Relieving symptoms of hip dysplasia & arthritis

[.sarah]

Mandy has arthritis and I found out last week that Nova has hip dysplasia and also elbow dysplasia in one elbow.

Mandy has been on Rimadyl for months now. She was on Deramaxx but had to be taken off due to her allergies (it had meat flavoring in it). I prefer the Deramaxx because Rimadyl has so many side effects but so far she hasn't shown any reactions to it.

I started both of them on Cosequin last week. For those of you who don't know it's a supplement and I think it's the strongest on the market but I'm not absolutely positive. It's also very expensive.

Last week our Purina rep came to feed us his "blah blah blah our food is the best ever" speech ... I work at a vet btw. Their formula, JM (Joint Mobility), gave me some ideas. He was talking about how it has Omega-3 &-6 fish oils and Vitamin E in it for the joints. Apparently this works really good so I started adding Fish Oil & Vitamin E supplements to my dogs' food since I don't want to feed them the crap that is Purina.

What I'm wondering is have any of you guys had experience with adding these to their diet for their joints/arthritis. I don't want to ask my bosses because they'll probably tell me to put them on JM, keep them on Cosequin, provide a prescription for Nova and tell me to keep Mandy on Rimadyl. Nova has allergies too (just found this out today) and she can't be put on Deramaxx and I don't want her on Rimadyl because of the Rimadyl-Labs relationship.


Also just wanted to add that when I put this in Outlook Express to check the spelling, for Deramaxx it suggested EARWAX. hahahaha

[.sarah]

Does *anyone* know? I mean ANYTHING for relieving pain for the joints & arthritis...

[dragondawg]

you get blood work to monitor the liver enzymes once a month while on the Rimadryl. Metacam is another NSAID that may be tried.

Good approach on the fish oil - forget Purina. ;) The only known side effect for too much fish oil is possible loose stools. If so cut back. I gave it to my prior Lab like dog after she was diagnosed with Lymphoma. She received 3000-4000 mg 2X daily without any problems.

Another try that has been floating in the breeze for almost two years is to contact the company BSP Pharma and ask them if they are ever going to market BSP-201 a sheanut oil extract which they claim can provide as good pain relief as the NSAIDs. I tried Emailing them twice. Once over a year ago and it was claimed they would soon be marketing in N. America. I sent a follow up a few months ago, and got no reply. The only thing I know about sheanut oil per se is that there is some evidence it raises cholesterol in humans. Probably raw sheanut oil will have minimal or no effect on pain. So it all rests with BSP marketing their product, or at least answering their Emails!

[.sarah]

Ahhh thanks ;)

Mandy has her bloodwork done often -- I work at a vet so it's easy to keep on top of these things.

Hmm ... I'm not exactly sure how much Fish Oil they're being given. I've been giving them 2 caps per day ... I know when Mandy was prescribed it a couple years ago for dry skin she was being given 2 a day so I figured I'd start with that. I didn't think Fish Oil had any life-threatening symptoms.

I'm more worried about giving them too much Vitamin E, though. I'm giving them 1 cap per day. My boss has Rottweilers around the size of my dogs who are getting 2 caps per day of the same size, so I'm hoping that I could increase it if needed but I am going to learn more about it first.

[senorita02]

i think the fish oil was a good move, it is good for humans too.
i have not added it to my Rotts food , he has mild hip dysplasia, but i think i will.
He has not been showing any signs of discomfort at all, but the xray did show he has it, and when he swims, i will give him a rimidyl that evening, that seems to be the only time he shows slight discomfort.
i dont like to give the rimidyl cuz of all the bad things i have heard about it , but i havent had to use it that much, maybe one bottle the entire year!

[wolfie]

I agree, I don't believe Rimadyl is very safe to be on long term.

Daphne has arthritis, and she gets glucosamine ever day. It works great! If I ever stop for a week or two and we go out running, she starts limping. I start back up again and she's pain-free!

Cosequin has glucosamine in it. I was reading that the other ingredient in Cosequin, chondroitin, isn't proven to be effictive. It's usually found with glucosamine in pills, so the pills work because of the glucosamine in the pills. It could be wrong, but that's what I read in one study.

You can find glucosamine for dogs for about $20 for 120 pills (500mg each. Daphne is 40 pounds, and needs 1000mg a day) Or you can just buy the stuff for humans, and hide it in food. I do that for Daphne - I found human pills, 1000mg each, 120 pills for $20.

And I know a lot of people have sucess with MSM for their pets with arthritis. We don't use it though so I can't give you more info on that.

[areias]

I use a supplement with my horse, who has an old knee injury. She used to "creak" when she loped, and she would sometimes go a little sore on it. I started using FinishLine-Fluid Action...and its great. I haven't had any problems with it-it has glucosomine, MSM, yucca, calcium, some vitamins, etc. You can use it on dogs and cats...I would definately take a look. It has 5000mg of glucosomine in an ounce. It's about $30...State Line Tack in Petsmarts usually carry it. For a horse it's a 30day supply, and I'm sure for a dog it would about 2months.

Wow I sound like a sales agent. :p

Anyways...here's a link:
Fluid Action (http://www.finishlinehorse.com/product/fluid-action.asp)

I'm not sure about fish oil. I don't think Vitamin E would have any adverse effects. When Casey was 4 months old she got into a bottle of them, ate the whole thing (about 50 pills), and was none the worse off, other than a little diarrhea.
Hills Science Diet also came out with a joint food, J/D. I don't know how well it works, or the ingredients.

[pnance]

I use a human grade glucomsomine/chondroitin suppliment for 2 of my dogs. 1 has arthritis, the other has had hip surgery for dysplasia in 1 hip and the other hip is on the mild side, so both get it and it works great for them. They were both rescues when they came to us, and I've seen the difference the suppliments make in there mobility. According to my vet not all the glucosomine/chondroitin supplements work as well, she gave me 3 brands that were good, unfortunately I don't remember the other 2. Currently I get mine at costco and it's a Kirkland brand of all things. But our vet recommended it and considering she works closing with a board certified surgeon whose well known for her technique in helping dogs with dysplasia I'm willing to go with it.... ;)

[Glacier]

One of my dogs has major arthritis issues and is still quite young. Goldie was injured when she was a stray and never given treatment. Her back hips are very painful. She takes Meloxicam every day. It's the human version of Metacam. Much cheaper for long term use than Metacam. The only side effect so far is Goldie is a different dog. She's happy, she plays, she runs and wrestles and she's lost a few pounds! She gets bloodwork every six months. It was more often when she first started but she's been on it for 18 months now.

We've used Rimadyl for short-term extreme pain relief only--after Muskwa got kicked by a horse. He did very well on it, but it was only for a week or so.

I give my three old timers antler dust. My f-i-l is a antler carver and he saves all the dust for me. You can buy it in health food stores. I don't know if there is any scientific proof that it works, but my three haven't gotten any worse since they started it.

[.sarah]

Hills Science Diet also came out with a joint food, J/D. I don't know how well it works, or the ingredients.

Ehhh, yes I know. I don't like Hills at all. I'd rather feed them Purina, but I still hate that brand too. I'm going to keep them on the Natural Balance because it's a much better food, and I will just supplement.

Thanks for all the info! I will definetly look into everything. I may have to try a few different things but I just want something that works. Mandy's arthritis is only minor but she's overweight so the arthritis could get worse (she has been on a diet for over a year, she's lost 11 lbs but has been 5 lbs overweight for about 6 months now -- and we've tried everything to get her to lose the remaining weight. :( ). Nova's dysplasia is severe in her hips and moderate in her elbow, so I'm really not looking forward to the years to come -- it's only going to get worse. She shows no symptoms or discomfort now but I'm hoping to prevent at least some discomfort. Hopefully she won't have to get the surgery, but if that's what's best for her than that's what we'll do. Plus, we started agility before I found out that she has dysplasia and she loves it. I don't know whether to continue with it or not. Dr.D said it'd be okay, but I'm still worried about how much stress that will put on her joints. :(

[senorita02]

Which surgery are you referring to? Hip Replacement?

[.sarah]

I guess so. I only know that in severe cases surgery is sometimes needed. I honestly haven't researched too much, yet.

[ESS-lover]

glucosamine/chondroitin and omega-3 (fish oil)... you can get liguid glucosamine for animals (It's been used for about 30 years in animals) --- and it does help -- also exercise to strengthen the muscles to help support the joints - my Orthopedic jokes that it's been proven in animals to work. You will have to research to find the correct amounts (google it) - but from my POV - the combo is great (arthritis is arthritis no matter people or dogs)

[anna_66]

I gave my Angus Liquid Health (https://secure.highspeedweb.net/~ldcpet/aa-liquidhealth.htm) It was the best thing! He acted like a completely different dog:) I highly recommend it.