calliecritturs
Posted : 9/8/2013 9:08:18 PM
Yes arthritis in the hind quarters *is* really common -- dogs tend to live longer now because they tend to get better care, so arthritis is more of a problem than it "used to be".
Everything Jackie said is superb.
Glucosamine & chondroitin are essentially "hydreators" -- meaning they plump up the cartilage that is there so it cushions better. But if there is too little cartilage *to* cushion, then it may not help much. (This said because I have rheumatoid arthritis myself so I've "been there";).
A really simple thing to try is NutraJoint. Originally made by Knox, whose NutraJoint division has been bought by Osteo-BiFlex -- it's just a supplement of ground bovine cartilage + a bit of calcium (not enough to throw off the dog's daily calcium intake) -- but NutraJoint actually helps them *re-build* cartilage permanently. It's a human supplement, but I've used it on both myself and my dogs for years. For a shepherd mix you'd only need about 1/2 - 2/3 scoop in food once a day. It's a tad gritty but tastes a bit milky but I've never had a dog who balked at it. You could mix it in a little babyfood veg or meat or some other easy to use thing if you use just kibble.
With arthritis (and Jackie is 100% on target) -- a vet needs to diagnose this -- because there are other things that can *look like* arthritis but aren't and are treated differently.
The big deal is to not allow the dog to overdo -- letting a dog play or walk or "have fun" until they limp? Or until they can go no further? That worsens the inflammation of the arthritic joint. Exercise is critical -- but you have to stop **before** it's really painful. Over-inflaming that joint means you're back at square one having to try to get the inflammation back down to a maintenance level.
Feeling the scruff of the neck will generally give you a good idea of how tense they are which, is actually a good indicator of how much they are hurting.
You can maximize whatever you need to do to reduce the inflammation by giving a bit of relaxant at the same time. Now honestly most relaxants that are pharmaceutical are habit-forming. You don't want to do that -- nor do you want to just zone them out.
But I've found using a nervine herb (literally a relaxant rather than anything that is a sedative) -- like valerian root or passionflower can be a huge help.
See if you *hurt* you get tense -- you don't want to move that sore spot -- but when you tense you actually make the bone rub on bone **harder** so it destroys the cartilage more quickly (which is why allowing them to go all the way to "pain" makes the arthritis much much worse). But if you relax the muscles -- so they don't tense up -- it then allows whatever NSAID you are using to work better.
Most dog NSAIDS (heck **ANY** nsaid -- human or otherwise) are hard on the liver and/or kidneys. You are much better off giving milk thistle along *with* the NSAID so it protects the liver, as well as helping the liver process the drug more efficiently.
There are other things you can do as well -- massage using an essential oil like wintergreen or peppemint (not food flavoring -- the actual essential oils). These are the oils that are in human preparations like Bio-Freeze and Ben Gay ... but those get fur all goopy. You can use just the essential oils -- or even just add them to plain rubbing alcohol -- and it penetrates well into the joint to actually relieve inflammation. Some dogs don't like to be massaged - and for them just dribbling on the oil diluted even minorly with alcohol can bring a lot of relief.
Arthritis is one of those things I know because I live with it. So I tend to be a sucker for an old dog who is hurting.
But you've got to keep the vet in the loop -- partticularly with the NSAIDs -- because that blood work is how you avoid problems later on and ensure things are going well. There are a lot of things that can masquerade as "arthritis" but really aren't. Like spondylosis ... and even dysplasia and other stuff.