Hi, dog was diagnosed as having artiritis in her hock? Suggestion, by vet, was to have natural products tried first. Penny is an a 8 yr old Min Pin who is moderately active. So far, I have not seen any improvement. She has been on this for 7 days. Should I expect more?
Karen
What is the product?? Most glucosamine/chondroitin products take 4-6 weeks to really get on board.
I don’t expect to see anything with feed throughs for at least two weeks.
Are you feeding a loading dose?
For a long time, my GS mix with arthritis did well on MSM, fish oil and flax seed supplements and glucosamine. Now she’s 14.5 and is also on Metacam, but the OTC supplements kept her comfortable for several years.
whenever my little dog (12 year old mini poodle) was diagnosed with arthritis, this is what my vet prescribed:
First 2 weeks:
3rd week:
-1/2 25mg remaxy 1x day
4th week:
-1/2 25 mg remadyl every other day
-1/4 tab rejuvenate 2x/day
5th week:
-1/2 25 mg remadyl every other day
-1/4 tab rejuvenate 1x/day
Now, I have her weened off of the remadyl and she still gets her rejuvenate every day. She is, however, on a good, rich senior feed loaded with glucosamine and fish/fish oils though. I also give her a little bit of apple cider vinegar over her food, which is supposed to help arthritis.
My dog is very happy and I wouldn’t know that she has arthritis anymore. Also, her knee caps do pop out according to her last geriatric exam, but I have seen no symptoms of it since she’s been medicated.
I would say if you cannot see any improvement after 7 days, what your vet has prescribed is ineffective for your dog. I would try something else.
Best wishes. It’s very sad watching your pets age.
Fish oil really helped my senior dog, however, if I had it all to do over again, I would have started her on Adequan.
what is this “natural product” you are feeding?
If you want fast results, feeding (or injecting) HA (hyluronic acid) should produce some improvement within 24 to 48 hours- it acts to lubricate the joint.
MSM and fish oils should also produce fast improvement- they act to reduce inflammation.
Cetyl-M will, in some dogs, make a dramatic improvement within a couple of days (if you don’t see anything that fast, I suggest not bothering with it for that particular dog anymore). Cetyl-M is a “natural” product that reduces inflammation as well.
The old stand-by joint supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin, take longer to work when fed, because they act by encouraging healing of the joint. This takes time.
For the best results, try feeding a cocktail of short-acting and long-acting agents together. Hylasport for Dogs or Smartcanine Senior or Smartcanine Joint Ultra are all reasonable choices of pre-made cocktails.
In addition to supplements, simply getting your dog to lose all excess body weight can have a dramatic effect on mobility and pain. Lightly run your finger over the back of your hand. You can feel the bones, easily. Your dog’s side should feel like that. If not your dog is fat.
Moderate exercise, particularly swimming, is helpful for arthritis. As is changing to a high-protein low-carbohydrate grain-free diet: higher protein promotes the development of muscle to support the joints; lower carbohydrates promotes the loss of body fat; and grain-free reduces inflammation.
Sometimes you have to double dose the joint supplements for the first week or two to see results.
I give a big thumbs up to Adequan injections for arthritic dogs, it did wonders for my old dog with horrible hips.
My other older dog has been doing well on Conquer Canine Mature Years, her hips were xrayed two years ago, and the vet said they were the cleanest hips she had ever seen.
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