Disclaimer, I am not a veterinarian and any supplements or treatments discussed in this post should not be taken as advice, you should ALWAYS consult your own veterinarian regarding your pet’s health.
I had a question from one of my readers, Alexa88. Typically, I would respond to this during my Follow-Up Friday post, but since I suspect the answer to her question will be quite lengthy, I decided to make it into a post.
Here is her question, “Lily has a vet apt. on june 6th. she is 11 years old. she has days where she gets up more slowly and takes the 4 outdoor steps slowly going up and down. she doesn’t seem to be in pain at all. any advice on questions for our vet about joint supplements that might help with her joints. can’t stop the aging process but want to help in any way we can. she is medium size and weighs 60lbs.”
So everyone knows I’m pretty Type A when it comes to my dogs. I routinely go in for their vet visits with a list of questions regarding their care. I think it’s a great thing to have core questions ready, and you can follow up with other questions as you get your answers and more questions pop up.
Probably the first thing I would ask if Lily were my dog is – WHY Lily is slow in getting up and using the outdoor steps? Is it a normal part of the aging process? (Sampson’s back legs tremble sometimes, which my vet says is similar to an older person’s shaking.) OR is there an underlying issue such as arthritis or hip dysplasia? Once you have your answer to the WHY you can then switch to the WHAT, being WHAT can we do to support or help her with this issue?
You say she doesn’t seem to be in pain, but dogs are super stoic. I had no idea Sampson was struggling with his knee until the vet told me he’d lost muscle mass in his back legs. 🙁
Your vet will more than likely have their own ideas of what types of supplements he/she wants Lily on, but here are some of the ones I’ve used for Sampson, in case your looking for a reference.
For his arthritis:
- Dasuquin – a joint supplement with glucosamine and chondroitin.
- Carprofen – (a pharmaceutical) an anti-inflammatory drug that helps both his arthritis and his knee.
For his knee injury:
- Green Lipped Mussels – (I’m using Super Snouts Lipped Mussel powder) pronounced Green Lipid Mussels (don’t make the same mistake I made and call it lipped, I felt like an ass when my vet pronounced it.) 🙂 Green Lipped Mussel contains Glucosamine and Chondroitin, it has a myriad of health benefits for joints, heart, eyes, skin, bone and brain.
- Ligaplex II by Standard Process – With his initial injury we did a bottle of Ligaplex I which supports tissue repair, healthy joints and muscles, bone growth and synthesis of cartilage, and it also supports natural anti-inflammatory response. The Ligaplex II supports tissue and joints, helps feed the muscolosketal system and facilitates freedom of movement, and is also involved in maintaining healthy fluid levels. When I was researching the I vs II, I found out that the Ligaplex I is good for an initial injury to help get the healing process moving along. It was recommended for a six week course and then to switch over to the Ligaplex II for long term support.
- Gabapentin – I put him on the Gaba because he keeps licking at those front paws. Honestly, his paws are a mess, but I can’t get the damn dog to stop licking them! The Gaba is used for nerve pain and since we’ve been unable to determine WHY he keeps licking those paws, we use the Gaba. But it is a medication I hope to remove shortly.
- Tramadol – is a opiod pain medication. I didn’t initially start him on this, but I did put him on it for a couple of months, and I just recently stopped it. The main reason I put him on this was for its sedation powers. I really wanted to Sampson to rest more and allow his body’s natural healing process to work, (he kept tweaking that knee) and I felt that would work best if he wasn’t in pain.
I have also used a number of different supplements that all worked really well, among them Rejenease and Omagease by Finest for Pets. And I have also used (and Jen from My Brown Newfies still uses it) Natural Strides. They are all really great supplements and have all helped Sampson at various stages of his recovery. If you click on the Omegease link, there is a discount code for your first bottle and the Rejenease discount code is in the side bar of the site. The only reason I stopped using any of these supplements is because my vet recommends the Dasuquin.
Adequan injections are also an option. The usual dose is once every four days initially and then it tapers off and is administered dependent upon the dog. Some dogs need it more frequently than others.
You’d think getting needles stuck into you would hurt, but it actually makes me feel better.
Acupuncture is also good if there is a veterinarian in your area that does it. At my vet clinic an acupuncture treatment costs about $55. This is another treatment that is dependent on how well the dog reacts to it.
You didn’t mention exercise, so I’m curious, what types of exercise does Lily gets and how frequently? I might consider asking my vet what types of exercise would be recommended for Lily.
That should give you some ideas of what’s available and what they are used for. I could go on and on as I’ve learned so much these past two years working with Sampson, but your head is probably spinning right now. So I’ll leave it here, but if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask, you can even send me an e-mail. (There’s a contact section at the top!) Also, the community page has links to a number of different blogs where you will find a variety of information regarding injuries and illness regarding pets.
So yeah, the title of this post.
After I get ALL of my questions answered to my satisfaction, I always, always, always ask my vet one last question, which in my opinion is the most important question you can ask your vet.
And that is: If it were your dog, what would you do?
Does anyone have any ideas for Alexa? A product you’ve used for your pup that might help Lily? If so, please share.
And thanks for asking that question Alexa, I hope we’ve given you a starting point for Lily’s vet visit. Please update us after Lily’s appointment!
For Katie, Rejenease is the only supplement that has truly helped her, so I think it really depends on the dog. For her, Dasuquin could have been water, did nothing as did all the other supplements we tried. I would also suggest a chiropractor, but first and foremost, get to the vet to make sure there isn’t something medical going on to cause the issue. So hard getting old!
PS Mom always has a long list of questions when we go the the vet too. If there is no list, she always forgets things because there is so much going on.
I’d like to second Emma’s suggestion of chiropractic care. And Rejenease really did help Jeffie. Great post, Jodi. There’s so much to consider when a pet just isn’t quite right that a written list of questions is so important.
My back surgeon/neurologist told mom he does not believe in supplements cause the studies are not long enough. Mom gives me one anyhow
Lily (& Edward)
I use Dasuquin Advanced along with Freeform per my vet’s recommendation. B is also on Rimadyl once a day. When she has a bad day – which happens maybe 5 or 6 times a year, I give her a Tramadol. I’m a big believer in supplements as when I had my last dog Shadow, I had her on a supplement (chondroitin/glucosamine) and then read something on the internet that said there was no scientific proof that supplements worked, so I stopped – thinking “why am I wasting my money then?”. Big mistake. I definitely noticed a decline in her ability to move and started her back on the supplements and things improved after that. One of the things to remember about supplements is they sometimes take a month or two to start working.
I don’t have any specific supplement recommendations, but I just wanted to add that when it comes to glucosamine supplements we’ve noticed some of them seem to lose their effectiveness after awhile. Now whether that’s due to the placebo effect or not I don’t know, but we’ve tried 6+ different ones now, and I’m still not convinced we’ve found a “great” one.
I have been contemplating adequan since I read about it on chasing dog tales & lessons from a paralyzed dog; both had positive experiences with it.
I think you covered things quite well. I would only echo what Emma said – some joint supplements work for some dogs but not others, and some supplements just work better than others for some dogs. Right now we have Luke and Cricket on Dasuquin but Sheba is on Wag from Pet Research Corp. and I think that’s a very good one too. We use Rimadyl on an as needed basis for pain for both girls. Luke doesn’t have pain with his knees, they pop out but don’t give him pain. We also use fish oil which has benefits for joints.
I also agree that dogs are very good at hiding pain so that’s something to be aware of, and I wonder if that’s amplified when you have multiple dogs – they don’t want the rest of the canine pack to know they’re down for sure.
Great point, Jan, about the dogs not wanting their furry siblings to know when they’re in pain! I do think, however, that when they’ve been together for as long as Sheba and Cricket or Callie and Shadow, they tend to sense each other’s changes.
Great post, Jodi. Next stop for you…School of Veterinary Science
C
I can only think of one thing that you didn’t mention. Perhaps build a ramp for Lily to use instead of the steps? Or buy a portable one? I think that eventually I will need one for Shadow since her arthritis is in her elbows and wrists. With Callie, all I had to do was use a soft towel or puppy blanket as a “lifting harness” because her arthritis was in her hips and knees. It worked great on those days when she needed the extra Mom support.
And I absolutely agree on that last, most important question of all. Over the nearly 16 years that Dr. Steve has been our vet, I have always asked him what he would do if my girls were his dog(s). And 99.9% of the time I’ve gone with his suggestion. (The only thing we don’t agree on is one particular brand of dog food.)
Definitely one’s vet is the best arbiter of what’s going on with our pets. There’s no substitute for diagnostic tests and physical exams by professionals. Certainly the recommendations you outlined could be helpful. Nutrition is also something that should probably be reviewed as nutritional needs change as pets get older. We’ve got our fingers crossed all goes well for them. ღ
My dog’s are seniors now. Stetson is 10 and Linus is 12. Stetson started limping in the morning and our vet recommended generic glucosamine and chondroitin. I also have him on fish oil to help with his skin allergies. Stetson has had a lump for a couple years and every vet visit we talk about it and at the end I always ask your question: If Stetson were your dog what would you do?
Mom gave her old dog Cosequin. It definitely helped her walk better when she was getting old.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
I always ask my vet that important question as well!
settling into bed for the nite. a heartfelt thanks to everyone.
i plan two things for tomorrow. call our vet and let her know we will want to spend some time with her with questions.
i will be writing down the information given here. hubby and i will come up with a list of questions.
when taking lily for a walk i’ve been letting her decide how far she wants to go on our usual route and listening to her she also tells me the pace to set and when she wants to turn toward home.
this vet visit will be the first one not for her wellness check or to get springtime meds for her skin algies.
i’ll hold up during the visit and take plenty of notes. not sure how well i’ll do afterwords. my heart hurts for her.
It is so good to have this info from someone who is going through it because there are so many medicines and therapies. And we know our pups better than anyone and make the best choice we can. Asking the vet what they would do is totally a good thing.
I think you advice is quite comprehensive which is good because it is hard to make recommendations if you don’t know exactly the source of the issue.
This was a great response to her question.