Sweet Misty is a little stiff in the back end. She will see the vet on Tuesday, but until then, I am wondering what you give your dogs for their arthritis? She isn't super painful like Phil and Oscar were, and hasn't seen a vet yet, so I don't want to give her their leftover pain meds (prescription Rimadyl.) Someone mentioned turmeric, but I am not sure about that.... would like to hear personal stories rather than just random internet stuff, ya know? Also: Misty's horrible previous owners sent me a text saying they wanted her back. It was somehow deleted from my phone before I could respond... hmmm, weird.
Jet was on Metacam, then Cartrophen Vet, both Rx, till I read about weekend warrior syndrome. It was an article about people but Jet was 9 years old so I tried one of the remedies suggested on her. Which was to be careful to not concentrate all the exercise on the weekend. Make an effort to exercise a bit more mid week or taper off and not go so hard on the weekend. I opted to put in one extra long hiking or skiing day midweek, on Wednesday, same as our usual outings on the weekend. Worked. Worked so well I was able to take her right off the meds. Worked till she was 12.5 and her back went. The original arthritis problem had been diagnosed at age 8 in her right shoulder after a bout of playing with a one year old Aussie and I suspect crashing into a tree. Many arthritis problems are from resuming motion after a rest, not during the actual motion. Shortening the rest period can be effective. I am extremely impressed by Cartrophen Vet. It's worth looking into and safer than Rimydyl, fewer side effects. Oban has been on it and one of my cats. Funny how phones can do things like that.
Hello there, Lovely to see you x Sorry Misty is struggling.....I can't remember now how she came to be with you but by the adjective you use to describe her previous owners...I'm glad she is ....and it's funny how phones play up isn't it! My friend used to sprinkle turmeric on her GSD's food...he was on some prescription medication from the vet too so it was never clear to what degree it helped but he was able to get up on the couch unassisted and she found him upstairs a couple of times which he didn't do before the turmeric..... Best Wishes Angela x
Sorry misty if finding it a bit hard at the moment My old boy is on Tramadol and Onsior which was suggested by his vet and physio. Its been a good combination for him and keeps him pain free. I do physio with him daily and we visit his physio once a week and if he needs it he gets some hyro theraphy. I think both thing conventional drugs and complimentary therapies have extended his life and the quality of his life. He's nearly 14 and we had tried things like rimadyl and previcox. My 12 1/2 year old bitch is showing symptoms of lower back pain and rear end stiffness now so i have started her on some physio take her for shorter walks and have some metacam type drug for her if she needs some pain relief. Keeping them pain free as possible seems to help the most. It was always very clear with my older dog when he was in pain, he was constanlty trying to get comfortable and panting excesively with pain. He had a reall crisis about a year ago when I though we would have to have him put to sleep, but with the help of my vets and physio we controlled his pain and he has had a really good year. Hope you can find something which suits your girl .
Misty is yours now, just hang on to her. My dog has had 2 cruciate repairs, so guarding against arthritis is something we concentrate on (he will already have it, just it's not yet very evident). I give omega 3 in the form of fish oil and also supplements of glucosamine and chondroitin (but I would put money on the fish oil making more of a difference), moderate steady exercise, and I try to get him swimming as much as possible for preference in a hydro pool, in warm water and he adores his knees being massaged. The warm water of a hydro pool, if you can get to one, I really rate. The warmth and the pressure of the water alone helps - I have an arthritic knee myself, and hydro for me is extremely soothing. I go to a large centre, and see a lot of dogs there, and they do seem to benefit. I also make sure he sleeps on good quality memory foam - either the human bed memory foam or his own memory foam bed. He doesn't need painkillers or anti-inflammatories yet, which I'm glad about as he tolerates NSAIDs poorly, which is a worry for the future. I would definitely give cartrophen a try if he needed something.
My girl has ED so like Julie T I guard against arthritis. I use a combination of vet prescription kibble for joints, topped up with glucosamine and chondroitin supplement, salmon oil for additional Omega 3, a regime of moderate exercise, swimming when available and weight management. Keeping them lean helps by reducing pressure and stress on the joints. I have metacam for her but my vet's advice is to only use if absolutely essential and then only for a day or two. Hope the vet helps to get Misty comfortable.
My old doggie benefitted most from pentosan (same as cartrophen) and metacam as needed when he was in obvious pain. We used metacam for a week at a time without ill effect (my boy had a serious spinal injury and had awful muscle spasms that the metacam relaxed). I think that, as with all medicines, it's the prescription ones that actually work...that's why they're prescription (and regulated).
My vet recommended turmeric for Ralph one of my family's rescue dogs. He's roughly 11 now and limps with his front leg. He injured it years ago and now has arthritis in it. She didn't think he was ready for pain meds yet although she did say he will probably need them eventually. She told me to google Golden Paste. This is the recipe http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/healing-with-turmeric-golden-paste-for-dogs/ Ralph also has green lipid muscle which is a natural anti inflammatory. Misty is gorgeous
Here is one review (dated 2013) of the evidence of using turmeric in dogs to help with arthritis: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2013/09/turmeric-for-pets/
I posted the recipe for golden paste as it was suggested by a vet not just random internet stuff. JulieT do you know if Green Lipid Muscle has been proven to have anti inflamatory properties or enough proof to make it worth trying as I do know dogs who have shown improvement after taking this supplement although I think like all these none prescription supplements what might work for one dog won't necesarily work for another.
I know, Jen, but there's still not a lot of evidence it works, suggested by a vet or not. Unfortunately. It would be completely wonderful if something as simple, cheap and easily available as Turmeric was effective in relieving or treating the symptoms of arthritis. I don't know of any studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of green lipped mussels over other sources of omega 3 more generally (the additional claim for green lipped mussel is that it contains glucosamine and chondrotin but the evidence that these elements have any effect is very weak). The best review of this evidence that I have come across is here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2012.00901.x/full "The evidence of efficacy of nutraceuticals is poor, with the exception of diets supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids in dogs."
Misty looks gorgeous. Mabel has severe ED, she has glucosamine tablets and Omega 3. I also feed her plenty of oily fish. I give her golden paste as recommended by her hydrotherapist. At the moment she's on metacam as she's a little stiff and limping at the moment. I also manage her exercise very carefully, but at only 13 months old I'll try anything. Good luck. X
I have an allergic reaction to anything printed in dogs naturally magazine, and this means my views are very biased. But seriously, seriously, the claim at the top of the article includes that turmeric can treat cancer. Would that be all and ever cancer then? No caveats on that claim? Sigh.... Maybe, with more research, we'll find out Turmeric is effective. Maybe we'll find out that feeding a tablespoon a day to a dog is helpful for a range of ailments including arthritis - or maybe we'll find out it was a barking thing to do with a range of unexpected side effects that are harmful. We'll have to wait and see...
Yes there is a study, on a medicaion called yumove, baiscally a supplement with high levels of pharmaceutical grade ingredients, including 20% more green lipped mussel than others. I did have the paper but can't seem to locate it, give me a few minutes and I will track it down, Our vet prescribed this for Casper, in combo with an antiinflamatory. Afer about 8 weeks when he was reviewed, the vet observed a distinct improvement in flexibility and behaviour, ie: happy to be petted, rolled over on his back, doing an amazing dying fly impression. There is a reference to the study here if you scroll down a bit.. https://www.visionline.co.uk/en/news-story.php?id=11704
Well, the news story says that the study, paid for by Yumove, said the Yumove product is effective. Not that it was the green lipped mussels that made the product effective. There are other studies too that show Omega 3 is effective (and Yumove contains high levels of Omega 3). I'd be very interested in a study that shows green lipped mussels is more effective than other forms. I currently use krill oil, but would swap for evidence (there is no compelling evidence for krill oil over other forms of extremely expensive omega 3 ).
Beanwood Thank you Kate for posting the link. I know of yumove as I use Lintbells Yumpro bio premium but I hadn't seen that article before.
Should have mentioned it's the yumove advance. Has really made a difference with Casper, and prescribed by our orthopeadic vet. My understanding is that although sponsored by Lintbells, the study design/protocol was managed by the RCVS.
Still interested in seeing the actual study, Kate, if you can find it (I've searched, and I can't) - I'm happy that Omega 3 is worth feeding, but will swap if green lipped mussel is better than other forms.
I am going to ask my vet for a copy, so I may have to scan and send to you, as I can't find it. In the meantime I found this very interesting... I definitely think Omega 3 is important as long it is really good quality, as well as krill oil. Some mention of tumeric further down. I find the effect of some plant extracts on inflammatory cytokines really thought provoking http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3856106/
https://www.researchgate.net/public...y_the_Natural_Standard_Research_Collaboration I found this on Green Lipped Mussels. I had looked into it several years ago when Oban, at age 10 months, came down with a mystery limp. The limp disappeared so I did not pursue this. I just googled it up now and the cautions are interesting. It was presented to me as THE panacea for limping, something I was leery of from the get go since we could not find the source of the limp so how could we know what would be best to treat it?
