I need help- arthritic dog

[notlindsrockies]

My poor 9 year old Pit mix is starting to show signs of stiffness, limping in the past month or so.  It seems to get worse at night, and she won't lie on the floor anymore.  Any ideas on what I should do for her as far as pain relief?  I feel so bad for her.  I thought about some glucosamine and chondroitin, but Google says that there isn't really definitive proof that this helps.

[pismoduo]

My parent's Pit mix started going through this same thing around that age. Their vet recommended baby asprin, if I remember correctly. I know they also did some steroid shots, but that was because the arthritis was impacting her spine. They also got her a nice memory foam bed. Do you think she's not lying on the floor because it's hard, or because she has trouble getting up and down? If it's the latter, maybe put her bed on a little platform (like a pallet or something?) to make it a little higher off the ground.

[motleycrew90]

The best thing to do is to probably get them to the vet to get checked out. My Great Pyreenes jumped out of our jeep back in Oct and was limping for a while. Never stopped limping, I thought it was arthritis and he was just taking longer to heal. Took him to the vet and turns out he has osteosarcoma. I'm not saying this is what your dog has, but your vet can guide you better in what to do for pain management

[motleycrew90]

Jan 15, 2015 16:25:06 GMT -5 pismoduo said:

My parent's Pit mix started going through this same thing around that age. Their vet recommended baby asprin, if I remember correctly. I know they also did some steroid shots, but that was because the arthritis was impacting her spine. They also got her a nice memory foam bed. Do you think she's not lying on the floor because it's hard, or because she has trouble getting up and down? If it's the latter, maybe put her bed on a little platform (like a pallet or something?) to make it a little higher off the ground.

My vet said not to give this as it can cause ulcers in the stomach, which are very painful. I would recommend speaking with your vet before giving a human medication.

[SheilaTheTank]

You can ask your vet for an anti inflammatory medication. In the mean time it wouldn't hurt to give him a joint supplement such as cosequin. My cat has arthritic hips and it helps her a lot. It's not perfect but it can help. A relatives dog had knee surgery at one point because they had bad arthritis. I don't know what the costs are but that may be another alternative.

[TrickyJedi]

Our chocolate lab would get very stiff every time my husband would take him duck hunting. This started when we was around 12 years old. We would just give him the glucosamine and he would be fine after.

[pismoduo]

Jan 15, 2015 16:26:51 GMT -5 motleycrew90 said:

Jan 15, 2015 16:25:06 GMT -5 pismoduo said:

My parent's Pit mix started going through this same thing around that age. Their vet recommended baby asprin, if I remember correctly. I know they also did some steroid shots, but that was because the arthritis was impacting her spine. They also got her a nice memory foam bed. Do you think she's not lying on the floor because it's hard, or because she has trouble getting up and down? If it's the latter, maybe put her bed on a little platform (like a pallet or something?) to make it a little higher off the ground.

My vet said not to give this as it can cause ulcers in the stomach, which are very painful. I would recommend speaking with your vet before giving a human medication.

Eesh. Good to know.

[cornerofthesky]

**Lurking***

Glucosamine and chondroitin can make a huge difference for some dogs and it's safe so definitely worth a try. I've had clients have the most success with the Dasuquin brand.

[3houlagirl]

Cosequin helped my parents' beagle for several years. Then they bumped up to rimadyll which helped for another few years until he passed. I would call the vet and see what they suggest. They may want you to come in, or they may have a few otc suggestions.

Also I second the nice thick bed.

EDIT: My phone is dumb. Cossacks=/= cosequin

[spartanchick88]

Ask your vet about Novox. It's much cheaper than the Adequan (though that helped too) and worked wonders for our grey. I still have almost a full script - if you want to go all Internet weird you're welcome to it. Not sure what I'm going to do with it otherwise.

[inwinethereistruth]

Dasuquin absolutely can help (its glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM), but once you see signs of arthritis on an almost daily basis, at that point NSAIDS (Rimadyl, Metacam, Meloxicam) are recommended. These are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (think aleve but for dogs). Fairly safe, although just like any medication can have side effects. I love seeing the difference it makes in patients. Ask you vet, but do not give human meds to dogs as aleve/asprin/tylenol etc... can all kill dogs based on how they are metabolized.

FYI- I am a veterinarian, if that give any credibility to what I say

[notlindsrockies]

Jan 15, 2015 16:50:21 GMT -5 inwinethereistruth said:

Dasuquin absolutely can help (its glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM), but once you see signs of arthritis on an almost daily basis, at that point NSAIDS (Rimadyl, Metacam, Meloxicam) are recommended. These are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (think aleve but for dogs). Fairly safe, although just like any medication can have side effects. I love seeing the difference it makes in patients. Ask you vet, but do not give human meds to dogs as aleve/asprin/tylenol etc... can all kill dogs based on how they are metabolized.

FYI- I am a veterinarian, if that give any credibility to what I say

This is why I love TheBump :::cough::: ProBoards.