Advice on dog(s) with arthritis (maybe)

[madhen]

Took the "boys" in to the vet yesterday for their semi-annual grooming. While I was dropping them off, the staff reminded me that they were due for their annual check-ups in October, so I told them to just go ahead and do it that day.

Came to pick them up and was told the vet wanted to talk to me. Turns out that Riley is starting to show signs of arthritis. (He is 7.5 years old and a big dog, so I guess that shouldn't surprise me.)

This particular vet works in a higher-income part of town and mostly treats little foo-foo dogs that belong to pampered housewives. So of course, he starts in about how both dogs (Chewy has always had hip dysplasia.) need to be put on monthly meds and semi-weekly shots and a special diet, etc and so on. I'm totting it up in my head as he is talking to me, and it would result in about $600 per MONTH to do everything he wants me to do. Um,...no.

I've already expressed to him that I can accomplish some of his recommendations without resorting to special diets (i.e, he suggested that the dogs need to lose some weight, and of course suggested the special dog food that he sells. I responded, couldn't I just feed them less of what they get right now? And he got offended, saying well, most people prefer to continue to feed them the same amount, and this special kibble has 40% less calories. It was Hills Science Diet, which was one of the kibbles RECALLED a few months ago, and when I told him I didn't really trust Hills, and that if I had to feed commercial, I fed Canidae, and his response was, "Well, Hills has 70 PhD's behind it, and ANYBODY can throw together a diet and call it nutritionally complete." (I didn't have the heart to tell him that I mostly give my guys homemade, and apparently a little too much of it. )

It is very clear to me that this guy is pushing the supplements that HE sells (first clue was that he had a brochure for EVERY suggestion), so I am going to take the guys elsewhere to get a second opinion, but I was also curious as to what other with older dogs do to help alleviate arthritis (or possibly just sore muscles, because Riley literally RUNS everywhere, and might have just been stiff from overdoing it that day).

My guys have their own couches, so soft beds are taken care of. They get moderate to active exercise, as they are on ten acres and have free access to about four all day. I see them roaming around all the time, and I almost always have to call them in for meals, so they are moving around. I have not been supplementing with any nutriceuticals - used to use a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement but got away from it when Chewy didn't seem to need anything.

[MoonMommy]

When my Malamute was showing signs that might have been arthritis, my vet recommended giving her one chewable children's aspirin a day to help her. I bought a whole bunch at BJs. Got their brand and it was pretty cheap. I would definately try that before I got any expensive medications. I found out with my two big dogs (both have passed now) that once you start down the medication road, it is hard to stop and it seems to be more and more.

My Malamute ended up NOT having arthritis at all but a neurodegenerative disease that is common in large dogs. We put her to sleep before she fell and broke something. It was hard to watch her and thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.

Sorry.....got lost there.

Anywho.....try the chewable aspirins first. :-)

[Ceashels]

We give our oldest Dasaquin, a joint supplement recommended and sold by our vet. (I've known him since I was 5 yrs old and trust him very much when it comes to my children.) http://www.nutramaxlabs.com/products...suquin_faq.asp is the FAQ page. Precious our 20 pound small sheltie,gets half a tablet broken into her food in the morning. I think it has helped, though there were so many changes in her socially over the first 3 months it is difficult to say if the meds made the difference or the TLC from socializing with the younger girls and us.

I would second the idea for a second opinion. I'm sure there are vets out there that won't be pushing products as forcefully or offensively.

[pip]

I'm always thinking about finding a different vet because of the reasons you just gave. When one of our old lady cats( 14 years old) ended up not eating and throwing up, I reluctantly took her in and was told she might have an abscessed tooth... needed a bunch of lab work, dental work under general anesthesia, and a bone graft and tooth implant!!!! Close to $4000 estimate. I then had to explain why we would not be doing that and was guilted into feeling like a horrible pet owner. This is why I was reluctant in the first place to bring her in. I asked about an antibiotic and was told that was like putting a bandaid on and we really needed to move forward on planning for the surgery. I said I would like to try the antibiotic and it worked and that was two years ago. We love our animals and take very good care of them. I'm sure you will find out a good alternative for your dog and don't feel guilty.

[MoonMommy]

Oh gosh, I love our vet. He is a "country" vet in the way that he does what is best for both the owner and the dog. One of my cats was slowly losing one of his top canines. It was abscessed. He just pulled it and that was that. The cat was under for a bit but, he was just there for the day, and while he was at it, he cleaned the cat's teeth. I don't think I paid more than $200 for the whole thing. Cat doesn't miss the tooth.

[Starlight9803]

I agree, get a second opinion. My slightly older dogs (6&7 years old) get a glucosamine/chondroiton supplement daily (on vets recommendation, but they just had a bit of stiffness now and then. Also, if it seems to bother them more when it's cold out, getting a reflective pad to put on top of their beds can help keep the joints "warmer". the pads are usually just a reflective material with lambswool or some such on top. I'm so lucky that we also have a "country" vet. She doesn't make you feel bad for having to take a more realistic approach to caring for your pets.

[madhen]

I've had vets I really like, and vets who go too far one direction or the other. I'm always having to remind my avian vet that I am okay with buying meds for my chickens. My large animal vet is perfect - she discusses all options and will go from the cheapest to the most pricey. We almost always see eye-to-eye as to the most reasonable and humane action to take. I really like the staff at my canine vet's office, but he is just a jerk. Always has been, but I typically don't deal with him, and up until now, my dogs have always come back from their annuals with clean bills of health, so it hasn't been an issue.

MoonMommy, I am sorry to hear about your Malamute. Those are beautiful dogs. I have a Chow and would love to get another, when Chewy goes, but probably won't because long hair doesn't work well for dogs out here. Too many foxtails and burrs.

I grew up in the country, with parents who were definitely in the lower-income bracket. I remember when my dog ended up with broken ribs (never really knew how, as he reeked of skunk, but the damage was more like he got hit by a car), my dad just wrapped his ribs up with duct tape and said that a vet couldn't do anything more than that. To this day, I don't know if he was being practical, or if he just didn't have the money to take the dog to the vet and was mentally crossing his fingers and hoping for the best, but it worked.

I give my dogs good care and when Chewy broke his leg a while back, I didn't wrap it in duct tape , but there is a limit to how much I can spend. If I paid to make sure that each of my animals had 100% of everything it took to be absolutely healthy and happy, I'd be so far into debt, I'd have to move to a studio apt and they'd all end up being adopted by someone else! I think I do 90%. I haven't built a stable for the goats/donkeys to get in out of the bad weather, but they do have a large covered structure that is pretty well protected on three sides and that keeps them dry when it rains. I don't add every supplement out there into everyone's food, but my chickens get vitamins and calcium supplements weekly, and one of my donkeys gets a daily supplement to counteract a chronic sporotrichosis condition.

I am going to concentrate first on getting the dogs' weight down, because whether it is arthritis or not, they will feel better if they are fitter. Then we'll see what they need. I watched Riley running around all morning, so I am having a hard time thinking he's "distressed" (which is the word my vet used to describe their current condition, adding that we have to do whatever we can to improved their quality of life).

[madhen]

I agree, get a second opinion. My slightly older dogs (6&7 years old) get a glucosamine/chondroiton supplement daily (on vets recommendation, but they just had a bit of stiffness now and then. Also, if it seems to bother them more when it's cold out, getting a reflective pad to put on top of their beds can help keep the joints "warmer". the pads are usually just a reflective material with lambswool or some such on top. I'm so lucky that we also have a "country" vet. She doesn't make you feel bad for having to take a more realistic approach to caring for your pets.

My boys have their own room with two couches. One of the couches has a heat lamp (250 watt infrared) on a timer over it, so it has an overhead heat source on from about 6p until about 8a. In the winter, I leave it on 24/7. Riley, my little heat sponge, loves to lay under it. Chewy, who has a natural fur coat (Chow), will sleep outside in the snow.

I am going to look into getting them some supplements again. I used to have a liquid supplement that worked really well, but I can't recall the name, so I'll have to research that a bit. I recall it was made for dogs but strangely only came in one flavor: green apple.

[nancycg56]

When my old lab got arthritis, I started feeding him Nutro Natural Choice for Seniors with Glucosamine/Chondroitin. The change was quite dramatic for him ~ he was running and jumping again. The food can be expenive but I never did put him on any other medication.

My vet told me that most of her senior dog patients were using that food with good results