Joint help with NO shellfish (Emma)

 If you can, acupuncture might be very helpful.

WDJ had a huge article on artritis/pain management a year or so ago - it should be available as a download from their website.

I've heard good things about adequan injections, dunno what they are based on materials-wise.

What about  the Knox nutrajoint stuff Callie is always talking about - I think it's gelatin based, so perhaps beef??

 Knox is a GOOD idea, and something I hadn't thought of! Thanks!

Emma HATES acupuncture, and I feel like that defeats the purpose. The laser treatments are more effective, because she relaxes during them. 

You could make your own "NutraJoint" with just plain gelatin and ground eggshell.  You don't have to use much calcium with the gelatin -- but that will do the same thing.

Do you need me to send you some White Flower or something?  If you combine some sort of relaxant (passionflower is going to be more liver-friendly than most anything probably) with the anti-inflammatory oils it really helps unbelievably -- even if you have to put her on a low dose of NSAID -- you can generally cut it in half by giving a relaxant with it (just because it's more efficient in how it works when it doesn't have the resistance of rigid muscles).  That's going to help immediately to be honest.

Traumeel -- it's a homeopathic and should be well tolerated.  You can order it online -- Whole Foods carries it if you have one anywhere near.  If you can get into a health store that carries homeopathics -- Hylands and Boiron both have a decent arthritis pain reliever that is a homeopathic anti-inflammatory.  Newton is used A LOT on dogs and they have an arthritis remedy too. (https://www.newtonlabs.net/index.asp

 If you don't want to go the route of the Metacam, you could try a really low dose of White Willow Bark -- like no more than 1/4 of a capsule twice a day.    It's the herbal form of aspirin -- but any nsaid is going to be tough on the liver and stomach.  But again -- WITH a relaxant whatever nsaid you use - you can use lsess.

 Ditto on the White Flower. Love that stuff.

Nix the eggshell though if chicken is an issue. The shells absorb the protein like nobody's business. Oh yeah, learned that one the hard way. Ben got in some CLEAN eggshell one day and thought they were yummy crunchables just for him. Why, oh why, are they so attracted to the things that are worst for them? Have I mentioned I miss silly ol' Ben a lot, lately? 

Anyway, I'll ask Sabine if you aren't on ODO. It's a really good question.

ETA: I thought of two:

CMO: Here's the human version, which has very little in the way of extra ingredients: CM Response (the dog version has bromelain in it) this stuff is AWESOME. Lu could barely walk last winter, and now she's jumping three feet fences again going between pastures to check out her charges. I thought she was "done" and as far as I know she's going to go until at least this winter again.

Shark cartilage: Not shellfish. Sea STarr has an ecologically responsibly harvested version I use for myself.

 I have some white flower oil, buuuut.... Her skin is quite badly broken, in that general area. She's been gnawing at herself. I'm afraid it'll burn the heck out of her.

And no eggs, no. She's allergic to eggs, and to chicken. Emma is so special 

Thanks, so much, for all of the GREAT suggestions! Now I have a list of things to try, for her!

We are using Adequans on Chyna, quite successfully.  She gets an injection a month, and is getting around 10 times better than she was before we started the injections.  We have yet to find a joint supplement that does not make her vomit, so Adequans has been wonderful for her.

 I'll have to email them and find out what's in it, what the liklihood of reaction is, and how long the reaction would last. She had that little 1/4 tab, last night, and she's still itching like crazy, breaking out in new hives when the benedryll starts to wear off. I hate it, for her.

The active ingredient in Adequan ® Canine is polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG). Polysulfated glycosaminoglycan is a semisynthetic
glycosaminoglycan prepared
by extracting glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) from bovine tracheal cartilage. GAGs are polysaccharides composed of repeating disaccharide units.

So... it's beef, and beef is safe, right? LOL. Still got some poking to do, of course!

 The stuff I linked to has shellfish source glucosamine. Blurgh. But they do sell "pure" CMO products because I've got one for me. I think Puritan's Pride has one. Yup, they do.

 I'm pretty sure the health food store has cetyl m. I just never really checked into it, when I worked there. Nobody bought it, much, because of the price tag. I'll have to see if they have a product without glucosamine, too.

 a couple of thoughts - if her thyroid is running low it does effect the allergic responses.  Bugsy's allergies are soooo much better since starting the thyroid meds - still can't go near the clear no-no's but his environmental allergies are mild compared to what we have dealt with so hopefully if her thyroid is off starting the meds will help.

What about feeding her those 'windees', the tracheas?  They are supposed to be full of gluco/chond and from cows or pigs

You know I feel your pain with trying to work this all out - never easy.  I sure hope you find some relief for her - poor baby.

 Yes, you've tortured me with that, before! I will definitely get her some tracheas, and check out other cartilage-y chews.