Thread: Dog arthritis guru mamas

Sasha is old and ill... and I am sad that as I watch her I know that soon she shall need to be put down. She is only 10 but she is an OLD 10 and her vet tells us this too.

Sasha has hip displacia and arthritis and the cold is not kind to her hips. She is inside most of the time laying on a lambskin lammy on the floor in the living room. When she IS outside she is on the couch that we have on the deck.

I know when I am hurting from my arthritis I take 1 advil. She cant' have that right?

DH is calling the Dr today to see if we can get an anti-inflamatory for dogs. What are they likely to give her and is there something that I have that she could take? Over the counter?

Already we are doing thyroid meds for her that are $45/ month, wondering what this prescription is going to cost. *sigh* Any vet that sees her sees $$ signs in their eyes and starts talking hip surgery,etc :vent: I love her as one of my kids, had her since she was 6 weeks...but I am not rich and Dh is farm born and raised and just doesn't go that far with animals if you kwim....

Oh and I did hear about Glucosamene (sp?) and we are going to start her on that but I really don't know that that will do it. She walks so stiff w/ her back legs and has trouble going down the stairs to go pee now.

She is an 85 lb Rotti/BorderCollie/Shep X not a little dog.

I don't have any guru-like answer for you. If her quality of life is really bad and she seems to be in pain most of the time, then you would have to decide if it's worth it for her. I googled some info and found a page with some supplements:Bone & Joint Care for Dogs at PetsTruly.com I have no experience with this site, so I can't advise you one way or the other. My dog, Cara, is a five year old German Shepherd. I bought a supplement for her at the hfs by US Animal of Vermont. It's called Joint Discovery Double Strength For Dogs. The active ingredients are:
Methylsulfonylmethane 500 mg
Chondroitin Sulfate 400 mg
Glucosamine HCl 250 mg
Ascorbic Acid 50 mg
Manganese 2.4 mg

I don't know if this would help your dog because of the age difference and health differnces, but it may be worth a try to see if she improves.

Cosequin daily is great for the joints but it is expensive. Glycoflex is a cheaper alternative. Not as good but pretty close. We have our female on Cosequin because she is in such rough shape but our male does great on the Glycoflex. Both can be found at Pet Products and Supplies - Omaha Vaccine Company for much cheaper than you get them at the vet clinic.

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If you are looking for a pain killer to help her in the short term, ask the vet for Rimadyl. We keep some on hand for when our girl has particularly bad days. Make sure to give it with food, though, or she might get an upset stomach.

The vet will give you anti-inflammatory medication for her and it will help her not feel the pain. She might even be a bit more active.

Our vet says:

Aspirin is ok for dogs, but not for cats. To reduce stomach irritation, use buffered aspirin or give aspirin at mealtime. For chronic arthritis pain, we have prescription drugs that are much safer and far more effective. Giving your dog aspirin more often than twice a week is a probably a bad idea.

Yet, this is info I found online when researching it myself:

"Use 5 grain (325 mg) aspirin tablets.

A 60 to 80 lb dog may be given one tablet twice a day (every 12 hours) or 1/2 tablet three times a day (every eight hours). A 30 to 40 lb dog gets half as much; a 15 to 20 lb dog a quarter as much. "

If you go with aspirin, talk to your vet about that and how much he/she says to use and how often!


Our Shep (see sig pic below) is starting on the more powerful vet anti-inflammatories. He is on his last leg of his journey at 12. You can see the pain in his eyes in the picture if you look closely. He is wearing a diaper in the house now too because he has become incontinent.

Our 'old' 10 yo dog takes Rimadyl. It is $41 for a 30 days supply if he takes one per day, but sometimes if he's over-exercised he'll need a second one before bedtime. He also is 'old' for his age and has been on this med for a year.

It's made a HUGE difference in his pain. He can be much more active now, where when we started it, we were considering having to put him down within the next few months due to his inability to even get up/down the two stairs to go outside some days.

Oh, and we do the 'dog treat' version! We put it in his food in the morning and he just eats it up No reason to have to force a pill down. Same price too! I wondered who would buy the non-treat pills!