Arthritis in 10yr old dog, best treatments?

Hello

Bruno was at the vets today as I was concerned as he was not really himself, has been sitting awkwardly for a while, and not eating his food every day. I also thought I felt a lump on his stomach...

anyway, vet gave him a wee MOT and manipulating his hips, Bruno was not very happy and quite uncomfortable, without Xray we cant say for sure, but vet feels that his athritis has got quite bad and this is the reason foro the weird sitting, and being a bit off his food ( we couldnt find the lump but will mark it with a marker if I find it again!!)

Anyway, vet was very happy with his weight as he said that many dogs he had seen in recently had put on 5+ kg since the last time ( due to christmas etc !!) Bruno has stayed about the same since last years weigh in.

He has HD, and mildly luxating patellas and has really coped very well over the last 8 years, he will be 10 this year, and I am just wondering what the best treatment would be to try and prevent anymore deterioration with the athritis.

He has metacam for the next 3 weeks to see if it gives a good improvement.... but any other suggestions would be most appreciated...

Thanks in advance
Dani

One of my dogs has HD so I can tell you what my vet said & what seemns to be working for Barney, who's a 7 year old lab, diagnosed with HD over 2 years ago.

No excess weight ~ in fact the vet said he should be in the lower range of weight for his breed/age. But you've already covered this one

Joint supplements ~ I use cosequin which is about half the price online that it is from my vet! The vet did say to be sure that the joint supplements have a good level of ACTIVE ingredients (the chew sticks etc that supposedly contain joint supplememts are useless. The amounts they contain are so low as to be worthless.) With cosequin they advice an initial 3 a day for the first 3 weeks, then 2 a day as a maintenance dose.

I was also helpfully advised on here (forget by whom) that ester-C is also great for arthritis & joint problems. Most dogs just produce or take in the amount of vit C they need on a daily basis & the rest is flushed out through the kidneys. This means that there is no vit C available to help with the absorbtion of the vital minerals etc needed for joint protection. And giving vit C (which is really just ascorbic acid) in any other forms can cause digestive problems through the acid content, or won't be in the form needed to aid absorbtion. I've heard anecdotal evidence of huge improvements in relatively short periods (a couple of weeks!) from the use of ester-C. If you want to find out more, try this link http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0039.htm but I'd advice that you have a chat with your vet first. I've just got some ester-C from Holland & Barratt. I've not tried it yet as Barney's fine at the mo, but if he starts to feel sore, I will give it a go.

Hydrotherapy is also great for arthritis & joint problems too. My dogs had weekly sessions for a year & now go fortnightly. It is virtually weightless exercise so no pressure on joints plus it helps flush out any detritus in the joints that can cause pain, it improves the elasticity of the soft tissues like tendons & ligaments that support the joints & buildes up muscle to also support the joints. I would recommend a qualified canine hydrotherapist who goes in the water with the dog & monitors the range of movement, ensures that all joints are exercised equally & in the ight way & can check heart rate, respiration etc & improvements in flexibility over time.

Acupuncture may also be a possibility for pain relief if you feel Bruno would benefit ~ it would be worth looking into.

Just to help ease of movement, you can also consider your dog's sleeping places ~ are they easily accessible? Are they soft enough & in draft-free places? Other things like a ramp to get in & out of the car, shorter but more frequent walks, can also help.

Obviously there's pain relief like metacam for times when the pain seems worse.

I hope Bruno starts to feel better soon

Hiya,

my oldest german shepherd has hip dysplasia, she's 10. Up until about 3 months ago her condition was manged with occasional anti inflammatory tablets and hydrotherapy, we stopped the hydro treatment as it was stressing her out too much.

She was given metacalm 3 months ago and i saw a big difference in her, unfortunately she had to come off metacalm 3 weeks ago due to other health problems , im hoping the vet will put her back on it soon or give her some other pain relief.

Hope Bruno gets better soon xx

My 8 year old lab has hip and elbow dysplasia. 4 months ago my vet suggested a course of 4 Cartrophen injections at weekly intervals and then 1 injection every 3 months. The change in her is remarkable and she is moving better now than she was a year ago. She has been picking up on shoots twice a week this winter and enjoying life to the full. She has even lost 2k in weight as she is keen to run again. It might be worth asking your vet about Cartrophen.

On the pain control front:

We had Locky on Metacam long term. After about 18 months this started to cause him problems (vomiting/diohrea), which in turn was contolled with Zitac.

When the Zitac was no longer effective, we changed him to Tramadol. He's been on that now for approx 6 months.

Also did Hydro for over a year, got his weight down and muscles toned. That, along with a decent amount of off lead exercise seems to have him sorted.

Bran had such severe arthritis he couldn`t walk. However he has metacam, warmth and supplements (glucosamine /chondroitin / MSM + codliver oil) and he is happy to potter about now. I wouldn`t over-tax an arthritic dog. Gentle exercise is best IMO. And avoid stairs. And keep their weight down.
My previous dog had acupuncture and chiro which helped greatly, plus Rymadil as needed for his spondylosis. (arthritis of the spine)
Different dogs react differently, so if one medication doesn`t work, try another.

High quality supplements (not just off shelf at supermarket) which define contents

Chondroitin and Glucosamine (HCL rather than KCI)
MSM
Green Lipped Mussel
Fish Body Oil (rather than Cod Liver Oil) has higher levels of Omega 3 and no danger of potential OD on Vitamins A and D as in CLO
You MUST give Vitamin E if you give fish oils
Vitamin C
Bromelain
Cetyl - Myristoleate
Rosehips

have you tried youmove? people that board their dogs with us and use this say how good it is, and how much they have seen their dog imrpove. we had a lab in who had arthiritis but the owners said that he had improved so much since he had been put on these. and they must be doing something right because the company have developed i move after people were taking their dogs tablets to improve their stifness!

Second this, also supplements and Hydro.
However, Cartrophen cannot be given at the same time as NSAIDs

I second all the suggestions so far, Madison has 2 x seraquin per day and cartrophen injections every 6-8 months but the best thing for her was a bio-flow magnetic collar - may not work for all dogs but she was very lame after exercise and since wearing the collar for about a month or two she now doesn't limp after exercise.