the slim side of normal, I need to just see his last rib when he is standing straight and relaxed.
Plenty of exercise, but split up into a few walks - so not a huge amount in a big lump, minimise high impact exercise (e.g. ball chasing, sudden stops, jumping and sharp turns).
A consistent amount of exercise - he never does more than 50% more of what he is fit to do everyday.
A fair amount of lead walking and swimming (hydro in the winter but he uses the treadmill for fitness) to keep his muscle tone up - this helps everything.
Supplements and salmon oil - for krill oil and omega 3.
Memory foam beds, and we are careful that his crates (e.g. in the car) are plenty big enough so he is never cramped up for too long.
We do massage, but just for fun and bonding, I'm not sure it helps.

 

If he is being a weekend warrior evening out the periods of higher intensity exercise might help too. I was able to take my last Lab girl right off meds, left her on Glu/chon/MSM, by actually increasing midweek exercise.

 

There is one supplement that has had been clinically proven to help dogs with arthritis, and that is Yumove advance. My vet had prescribed this for our older lab, he is nearly 8, and has Hip Dysplasia coupled with spinal stiffness. (AS). There is also ongoing research into omega 3 and 6 and dogs with arthritis.
We make sure Casper is lean, has enough exercise, and his walks are fun, but we don't do much in the way of retrieving as all that stop/start plays havoc on their joints.
He is doing well, and it is hard to see he has any problems at all, at times he is like a puppy!

 

When our old collie cross developed arthritis the vet prescribed Seraquin tablets. I used to buy them online in packets of 60 x 2g chewable tablets. She continued to eat Hills senior kibble, but supplemented with those tablets. She stayed active until the end of her life, only limping occasionally and sometimes seeming a bit stiff.

 

Kate, this is a bit strange. In saying 'there is one supplement that has been clinically proven' suggests a) the results for Yumove advance are absolutely definitive and b) no other supplement can point to clinical trials showing some effectiveness.

I don't think you mean that though?

 

OK..rephrase that, I know there is clinically significant study which suggests a benefit in using Yumove advance in dogs with arthritis. I am not aware of any other published peer reviewed studies with other supplements in dogs there may be some out there, I haven't had sight of them.

 

Great, thanks Kate - would love a link to the study please.

Just about every supplement on the market claims clinical trials back up their claims. If you just google the name of the product and 'clinical trials' it's easy to find. And they do vary in quality, of course.

 

I've used yumove with all my dogs and know quite a few others who have and we've all been happy with it. Recently I had to take Moo off any supplements for a while. She was stiffer and her mood was low. When I put her back on them she was much happier and wanting to do more. The general opinion amoung my dogs walking friends is give them a go

 

Thanks all for taking the time to reply. No, he isn't just a weekend dog. One of is always home so he gets two good walks a day, sadly with no more ball chasing.

In terms of Yumove, could I give him one of these supplements on top of the 10ml omega he gets daily?

Thanks again.

 

He's on a memory foam bed but already online looking for a better one for him!!!

 

I got a really supportive bed for my old boy and he loved it. It definately helped him be really comfortable during his last few months.

 

My girl has severe arthritis at the tender age of 23 months. I've been advised to keep her slim, for her that is between 24-25kg. I give her Yumove and high potency Omega 3. The specialist she visits every three months says there isn't enough conclusive evidence that these supplements work, but he feels they don't do any harm so he advises that I give them to her.

I monitor her exercise closely, some days she may not have a walk, we perhaps just hang out together. By this I mean we may visit a river had a little paddle together, play a few games, other times we may go on a more conventional walk.

Regarding her bed, she doesn't like memory foam so I've bought a good quality bed and added some very soft fleece blankets which she absolutely loves.

I didn't change her brand of food, I just changed to the "light" variety. This contained less calories and the kibble is large so she thinks she is getting a large bowl of food.

 

My dog has also had cruciate ligament surgery and after advice/ discussion from the specialist we changed to Hills Prescription Diet JD. As above comments, I wasn't really sure re what they contain and if its really enough to warrant a change but the specialist said in her experience she had seen positive changes so we changed from James Wellbeloved. ( The vet wasn't getting anything from it either). I did also used to add salmon oil, but our new specialist said to be careful as it could cause more problems- think he said too much vitamin D or something and a sign was excessive thirst which she had. Anyway I stopped that. I've not been recommended to take any other supplements yet but may well do one day. She has 2 memory foam beds- first one she decided to bite chunks out of.... and goes to hydro on the treadmill. She's only 2 and there are signs of arthritis so the future is a little uncertain as to how it will develop.

 

Perfect answer, this is what worked for my old boy who had two TPLO-repaired torn cruciates. Except for the bed. I bought him the fancy schmanzy bed after he would no longer sleep with me and he still preferred the floor. Pfffft!

I don't trust the "all in one" manufactured foods. I want to know what is going into my dog's food and be able to control the amount of any supplements. I also preferred human supplements as I felt that they had more of a chance to actually contain what they claimed to, though to be honest I'm pretty suspicious of those as well - at least in the US, they are not monitored for accuracy by any government controls.

I found good success via trial and error with home cooking and removing inflammatory ingredients such as wheat and dairy. I mainly tried this because it helped ME (I have problems with my hands) so I thought it might help my dog. It really seemed to, but it's hardly scientific as I had a test subject of one. He didn't develop arthritis, but maybe he wouldn't have regardless. I can say for sure that it really helped with skin allergies, ear infections and his fatty tumours pretty much stopped new growth, so for me it was worth it.

 

Hi , we had a lab a few years ago that was failing a bit through her joints . We put her on "green lip mussel " tablets and you wouldn't have believed the difference in her . I recommended them to a friend who's dog had been back and forward to the vet because of shoulder issues but nothing was working , the poor dog was all but finished but 3 days after taking the "green lip muscle " tablets was running and chasing rabbits across the field . The dog got another 2 years and had a cracking quality of life . These tablets are readily available on the internet and only cost something like £20 for a years supply . Hope this helps

 

This is what got recommended to me in Germany when I was on the hunt for glucosamine/chondroitin supplements for my pup. I'd never heard of it - plus the word in German is even scarier than in English (Grünlippmuschelkalk) but I tried it and it seemed to make a real difference after several weeks. Plus it didn't cause any stomach upset, which was an added bonus as Brogan had a dodgy tummy.

 

My sister swears on green lip mussel! Even her OH who has joint problems (arthritis) takes it with good results!