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Does your dog have arthritis?


DawnM
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What do you give him/her?

 

My VET gave me pills but I am seeing online that you can get generic and you can get chewable.

 

What is the cheapest chewable generic and where do you find it?

 

I have rimadyl from the Vet.

 

Thanks,

 

Dawn

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Our old girl takes tramadol as well, since her kidney function limits her ability to take NSAIDs. It is very inexpensive, and works like a charm. It comes in a tiny white tablet that can very easily be hidden in a chunk of chicken or cheese. (We used to use peanut butter, but she figured out that she could suck the pb off the pill and spit it out.)

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Our Britttany, who passed away in March, was on Rimadyl (carprofen) for years.  It worked well for him.  There's a generic now.  Toward the end we had to add Tramadol, too.  Your vet has to give you a prescription if you request it.  You can look at some of the online pet pharmacies and see if you can find it for less than the vet is charging.  Drs. Foster and Smith and 1800petmeds are two trustworthy sites.  I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones I'm most familiar with.  But just like with human medicines and supplements, I wouldn't order from just anywhere.  There is a problem with counterfeit animal drugs.  So stick with reputable sites.

 

You might also consider supplements like glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM.

 

And fish oil.  I think every dog with arthritis should be on a good quality fish oil supplement.

 

It can get expensive to keep an old dog comfortable.

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We use meloxicam in pill form (it's the generic for metacam).  The liquid was way too expensive for a big dog, same with chewables.  The human meloxicam pills do have to be cut (mine in quarters) for a dog dose, but it turns out to be less than $10 a month for both dogs.

 

Because we have a dog with lots of health issues, she has to take quite a few pills a day.  She is the worst at taking pills.  Even if I put them all the way back, she can use her tongue to work them to the front to spit out.  She is a crazy picky eater and won't touch anything tainted with crushed pills.

 

A friend with a cat saved us by recommending a pill popper (http://amzn.com/B00076HUB4). I can them far enough back on the tongue with the tool that she can't work them out.  

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We did a combination of prescription dog food and meds. The food was Hill's Prescription Diet J/D Joint Mobility. It was expensive but made a significant difference. Also we gave her Previcox daily and Tramadol as needed. The Tramadol in higher doses made her very sick to her stomach. I really believe the combo of the three allowed our severely arthritic large dog to live 15 1/2 years. It wasn't cheap but worth it to us.

 

Good luck!

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You might want to look into GP (golden paste) it's a mixture made with turmeric and coconut oil. My dog has been limping and I've started her on this paste and she is limping quite a bit less. I have also started giving it to our horses for joint care.

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Where do you get this?

 

You might want to look into GP (golden paste) it's a mixture made with turmeric and coconut oil. My dog has been limping and I've started her on this paste and she is limping quite a bit less. I have also started giving it to our horses for joint care.

 

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The link doesn't work.

 

We use meloxicam in pill form (it's the generic for metacam).  The liquid was way too expensive for a big dog, same with chewables.  The human meloxicam pills do have to be cut (mine in quarters) for a dog dose, but it turns out to be less than $10 a month for both dogs.

 

Because we have a dog with lots of health issues, she has to take quite a few pills a day.  She is the worst at taking pills.  Even if I put them all the way back, she can use her tongue to work them to the front to spit out.  She is a crazy picky eater and won't touch anything tainted with crushed pills.

 

A friend with a cat saved us by recommending a pill popper (http://amzn.com/B00076HUB4). I can them far enough back on the tongue with the tool that she can't work them out.  

 

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With our elderly doxie, the combo of fish oil and glucosamine/chondroition put off the need for rimadyl or tramadol for about two years. We also took away his stair climbing privileges at the same time we started the supplements. He ended up needing the tramadol for the last year of his life. He was almost 17 when he died.

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