Giving Joint Guard - Help Please?

[violetmay]

Hi There

Scruffy my 6 year old maltese (we got him from the pound about 3 years ago) has been diagnosed with arthritis.

He is doing very well on metacam and joint guard certainly ramps up how good he feels.

Problem is he is an extremely fussy creature. He's been like this since day one. It's extremely hard to feed him anything and he has almost no interest in food. Certainly wont even try any sort of commerical dog food. He brand we have had most success with him eating is the Julius brand 5 packs from Aldi (not the chicken flavour, but the beef and lamb ones) - sometimes he will eat that if you hand feed it to him bit by bit. He wont eat any of the brands that woolies/coles and coles sell.

The only way I've found to get him to eat Joint Guard powder is to buy a roast chicken from woolies, rip of a small amount of chicken (may 60 grams or so) and then mix the powder in with the chicken. Then hand feed him the chicken (he wont eat it from a bowl).

I once tried mixing the Joint Guard powder in with minced meat (the one humans eat) and he wouldn't eat that. I wondered whether it would be OK to bake the Joint Guard/mince ball and make it into a little meatball for him. Our vet said he may find meat more palatable if wasn't raw.

With the metacam, he has to have that with food. So we give him three smackos before and after having metacam, but he is starting to turn his nose up at smackos.

I just wondered if anyone had any other suggestions. I need an easy and cheap way to get the Joint Guard into my fussy dog.

Thanks for the help :-)

[GoldenGirl85]

Honestly, if your dog is so fussy he needs to eat chicken from your hand (your words) it sounds like you need to do the 'bowl goes down for 15 mins' trick, put it down for 15 mins, if he doesnt eat, try again in the morning, and then that afternoon, he wont let himself starve

It sounds like he has you well trained

ETA

I once tried mixing the Joint Guard powder in with minced meat (the one humans eat) and he wouldn't eat that. I wondered whether it would be OK to bake the Joint Guard/mince ball and make it into a little meatball for him. Our vet said he may find meat more palatable if wasn't raw.

I think this is a load of BS as well, dogs dont care if their meat is cooked, its better for them if it is raw

Edited April 3, 2011 by GoldenGirl85

[aussielover]

They make a joint guard liver chew which he may like.

[Staff'n'Toller]

Sasha's blend treats are back too.

But no dog here gets fed by hand. 6 Schmackos a day is a lot of salt, colours and flavours for a dog his size. Metacam is honey flavoured squirt it into his mouth!!!

He needs retraining for his food eating problems. But you can run blood tests first if you want to know everything is AOK on the inside.

[poodlefan]

Will he drink milk? Jointguard blends will with liquids.

[mac'ella]

I had similar problems with joint guard at first with my 13yr old boxer, until the hunger took over.I have now started using SeaFlex joint function treats which seem to be working better and he also seems more alert and has more stamina,he was even chasing the edger today,he has no problem eating them just takes them and they are gone in 2seconds

[The Bears]

Food issues aside - have you looked into catrophen shots instead? Initial course of 1 shot for 4 weeks, then boosters depending on severity.

[violetmay]

Thanks for your help everyone. Yes his food issues are a problem, but because the joint guard helps him with pain, I really want him to have it. It is awful when his arthritis is bad, he just sits and cries. One time it was so bad he couldn't use his back legs at all. Before this, if he refused to eat the food it was put away etc, but now, he really has to have joint guard, so I need to find ways to get that into him.

I didn't realise I could give him milk, so I will try that for the joint guard. I'll buy some lactose free milk from the supermarket, really don't think he could cope with lactose. He's got a sensitive tummy at the best of times.

Yes I know 6 smackos a day is a lot, but giving him the metacam without smackos (ie. being one of the few things he would eat) caused him to have diarrhea. So it needs to be given with some sort of food. I'll keep looking for alteratives.

Thanks for the other product sugggestions. I will ask the vet about catrophen next time we go. He's only been diagnosed for about 3 weeks, so we are just starting this journey with him.

I was googling too and found that Hills make a dog food specifically for dogs with joint problems. So I might go and see if I can find a can of that, to see if he will eat it. I've had cats on various hills diet catfoods before, but have never bought a dog one (this is the first time I've had a dog).

Thanks for your help. Always happy for more suggestions.

[violetmay]

Just wanted to add, I went to my vet to enquire about the Hills j/d. They didn't have any instock, but are ordering me in some of the small size pellets. I'm going to go on a search of the canned variety of hills j/d.

They did give me a free sample of Royal Canin mobility, and to my absolute shock, my dog ate half the sample. Had to hand feed him piece by piece, but he loved it.

Feeling so much happier now. I hadn't realised that there were all these speciality dogfoods available, and now when my dog will be eating food, he will be getting helped with his joints. So if I don't get his joint guard into him all the time, it will be OK.

Yay, yay.

[Tassie]

My two get their JG in a soup spoonful of fat-free natural yoghurt on top of their food. They love the yoghurt, and haven't had any issues. Having said that though, no-one in their wildest dreams could call them fussy eaters

[~Archie~]

I feed my dog Joint Guard chews and he just loves them.

You could give the chews instead of giving him the schmakos

[violetmay]

I feed my dog Joint Guard chews and he just loves them.

You could give the chews instead of giving him the schmakos

Thanks, I will buy the joit guard chews next time, I have to use up this tub of powder first LOL!!

I managed to get canned Hills J/D today, and also after discussion with a vet nurse decided to order Royal Canin Mobility dry food instead of the Hills science diet j/d dry food. The lady said it tasted a lot better to dogs. This was the sample I was given that my dog ate.

I stupidly took my dog for a walk this morning (he's been fine for a two weeks up to today) and was fine on the walk. But a few hours after the walk (after he's slowed down and had a sleep) he was in mega pain and was crying out loudly again. So sadly no more walks for him over about 10 minutes long.

[Staff'n'Toller]

Have you had Xrays done? Seems like an extreme reaction after a 10minute walk for a 6 year old dog.

ETA: I think the Mobility Support is 'tastier' as well, judging by dogs reactions.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Staff'n'Toller

[violetmay]

Have you had Xrays done? Seems like an extreme reaction after a 10minute walk for a 6 year old dog.

ETA: I think the Mobility Support is 'tastier' as well, judging by dogs reactions.

No, the walk was 40 minutes, not 10. I just think I will limit them to 10 minutes in the future. I just took him on the normal route we walk on. It's 3K exactly (I record it on runkeeper which is an iphone app, so I know exact distances).

No, we haven't had xrays yet. A few weeks ago he got an even worse reation after a 5K walk (1 hour) - same as today, was fine for the walk, came home, had a sleep, woke up, couldn't move at all, and was crying very loudly. I had metacam in the house, so quickly gave him a dose of that before I rung the vet. They told me to come immediately, and in the 10 minutes it took to make the phonecall and get to the vet, the metacam was already working and he could put his weight on his backlegs atleast. The vet took him in straight away (she knows us, we've been before) and felt him legs/hips etc and said that he had arthritis in both his knees, and to keep on the metacam.

I found joint guard by asking the people in the guinea pig forum LOL!! I can tell the dfference it makes though.

I'm in Brisbane, and have been reading through the threads and am thinking that maybe I should take him to that Animal Options place at Ormeau that people are recommedning.

[Staff'n'Toller]

Oh ok, sorry I misread, I figured it was between 10-20mins with what you described originally.

Have they ruled out luxating patellas or cruciate rupture? Might be a good idea to get a 2nd opinion or some more tests done.

[Rottifan]

Definitely see an animal chirorpactor - drugs wont fix the problem because you are not addressing the cause of it! If you keep walking your dog whilst out of alignment you are toning muscle to hold your dog out of alignment and worsening the problem. I use a great mobile animal chiropractor who doesnt cost much more than travelling to a clinic and then having to pay for drugs/injections which the mobile guy doesnt promote because he gets results above and beyond all that I've seen from anywhere else that I've gone with my dog. Best of luck - a dog in alignment with all pinched nerves released can also avoid the need for cruciate ligament surgery ......if you get the mobile chiro he can advise you on what to change in your dogs home environment which is normally the cause of the problems in the first place. Good luck

[violetmay]

Just an update. Got the dog in with a doggy chiropractor/vet. Rowan at http://www.animaloptions.com.au/index.php?...=animal-options. His first available appointment wasnt until 6 May, but that is fine. Dog is fine if he is on painkillers and I don't walk him. Walking aggravates the problem, so best to keep him home. Poor thing was very sad this morning when I left to go for a walk without him.

Thanks for the help everyone!!

Oh that cannd science diet j/d is an odd thing. Very hard, never seen dogfood so hard before LOL!! I can get him to eat it if I hand feed it to him, but he definitely prefers the Royal Canin mobility.

I'll try some yoghurt for mixing joint guard. I thought I would also give peanut butter a go too.

[dianed]

Will he drink milk? Jointguard blends will with liquids.

I crush Sophie's glucosamine tab & Prolet tab together and put it in a bowl milk nightly. It solved our problem.

She has been a finicky eater from the day I got her 13 and half years ago. She even gets up and walks away with a look like "are you trying to poison me"

I take the bowl and put it away for an hour. I discovered early on she is a late night eater where as my other dog is ready around 5-6pm.

.

PS The cartrophen injections really do make a difference. Sophie has them monthly now. Them and the anti inflammatory keep her moving and pain free.

Edited April 5, 2011 by dianed

[Nekhbet]

If your dog can eat Julius and Schmackos he's not really that sensitive or fussy - he just has you well trained which most of the small fluffy dogs tend to do. They're both quite average ingredient wise. Most anti-inflammatories though like Metacam should be given with food as they can irritate the stomach.

Be tough for his own good and cut down hand feeding. No dog will starve itself and he has to eat his medication so make it a happy routine. Food down, doesnt eat it in 15 minutes put it away for the next meal in the evening and nothing in between.

Chiropractor is definately required and if your dog is in that much pain he cannot walk he needs x-rays. Metacam is not a long term solution when you dont know exactly what the problem is. It's easy to say arthritis when the dog flinches or squeals when manipulated, my own dog was diagnosed with it supposedly and turned out to be something totally opposite. Also consider if your dog needs to lose some weight - if you cannot easily feel ribs then your dog is too fat for it's joints. Arthritic dogs need to be lean and consider short walks only or somewhere like the beach paddling etc. 5km for a toy breed is way too much.

If your vet is not giving you suggestions on maintenance such as diet and supplements find another. I'm very surprised they did not tell you about joint guard or the vet only foods until you found them yourself.

[violetmay]

Just an update. Finally today was our Animal Options appointment.

My dog has hip dysplasia, not arthritis. My local vet was wrong wrong wrong.

I am pretty upset at the thought of my dog having this condition, but very glad I decided to pursue it further. The vet said that he is not a candidate for surgery, so that is a good thing atleast.

Boy, and I thought giving Joint Guard was hard. My dog now has a host of other tablets that all have to be given multiple times a day, some without food, some with. The medication is just a nightmare now. Poor dog had three needles today too.

But gee, when I read through a list of the symptoms of hip dysplasia, my dog has all the symptoms. Last vet appointment with the local vet I was told my dog has arthtiris in both his back knees and his hips were fine. Rowan said today that my dogs back knees were perfectly fine, so I really don't understand why I was told he had arthtitis in his knees by the local vet. I'll just really staggered by this, my local vet is supposedly the best one in the area, and all the locals rave about them.