Arthritic Hips

[dancinbcs]

I just noticed your reference to a lot of stairs. Can you keep him way from them, install ramps down the side of them or get a harness to allow you to take some of his weight when he uses the stairs. Out of curiousity, did he have access to all those stairs as puppy?

[BC Crazy]

Hi dancin, our house is on 3 levels & has loads of stairs. 14 to go from the front door to the kitchen. Then 4 to the lounge,our main living area. When Sonny was a youngster we blocked them off as I was always concerned for his safety around them. I carried him when we needed to. Years ago I read somewhere not to let young dogs use stairs too much as their bones haven't developed & they could cause skeletal damage. Neither Sonny or Stella were allowed near the stairways as puppies nor did they use them as maturing dogs.

Both dogs usually stay in the lounge room kitchen area with us & there is just 3 stairs in between. Sonny mainly just likes to lay in his bean bag in front of the TV. He loves to watch it.

We are just about to put our home on the market actually as I too suffer with Arthritis we are down sizing to a home on a level block with no stairs. Can't wait! ...

I've pretty much wrapped him cotton wool Dancin, as I always do with any of my dogs. They are never left in the elements. Heat or cold. Always had the best diet I was able to provide. Never allowed to be over worked or run on hard surfaces etc etc.

That's what really upsets & disappoints me with his condition & he is only 6 as you know.

Edited January 26, 2015 by BC Crazy

[german_shep_fan]

I have researched this recently - you need to ensure you get turmeric with at least 5% curcumin.

Sorry to hijack the thread!

I am also wanting to try Turmeric with my 10 yr old boy.

So it has to have at least 5% curcumin? What does this do?

Also it is better to be organic? And it comes in a powder that I should be able to get at a health food store?

Thanks very much everyone :)

[SchnauzerMax]

I have researched this recently - you need to ensure you get turmeric with at least 5% curcumin.

Sorry to hijack the thread!

I am also wanting to try Turmeric with my 10 yr old boy.

So it has to have at least 5% curcumin? What does this do?

Also it is better to be organic? And it comes in a powder that I should be able to get at a health food store?

Thanks very much everyone :)

I believe curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric.

Edited January 28, 2015 by SchnauzerMax

[mita]

I have researched this recently - you need to ensure you get turmeric with at least 5% curcumin.

Sorry to hijack the thread!

I am also wanting to try Turmeric with my 10 yr old boy.

So it has to have at least 5% curcumin? What does this do?

Also it is better to be organic? And it comes in a powder that I should be able to get at a health food store?

Thanks very much everyone :)

I take curcumin for a human condition (not arthritis). The capsules were available from a nearby pharmacy, but they were not kept on the shelves, but behind the counter. The label said, 'For practitioners'....I assumed this meant naturopaths.

I looked up the results from scientific studies (humans) ... which said that curcumin/tumeric on its own tended not to be bio-accessible, but that when combined with black pepper & oil, it was more so. So I've switched to tumeric, which I put on food like potatoes along with pepper & olive oil. But, because of the pepper, just speaking for myself, I wouldn't give that to dogs, without talking to a vet.

Just out of interest, Ohio State University developed a nanoemulsion curcumin supplement to get around the problem of absorption with curcumin on its own. It's being trialled for women with high risk of breast cancer. Curcumin's showing up of interest in the conditions which are associated with inflammation ...includes breast cancer & other things as well as arthritis

http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2013/09/researchers_use_supplement_des.html

Edited January 29, 2015 by mita

[Brookestar]

First and foremost you need to make sure you have a full and accurate diagnosis. If x-rays have not been done to confirm the diagnosis, then they need to be. The amount of dogs that are diagnosed with arthritis, when they really have something else is way too high. You also need to know the severity of it, and how far advanced it is in different joints to truly be able to work out a plan for management of the condition. Only x-rays can do that.

Arthritis management comes in 3 areas, lifestyle, medical and complementary. In an ideal world you use all of them combined. But, none of the medical or complementary is going to be of any use if the dog’s lifestyle is such that it constantly makes the arthritis worse.

One of the most important things is to educate yourself about the condition. Throwing different things at a condition, without fully knowing what they are doing is not going to be of any use. Many of them are doing the exact same thing, more of the same is not going to help, just going to take money from you, which could be much better spent on other things that do help.

At the moment you need to focus 100% on getting pain under control. A dog cannot rest if they are in constant pain and at present the dog needs rest and not much else. When a dog shows pain it must be in huge amounts, because dogs live with so much pain that we simply would not tolerate. Dogs also want to please you and so do what you want, unless it is basically physiologically impossible for them to do otherwise. Pain also happens very gradually, and so they learn to think that feeling stiff and sore is normal, when in fact it is anything but.

First and foremost the dog needs an appropriate bed. Not just for overnight, but for anywhere they are resting in the home. Beds need to be firm and flat. That means absolutely no beanbags, no couches, no human beds, no anything that is not firm and flat. A dog does not understand why it wakes up stiff and sore from getting off a bean bag, it does not connect the two together. The idea of raised beds comes for dogs that live outside, as the dampness from the ground, can go through beds on the ground. For dogs inside that is not relevant, and in fact would be contraindicated, because you do not want the dog stepping up onto anything at all. Ideally you want an eggshell foam or memory foam mattress. Animal physiotherapists recommend the Snooza Orthobed or big dog bed. http://www.dogbedsgalore.com.au/orthopedicdogbed Most dogs will lie on beds against the wall and to help to keep them warm, you can simply get some cheap bits of wood from a hardware store and superglue some old blankets to them, to provide some warmth, rather than the dogs back resting against a cold wall.

For dogs that are sleeping outside, or are ever outside when you are not home, then they must have a kennel, preferably one that has the door off to the side, like this one, as it allows them to curl up out of the draft coming in through the door: http://www.dogbedsgalore.com.au/product/TFOCPP They would need an appropriate mattress inside the kennel to protect the joints, etc. Kennels need to be large enough for the dog to fully stand up, turn around and lie down in, and stretch out in, but not any larger, as if there is too much space around them, they will become colder. You can put doors on kennels, which can help to keep them a few degrees warmer as well.

You want to raise food and water bowls off the ground. Bending down to eat and drink places pressure on the spine and in turn, also the joints. Allowing the dog a more normal horizontal position when eating and drinking can help to reduce pain, and pressure on joints. Sometimes it can be hard to buy suitable raised bowls, as you need to make sure that they are not too high, but you can easily do it yourself, by buying small stools or even building some wood yourself, or even simply putting old phone books underneath it. You want the food and water bowls, near the bed, so the dog is not forced to walk to anywhere else to get what they need. Ideally you also want a non-slip mat or something similar for the dog to stand on when eating and drinking as this will help to take some of the stress off the joints that comes from standing on hard surfaces when eating and drinking, if they are standing on wood or tiled floors, for instance.

No stairs means no stairs. Stairs put huge amounts of pressure on joints and make the pain a thousand times worse, and damage to the joints worse. You can buy portable dog ramps that will go to one side of the stair case and still allow you to walk up and down the steps without issue, while also ensuring that the dog is not forced to do so. The average stair case is at least a metre wide. A portable dog ramp is between 20-35 cm wide, so pushed to one side, still leaves most of the staircases free for you. This also includes when taking the dog outside to toilet, when getting them in an out of the car, etc.

The dog needs to be the leanest weight possible. All dogs have a healthy weight range and while the dog might be in that range, having it at the lowest end of that range is going to be much better on the dogs joints, movement, etc. Any weight lost will help. You have sole control of how much food you feed the dog.

The dog should be on lead when going to the toilet if at all possible, as this allows you to control the movements the dog is making. But do not walk fast and go at the dogs pace.

In terms of exercise, the best is little and often. Ideally they should not be walking no more than 15 minutes at a time, but preferably 3-4 times a day. At a minimum twice daily walks, morning and night are better than one longer walk. If the dog is in pain, then not walking them is better for them. Swimming can be used at those times as it allows the joints to move freely. While it is true that walking provides weight bearing exercise and this is important, it is contraindicated if the dog is in pain, as it is only going to make it worse, not better. Swimming can be done all the time, as it does not require weight bearing, but does get the joints moving. But you do need to be extra careful of the dog getting in and out of the water. Swimming can reverse muscle wastage, can improve circulation and can improve range of motion. Walking on grass can be better than walking on concrete as it is less pressure on the joints, even though it is still weight baring. Simply having the dog walk on the nature strip can help with this.

Coats or jumpers can help to keep the dog warm and reduce the pain they feel (cold makes pain worse), although you need to be careful not to overheat the dog.

The Carprophen your dog is on is a Non Steroid Anti Inflammatory. Tramadol is a pain relief product. At present the dog needs them both, to whatever level is necessary. When the pain is fully under control for a few weeks, then you can consider slowly trying to lower the dosage of the tramadol and then perhaps even the Carprophen, but at present those things do not matter, getting pain under control is all the matters. The dog needs to rest and they cannot do that while in pain.

In terms of treatments, the best thing is either Cartrophen or Pentosan injections. These are naturally occurring plant substances that can actually help to repair the damaged cartilage. They are given initially as weekly injections for 4 weeks and then in intervals from monthly up to 6 monthly, depending on the degree of severity of the arthritis and how much support is needed. These are the only treatments that can do anything to stop the progression of the disease and actually help to repair the damaged cartilage.

There is also hyaluronic acid injections into the joint, which lubricate the cartilage, reduce pain and improve flexibility. The benefits are only temporary and so would need to be ongoing.

In some very severe cases, surgical options do exist.

Stem cell therapy introduces new cells into the damaged or dysfunctional tissue to treat the disease. It can be expensive.

In terms of supplements, the most important one is Glucosamine, as it plays a role in the production and repair of cartilage, which is the core of arthritis. Other supplements help with inflammation, although what helps one dog will do nothing for another, but are not going to do anything to help with the condition itself, ie slow down its progression, etc, although they can help to reduce pain, associated with inflammation.

Acupuncture has a large role in pain relief, and should continue. Animal physiotherapists do exist and can assist you in doing all you can to assist the dog, they are relatively new in Australia, and not readily available in all areas, but there are now some doing consults via skype with you doing things at home with them watching you, you sending video clips of the dog walking and moving to them, etc. Physiotherapy can do a great deal to ease the symptoms and slow the disease progression, minimize pain, improve muscle condition and overall mobility. It can work well alongside hydrotherapy. There are specialist massage therapists for animals, veterinary chiropractors, osteopaths, etc. All can assist in some ways.

[BC Crazy]

Very interesting post Brookstar.

Thank you ☺

Sonny has had a full spine/hip & hind legs XRay to confirm his condition.

Glucosamine high dose formula is on its way. I read how important this could be for him.

We have his pain levels under control now. He is moving a lot more freer & is back to his very happy self again.

He is having Accupuncture/Chiro/massage.

One thing I have to do is reclaim my beanbag by the sound of things. Sorry Sonny

Edited February 1, 2015 by BC Crazy