TravelingChris Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 SO I took my 11 yo poodle to the vet and after x-rays, she diagnosed him with arthritis. He has it in parts of his spine and also in his hip area. He was given a pain medication but I think it is at half dose until blood work comes in telling her he can have the regular dose. What non medication things can I do for him?He is such a sweet dog and I hate to see him in pain. He cries every morning as he gets up since he gets stiff after sleeping all night. He also yelps after lying around and getting up again. I can't even pick him up to take him downstairs since that seems to hurt him worse. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarfoot Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 The 2 things that have helped ours are memory foam beds and a quality food with glucosamine, etc. in it. I believe it says something about joint health on the bag. Our Golden currently sleeps on 2 memory foam dog beds stacked, so there's even more thickness. They're just rectangles with a removable cover for washing. Our other Golden, who passed away from cancer, also took a liquid supplement for her hip/joint pain. I think it was a glucosamine supplement. We put it on her food. It came from the vet's office, but you could probably get it elsewhere or online. :grouphug: to you pooch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 If you want things to pay for ;) you can do massage, acupuncture and chiro with dogs... I've heard they really work. Also, food choices like "raw" even if you do prepackaged... are suppose to help. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Glucosamine and acupuncture really helped my dog w/arthritis. I hope you can help him feel better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 You can get glucosamine in capsule form at Wally World. Just open the capsule and sprinkle on food. That has really helped my in-laws dogs who both have arthritis in their hips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 When I worked at a vitamins/herbal supplements store, we had quite a few customers who regularly bought for their arthritic dogs glucosamine/chondroitan. They said it made all the difference. They bought it in liquid form. Ask your vet if she has heard about this supplement. I know you asked for non-medication things you can do to help, but see how your vet feels about this, or research it yourself. These customers swore by the stuff and were happy to pay the price for it. They had tried meds from the vet and weren't satisfied with the results. I'm sorry about your poochie. I used to have poodles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I never would have believed it, but after spending several hundred dollars at the vet with no results (multiple tests and different arthritis drugs), she recommended that we try acupuncture. My dog doesn't have arthritis, but she did injure her back while she was jumping to catch a ball and was hurting to the point that she could barely walk. I could see a HUGE difference after the first visit and she was completely better by the 3rd visit. I would definitely give it a try. Acupuncture won't be a permanent fix for arthritis, but it can definitely help and then you'd just need to go back for maintenance visits (like going back for more pain meds). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datgh Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 We use GlycoFlex for our dogs. It is made by Vetri-Science Laboratories. It helps a lot but eventually our last dog needed something more. He weighed 115 lbs. and I didn't have the strength to help him in and out of the house. Eventually he couldn't even get up on his own. The Vet prescribed Rimodyl (sp.?) for him and by the next day it was like he was five years younger. He even took off out of the yard for the first time in a couple of years. He did well on the medication for well over a year. A stroke finally got him at the age of 11 1/2 which is a pretty good age for an older dog. I hope you find your sweet dog some relief. It is so hard to watch them struggle with pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 SO I took my 11 yo poodle to the vet and after x-rays, she diagnosed him with arthritis. He has it in parts of his spine and also in his hip area. He was given a pain medication but I think it is at half dose until blood work comes in telling her he can have the regular dose. What non medication things can I do for him?He is such a sweet dog and I hate to see him in pain. He cries every morning as he gets up since he gets stiff after sleeping all night. He also yelps after lying around and getting up again. I can't even pick him up to take him downstairs since that seems to hurt him worse. Any ideas? Our old farm dog had arthritis for years. What helped him was daily glucosamine/chondroitin (750mg 2x/day) and when he seemed to be pained, a low-dose aspirin. The glucosamine/chondroitin kept the pain away and mobility good for most of the time, but there would be occassional flare-ups. He seemed most uncomfortable in the summer. For dosages -- bear in mind that our dog was a 175 pound LGD. So, you may need to adjust somewhat on the dose you choose. You do not need to purchase the glucosamine chondroitin from a vet. The stuff you buy in any health food store for people is exactly the same stuff, but far less expensive. He had relief for about 5 years like this, but age and the degenerative arthritis did take him eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 We purchased a chewable supplement from the vet. It has glucosamine and chondroitin (not sure of spelling of these) and looks like a treat. If you are buying this in non-vet forms, check dosage amounts. This can affect liver if overdosed. This helped her ALOT. I was surprised how much better she is getting around after a few weeks. They were a bit pricey, but the bottle is very large. We also have some kind of pain/anti inflammatory med for really bad days. Hope he is feeling better soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 He was put on Rimadyl. Tomorrow we are going up to two half tablets a day. He is small= a miniature poodle at 15" and 16 pounds. I will have to see about acupuncture if this doesn't help. That is actually how I became convinced that something about acupuncture must be right since I don't believe animals have a placebo affect- in fact, I think doing anything to them is more likely to get them upset unless it does in fact, help, but even then, they still don't like being given medications. They can't reason that well= sort of like dealing with a toddler or preschooler who needs yucky medicine or unpleasant procedures. They don't understand and won't understand until they are older. The animals just will never understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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