Arthritis Help Needed

[jackie]

Hi All

Over the years I have been on this forum I have seen many posts on arthritis and always knew in the back of my mind when the time came to ask for help I could rely on forum friends. My turn is now here, Maggie my 13 year old has suddenly hit a brick wall, she was fine back in the early Summer but after a severe bout of sickness and diarrhoea she has a limp that isn't going away. Been to the vets and they think hip arthritis although no x-ray to confirm this which I feel ok about as wouldn't particularly want to put her through an anaesthetic and certainly not through an operation so our only option really has been a trial of pain relief.

So she has had her meds (metacam) for a few weeks on a low dose, I chose to give her a lower dose (third of full dose) due to risks as I would rather start lower and titrate up if needed (vets seem to work opposite and titrate down) as less chance of irreversible side effects. Maggie is doing better on pain relief and enjoying her walks more albeit they are much shorter now to ensure we do things slowly.

So my questions to you all (finally I hear you all say!):

What symptoms did your Lab experience
What age did the condition occur
What was the treatment plan
How did you manage exercise (how long for and how often)

I feel a bit lost as although Maggie had been slowing down on her walks she was walking without any trouble at all and would happily walk for a good hour and a half, even managed fells in the Lake District in Spring without any stiffness or problems so to suddenly find her lame on her hindleg which has been present for a good couple of months (and isn't going away) has been a bit of a shock.

I just want to do the best for her, I am realistic, she is in her 90's so I know time is not on our side and I certainly don't want to put her through any unnecessary tests etc. but would be really interested to hear everyone's experiences on arthritis in elderly dogs.

Thank you for reading and sorry for the long post

Jackie x

[smitty]

Hi Jackie by coincidence Billy was at the vet today for his health check and it looks like he is starting with some arthritis in his ankles. I had already thought that was the case. I am going to put him on vetvits glucosamine for the time being. Billy is eight.
Fudge started at 9 I think . He was on metacam for a number of years with no side effects. He also had vetvits glucosamine but only a small dose as they upset his stomach.
I was talking to someone today who's old dog is benefitting from laser treatment and hydrotherapy. Not cheap though
Hope there is some improvement soon. I had a hip replacement in November and that sorted me out

x Marie

[Lins]

To quote the vet Jackie "they are excellent at hiding it."

Molly went all of a sudden.

She is now on Onsior tablets (pain control)
A special medicine made up by the vet
Boswellia

I also give her U Move, which the vet told us to carry on with.

I am wondering if the manufacturers of JWB have changed anything in the food since they took over from the originals.

I am now considering Burns with Duck and brown rice. If it does what it says on the pack, it should improve her skin.

Her immune system is low through fighting the arthritis, she is getting a very poor skin and her ears needs cleaning on a daily basis.

Don't know whether any of the above helps, but, you did ask.

[mollie]

Hi Jackie,

The only dog we ever had with arthritis was Blakey. I think he was on Metacam, BUT I took him for hydrotherapy, and would swear by it. I can't remember now how often I took him, but I wouldn't think you could over do it.

I started to get various aches and pains myself about a year ago. I swim two or three times a week now - and not a twinge!!

[JoanG]

Hi Jackie sorry to hear about Maggie and hope you find a regime that will keep her comfortable for as long as possible.

George started to limp on his front leg at 7 1/2 and we took him to a specialist orthopaedic vet, the final diagnosis was arthritis, bone on bone in his elbow joint, all the cartilage had gone. The vet was amazed that he hadn't been limping for ages so I do think labs are stoical. We were advised to only walk him for 10 mins twice a day on lead for 6 weeks, he had some anti inflammatory meds for a very short time, and although he wasn't overweight we got his weight down by 2kg, the vet thought it was better to be on the leaner side for the joint. I decided to give him YuMove Advance which definitely worked wonders for George, his limp began to disappear and we gradually increased his walks to 20/30 mins twice a day and sometimes longer without any problem. We also started hydrotherapy sessions as he was allowed 15 sessions under his insurance plan, I don't know if they did him any good but he certainly enjoyed them. Also on the vets advice we bought a ramp for the car so that there was no jolting of his joints getting in and out of the car. His limp disappeared completely and he wasn't in any pain from the joint even if he did have a bit longer walk.

I didn't want him on meds if I could avoid it and luckily the YuMove Advance worked for George.

[scubakim]

Hi Jackie, I have to agree that Labs are masters at hiding discomfort and display nothing until they're in severe pain. Murphy was diagnosed at 2 with bilateral HD and showed only subtle symptoms. Our local vet uses Murphy's X-rays to 'scare patients' of the dangers of HD and he says that they're the worst he's ever seen in a dog of that age. The protocol we followed has probably 'bought' 3 years of good quality life for Murphy 'Keep him skinny, keep him active and give him Yumove Advance'
He's been great, but the subtle changes are again visible, back to the surgeon, more X-rays and the devastating news that he's now severely arthritic at 5 and needs a THR. He's going for surgery this month but I'm going to look into giving him Turmeric as a supplement. I've been using it myself since Feb of this year after an auto immune diagnosis and it's worked wonders for me. I'm hoping it will help him too and maybe prevent a second THR on his other hip. Might be something you could look into too?

[coco-bean]

I put Coco on youmove advance after her elbow operation along with hydrotherapy, the surgeon told me she will get arthritis young. When they stopped selling youmove on the internet for half the price of the vets l looked into anything else I could use, (no one recommended I put her on youmove I did it myself) I now buy green lipped mussel tablets from holland and Barrett, 100 tablets for £15 but I look for the offers buy one buy one for a penny or half price sale. I have to say Coco is now 4 and a half and she is great no limping 2 hour walk every morning running around the house like crazy, I do think the holland and Barrett tablets work for her/help I'm guessing, hope this helps

[Liz5353]

Hi Jackie
I am sorry to hear about Maggie they are such a worry as they grow old. Bonnie out second eldest has arthritis she is lame on her front left shoulder and now her left wrist is a strange shape, daily she has a primrose oil tablet and synoquin, every other day 1 previcox also. She is doing ok but walks are short and once a day only but she is happy and eating well. She had very serious surgery last October as she was losing the use if all her legs as her spinal cord was trapped by a neck vertebrae, so considering all she is doing alright, Bonnie is 11 now.
Thinking of you and Maggie .
Love Liz Shelly Bonnie Molly Polly

[Lisahoward123]

Hi both our two have severe elbow dysplasia and Tarka mild hip dysplasia too. ED shows up very young starts developing before age one our vet said . Archie has had keyhole surgery on his elbow didnt help whatsoever, he's been for hydrotherapy which helps, he has gotten worse now and walks very slowly at only six years old. Tarka (7 almost end of August) has ED she's been to the vets today as she's very stoical gets on with things but she's been limping more pronounced. The vet said they both need to lose a little weight that works wonders as less pressure on the joint. As regards medication our two Archie especially need it we've tried without and we've tried reducing it as much as possible but for Archie that really impacts his movement. Archie has 1pardale 1 previcox1 gabapentin morning and 1 gabapentin evening , Tarka 1 previcox 1 gabapentin morning and 1 gabapentin evening seems a lot of meds but they struggle without , Tarka also has you move advance they seem to help her make no difference to Archie . As for walks not walking them means they put weight on, with their painkillers they are fine on the walks and can manage field and wood walks no problem for over an hour .

Hope this helps

Lisa Archie and Tarka xx

[Lisahoward123]

Oh forgot to add both have oesteoartritis too that develops because of the elbow dysplasia so the meds they are on are meant for arthritis

Hope this is of help
Lisa Archie and Tarka x

[jackie]

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing their thoughts and experiences it really means a lot and has helped me realise that really I have been very lucky that she had got to the age she has without many problems. The hardest thing is it has been a wake up call for me that Maggie is an old girl and that we are now in the final chapter, just hope there are lots of pages left

She is back at the vets next week for some bloods to ensure the metacam is not damaging kidneys, liver etc otherwise we will have to look at alternatives. She seems to be ok on it and like all drugs they have their side effects but you have to weigh everything up and quality of life is the most important thing.

Maggie is on supplements for athritis, has been for some years as she had a cruciate tear a few years back and we continued on with them to give her some protection. I have looked at hydrotherapy and I haven't ruled it out but I am not too sure it would be such a good thing for her. She has skin issues that has always needed careful management and I am not sure her skin would hold up with regular hydrotherapy. We have a good canine physiotherapist close by that I am considering using but I am going to chat it through with the vet first.

Thanks to everyone again for their help and words of support and comfort, it really means a lot

Jackie x

Jackie x

[Glenys]

Over the years my old dogs had arthritis I think because they are chunky type William was on Predno-Leucotropin Tablets (PLTs) (we call them poorly leg tablets )
I have found you have to ask Vets for them Mattie started with arthritis in her hip first she was rolling about on the bed and slipped off then eventually it went into her hocks and stifles the only medicine that helped her were PLTS fast forward to when Gollie had his problems with immune system he had to have toes amputated which was painful the Vet let him have the Plts and Tramadol it really helped.

Nell is now on you-move advanced (3) and Previcoxs (1) per day if its a bad day the magic PLTs come out Pat the pug who is really struggling with arthritis in her spine has half a previcox

Sadly our girls are all old now I cannot see their future in a positive way , which is the price we pay for loving our dogs so as pain free while we can for now .

[Joe + Hilary]

I'm later than I meant to be trying to help with your query and everyone has given much better advice and past knowledge than I could. I can only add that I bought Yumove Advance for my Tuppence after seeing it on here. After about two days she was dashing down the lane again, that lasted for quite a while until she became ill with something else.

Debbie mentioned that it became impossible to get Yumove Advance over the internet. Lintbells, whose product it is decided to sell it via prescription only, presumably via the vets. However, someone on here said they still sold it direct. I contacted them and they sold me some no problem apart from the faff with paying. Therefore I think if anyone wants it they can probably buy it from them without a prescription. The person on her who alerted me to that also said if you were buying regularly you could have an account and discount. The last time I bought some from Lintbells was a box of 120 for £38.99.

I had bought it previously from Black Cat Medicines, who seem to be reliable. After they couldn't supply it anymore they've made their own (I know that seems a bit strange but I believe them to be legit.) Can't remember what they've called it but it may be a bit cheaper. The company has been efficient when I've dealt with them by email etc.

Good Luck.

Hilary, Rowley & Douma

[JoanG]

Hilary it was me who posted about buying YuMove Advance direct from Lintbells my vet at the time would not supply it and actually did not recommend any supplements at all - we changed vets at this point! I contacted Lintbells by phone and they were excellent, they supplied the YuMove Advance direct to me without a prescription just wanted to know if a vet had actually diagnosed joint problems. they have a membership club which I joined and every so often they will offer a 25% discount on all their range (including YuMove Advance). Every time I made an order by phone the staff were excellent and the order arrived straight away, I couldn't fault the company and YuMove Advance definitely made a big difference to George. I think with any supplements some work for some dogs and others don't, Joint Aid made no difference to George's arthritis.

[Joe + Hilary]

Joan, Thanks for reminding me who let me know about the possibility of Lintbells selling direct. Tuppy had been having Yumove Advance from Amazon I think, then Black Cat, then a gap when things became difficult again. When I got some from Lintbells I again noticed a vast improvement. - So thanks.

I often think of Gorgeous George, he was one of my favorites.

Hilary xx