Diet for OAP with arthritis

I have a 13 year old border collie. He's in great shape for his age, but has osteoarthritis of the spine and hips. He was a bit overweight, but managed to get him down to a nice slim 25kg (he's a big boy - was this weight when he was 9!)

I have been feeding him on Hill's JD reduced calorie, but it is very expensive - £60 a bag. Before that was on skinner's salmon and rice with a glucosamine/chrondroitin supplement added in. But as it's a working dog food, its no good for keeping the weight off him!

Have meloxicam (metacam) for use when he gets bad, give it to him for 2-3 days when he is really sore. Not keen to start on long term NSAID use until he really needs it.

Going to try autarky salmon senior - it says it contains glucosamine aswell as the omega 3 and 6 from the salmon, but not sure how high the levels of these are...

Does anyone have a recomendation for reasonably priced food to aid joints in a senior dog? Also would love to hear reviews of supplements for arthritis.

TBH I would not bother with a dog food whose USP was for joints, I do not believe that any food will contain sufficient for a dog.

I would feed a regular dog food with a low oil/fat content of good quality such as Burns, JWB, Arden Grange etc (low should be 10% or even lower).

No need for special diets.

You can bulk out the food if you want with veggies but avoid those thought to exacerbate arthritis, those would be the ones belonging to the nightshade family ie tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergine.

Supplements would include:

Chondroitin
Glucosamine
MSM
Green Lipped Mussel
Rosehip
Fish Body Oil (high DHA and EPA content) + Vitamin E
Vitamin C
Hylauronic Acid
Cetyl-Myristoleate
Ginger
Bromelain
Curcumin
Devils Claw


I get mine from Healthspan, high quality, and we ALL have them as they are designed for humans.

Other things you can try

Acupuncture
Hydrotherapy
Physiotherapy
Osteopathy
Chiropractic
Magnetotherapy

Great answer from SB there...
My lab is on Skinners Light and Senior which has some added glucosamine and chondroitin added in as well as being lower protein as it's designed for older retired dogs