BC Crazy Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Hi guys, Just wondering if anyone has thoughts/advice. Sonny who is only 6 has early onset Arthritis in his hip joints. At the moment I have him on Carprophen 1/4 tablet once a day. Tramadol 1/4 tablet twice a day. I have upped the Tramadol a little of late to help take the edge off. Plus he has Rose Hip Vital & Natural Animal Solutions Omega 3,6,9 plus vit. E. He has an excellent diet. 75% raw plus Kiwi Peak venison & fish. Eggs, raw fish, yoghurt & fruit etc. The last few days he is showing signs of significantly more compromised movement in his hind area & is reluctant to move at times. He will 'bunny hop' his back legs when he has to do stairs. I can just tell he is in more pain lately, poor boy I am reluctant to up the meds much more than I have at the moment being still a relatively young dog I'm worried if I keep increasing his meds now by the time he is in his senior years I will have run out of options for pain relief for him. I have just brought him some Liquid Health K9 Level 5000 Glucosamine today & am going to trail him on that to see if he shows any signs of improvement after a month or so. Questions being, is there anything else I can do for him ? I hate seeing him in pain. I give him a massage morning & night which he loves. He is due for another Accupuncture session so I am going to book him in for that. He is also reluctant to sit on command at times & stand on 3 legs when I do his nails so I know it is really bothering him. Any advice would be appreciated. TIA :) Edited January 20, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaCC Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Poor boy Talk to your vet about Cartrophen injections. Natural supplement wise NZ Green Lipped Muscle Protein has quite a few independent studies showing improvement in arthritis. So I'd be getting a supplement that has that in it over anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakkjackal Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) I too have a young dog with arthritis and I'm sorry to hear yours isn't doing that great. If I was in your situation I'd probably try everything I could in terms of supplements. IMO glucosamine/chondroitine are the two most important ones, as for extra bonuses you could think of trying MSM or hyaluronic acid (somewhat controversial whether or not it actually works taken orally but I guess worth a go). Rosehip is supposed to be good and I see he's already on it, haven't gotten my dog onto it yet sadly. Good to hear he's already getting acupuncture, was going to suggest that. Consider getting him a Back on Track coat, I've heard great things about them and it is on my shopping list for sure. Wishing you strength, it's hard. ETA maybe also consider getting a professional masseuse have a look at him? Sometimes unless you're a trained pro it's hard to get all the potential benefit from a home massage although the dogs certainly seem to enjoy it! Edited January 20, 2015 by Black_jackal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavsRcute Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I had a girl who had HD. As well as having acupuncture and supplements, she also had trigger point therapy. She used to get very painful trigger points as she used to have a compromised gait due to the bad hips. Supplements and anti inflammatories did not help as it was a soft tissue problem. The only thing that kept her mobile was seeing Mark Hocking at Gladesville vet for the trigger point therapy. He palpates all muscles and the uses a TENS like machine to dissolve the knots. May be worth thinking about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*kirty* Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Have you had the cartrophen injections done? I found they helped my girl immensely, and its fine to also keep using the other medication and supplements. I would also give 1/4 tramadol tablet TWICE daily because it only lasts about 8 hrs I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Thanks guys. It is very upsetting to see him in pain. He is such a fabulous boy. Beautiful temp. I just adore him. I had big plans for him. Agility etc. not to worry. He has/ will always have a fun activity filled life, just have to monitor his activities so he doesn't over do it. Lisa, the Kiwi Peak has green lipped mussels in it. That is one reason I swapped over. It has really beneficial ingredients in it. Neither of my guys will eat offal & KiwiPeak has 10% offal in it which is really important for my girl who is Epilepsy effected. Yes I have a double whammy as both of my dogs have horrid health issues sadly. Black jackel. Sorry to hear you have a young dog that is Arthritis effected as well. It's a horrible thing to happen in a young energetic otherwise healthy dog. Yes it is very hard for them & for us to witness. Thanks for reminding me about the Back on Track coats. I think they may help too. Will put some money away for one. My Vet is an Holistic Vet so she also our acupuncturist & she also does massage. I love her she is terrific. So she has showed me how to lightly massage Sonny's hips. I must ask about those Cartprophen injections as they may be more effective than the tablets. Hope your dog is going ok & not suffering to much. Edited January 20, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Sorry kirty I just had to edit my original post as I do give him 1/4 Tramadol twice a day. I think I will organise a Cartprophen shot. How long do they last. A month? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaCC Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Sorry kirty I just had to edit my original post as I do give him 1/4 Tramadol twice a day. I think I will organise a Cartprophen shot. How long do they last. A month? Cartrophen. It is different to the tablets. Heres the Website: Cartrophen.com He will get 4 shots a week apart which is one course. How long it lasts depends on how bad your dog is. When my old boy first started getting arthritis we started with the 4 shots before the cooler months hit, and it lasted a whole year. You may have to progress to 2 or 3 times a year. Edited January 20, 2015 by LisaCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the link Lisa. I will ring the Vet tomorrow to find out if I should start them now as we are going away for a month next month. See what she recommends. Had to edit. Hopeless speller lol Edited January 20, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaCC Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 They are really amazing, I could't believe the difference it made with Sam, he did end up having it twice a year in his later life. I have been told it's better to start them earlier than wait until it progresses. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedaler Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Add turmeric to his food. 1/4 cup of turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup filtered (or bottled) water Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and stir over a medium heat until the mix thickens to a paste - about the consistency of tomato paste Cool mix and store in a glass jar in the fridge. Start by adding about 1/4 teaspoon of past 3 or 4 times per day to food or as is if the dog will take it. Gradually build up to 1 tsp 3 or 4 times per day. I've been taking this myself and the improvement in my arthritis is amazing. I've gone from constant pain to virtually none and I only take 1 tsp per day. There is a Turmeric Users Group on Facebook if you want more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Gosh that sounds amazing. I am going to get some turmeric & make this recipe up. See how we go. I'm going to start taking it as well. I am riddled with Osteo arthritis too. Do you buy the Turmeric from a health food store? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakkjackal Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 BC crazy; mine is 3,5 years old now and so far hasn't shown any signs of pain or lameness yet -- fingers crossed it stays that way for years still. However he does have severe HD so I don't expect him to be healthy until his teens. I do think his level of fitness that I've tried to keep up has played a major part in keeping him symptom free. Swimming would be great to build supporting muscle without burdening the affected joints but I'm sure you already know that. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I have researched this recently - you need to ensure you get turmeric with at least 5% curcumin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Add turmeric to his food. 1/4 cup of turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup filtered (or bottled) water Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and stir over a medium heat until the mix thickens to a paste - about the consistency of tomato paste Cool mix and store in a glass jar in the fridge. Start by adding about 1/4 teaspoon of past 3 or 4 times per day to food or as is if the dog will take it. Gradually build up to 1 tsp 3 or 4 times per day. I've been taking this myself and the improvement in my arthritis is amazing. I've gone from constant pain to virtually none and I only take 1 tsp per day. There is a Turmeric Users Group on Facebook if you want more information. Yes yes yes! I haven't heard of this mix but it sounds excellent but I have heard of the benefits the pepper can add another way is to mix 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric to 1 dessert spoon of coconut oil. The oil is meant to increase the bioavailability of the turmeric :) Edited January 20, 2015 by Yonjuro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Black Jackel, Sonny has swum daily in the ocean since puppy hood & is a big water baby thankfully. I have always had any dogs I own swimming regularly just to keep them fit. It strengthens their back too. I think it has really helped Sonny & my Vet said he is really very fit. Glad your dog isn't suffering too much yet... it is such a painful dam thing. Edited January 20, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumabaar Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Just a not re swimming- it is great for building up muscles that move the body and for maintaining flexibility and moving the joints around. It does not build up muscles that support the joints- they need to be done with some weight bearing. So swimming is great!! Just that its only part of the picture when it comes to exercise. I would suggest land based exercises to assist with strengthening these joint supporting muscles on top of everything else suggested! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Oh we walk for 6 to 7 klms each day as well jumabaar. Is there other "land exercises" that are suitable for an arthritic dog? Could you explain load bearing exercises out of interest. Edited January 20, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedaler Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Gosh that sounds amazing. I am going to get some turmeric & make this recipe up. See how we go. I'm going to start taking it as well. I am riddled with Osteo arthritis too. Do you buy the Turmeric from a health food store? I buy it from an Asian (or Indian) grocer - 1kg cost me $6.10. I would imagine turmeric from the health store would be fine but probably more expensive. Coconut oil can be added as well after the paste has thickened - about 35g/ml (if melted) for the above amounts. Turmeric may be fed just as the powder but making the paste apparently allows the body to utilise it better and it also removes some of the bitterness it has. Can be mixed with food, yoghurt, milk (add a spoonful of honey) or taken as is. I don't mind the taste but don't like the texture. Edited January 20, 2015 by Airedaler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Oh thanks... bugger we don't have asian or indian grocers locally. Health store is very small & not at all helpful. Very $$$. I will try it first though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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