Can anyone suggest a good treatment for arthritis in dogs?

Question

My Chesapeake (only three years old) has developed arthritis in her right, rear knee. Can anyone suggest treatments to help prevent or treat the pain and reduced mobility? thanks

Answer 1

You can give glucosamine/chondroitin 500/400. My lab weighs 100 lbs, I give him a dose of 1500/1200 (3 pills) every morning & every night.
The next step is to go to an Rx that the vet prescribes. The one's that we use in our office are Deramaxx & Rimadyl. The Deramaxx is the most amazing medication I have ever seen. It takes a dog that can barely get up off the floor & they're acting like a puppy again in just 2 days.The down side is they are expensive. I would try the gluc/chon first. It's something you keep them on.

Answer 2

Honestly, one of the best things you can do is to feed a prey model diet, many ppl have found their dogs symptoms improve greatly with this. If you are not willing to do that then look into a natural diet of some sort to lessen the effects of additives etc. Supplement a commercial diet with glucosamine and condroitin and a fish body oil supplement to provide omega 3's this will help give the body enough nutrients to lubricate the joints a bit better and reduce inflamation. you can use a cocktail sausage and slit it at the end to insert the capsule/tablet. You can buy these as human grade supplements from the health food store or the pet shop (human grade tends to be better for them) Dont waste money on those pedigree joint chew things they are full of other crap and extortionate when you see how much you can buy a better supplement for. chemical treatments from the vet will usually be harsh on their systems and not without side effects when used long term, but obviously it depends how advanced your dogs arthritis is, as to whether you will still need it. I would try the above for about 12 weeks before I let the vet put them on anything, this way you have had a bit of time to see the amount of improvement with the supplements which means even if your dog needs, say Metacam, it will be on a lower dose. Try to keep your dog more on the lean side and this will help them too. ADD; avoid letting him get soaked through on walks, although if its hot weather a swim will be better for his joints than a walk, but you need to dry him off thoroughly or the dampness will make him stiff - invest in a good quality coat for the bad weather. Make sure he is out of any draughts when in his bed.

Answer 3

Ask your vet about feeding your young dog Senior Formula Like: Purina One Senior Protection Formula It contains glucosamine and other things that older dogs need.
The Aspirin should not be coated type[I read that in an article on the net]. Dogs cannot digest the coating. [The buffered might be ok but I would ask the vet or pharmacy if it is coated. Break the regular aspirin or use the baby aspirin. I noticed the others are coated.
No more hassle, Make giving pills easy: Stick it in a little Peanut butter or cheese whiz and he/she will love it and it coats it to protect his stomach.
You can put it in there dish or on a spoon or your finger. The first couple tasted of peanut butter give them plain. Most dogs will eat the p-butter pill right up.
I hope this helped.
You have some other good information in some other answers.

Answer 4

Keep her Weight down #! Keep her as active as possible Swimming is wonderful because she uses that leg and the water makes it weight less easier to do...You may have tobreak down and put her on Rimidyl Which is pricey and some people dont like but talk to the vet about it..I have my lab on it..The price is out rageous but it gives her at least 80% relief if not more ..I would rather her be pain free if My dog has to live if Agony I'm gonna put her don...At your dogs age they may can give her something else before they have to go to Rimidyl..You can give her a Buffered asprin(NO TYlenol ) on really Bad days but I wouldnt give it every day without consulting a et...Good Luck..I Love Chessie's

Answer 5

A daily regiment of Knox gelatin in her food as well as some of the chondrotin(?) and glucosamine(?) will help all of her joints to build cartilage as well as stop the pain of arthritis. It also is a great help with hip displacia an other joint problems. Put like a scoop of the powdered stuff in her food in the morning or at night and make sure it is moist food. I have been doing it for years on my dogs when they develop hip displacia and it worked very nicely. Good luck!! DOGS RULE!!

Answer 6

There are several ways to treat for arthritis, which many people have posted already, i.e., keeping your dog's weight down, buffered aspirin, glucosimine, etc. If you do decide to take the route of prescribed drugs, i.e., Rimadyl, be careful. My vet prescribed Rimadyl to relieve my dog's arthritis; however, my dog had a bad reaction to it where we had to take him to an emergency vet to flush his system of the drug. So if you decide to go with Rimadyl or any other drug, be sure to monitor your dog's behavior.

Answer 7

I use buffered aspirin. This works for pain & stiffness & definitely improves mobility.The 82mg. tablet is sufficient twice a day. The 325mg. tablet is good once a day depending on the size & activity of your dog.Make sure the tablet is buffered(coated)as it is easier on the stomach. I've also heard glucosamine being used but it's my opinion that this is more of a preventitive measure and should be administered to the dog before there are any symptoms.

Answer 8

I Have A Boxer with arthritis. We took him to the vet when we noticed he was limping.Only for him to tell us he had arthritis.And to give him an aspirin a day, there's no way to prevent it but an aspirin is what we were told to help the pain..And It really worked, as crazy as it sounds.

Answer 9

hey my dog once had arthritis a good thing to do is to take it to your local vet and get a check up they will direct you in the right way... but do it before it gets serious

Answer 10

Change to a dog food for seniors, with the bone and joint health formula....Get a premium quality one, that is only available at pet supplies, not grocery stores or WalMart.

Innova, Solid Gold, Wellness, Wysong, all make a great kibble for dogs with hip or joint problems

www.springtimeinc.com has an excellent supplement for bone and joint health. I have orderd it for my friends with arthritic dogs, and all have seen improvement, One fellow was so impressed, he began taking it himself!
Here it is>> http://springtimeinc.com/product/94/2 comes in chewables or liquid.