Managing arthritis in dogs?

[kdow]

[QUOTE=wendy;6502038]
the dose I have been told repeatedly by several sources is 1000 mg fish oil per 10 lbs. dog per day. I’m not sure where that number came from. You can try it, or:

See studies below, they seem to suggest you should aim for approximately 3 to 4% of the diet to be fish oil.

So if you feed your dog 4 g of fish oil for every 96 g of kibble, you’d hit 4% (you will need a kitchen scale to see how much your kibble weighs). If you’re using EVO weight management as your kibble, at 15% fat, and you add that much fish oil, you’ll end up at a comfortable 18.5% fat in the diet. That will obviously increase the kcals your dog gets vs. kibble alone, so you’ll have to take that into account in your quest to keep the dog skinny, which is probably more important than feeding fish oil.

There are other studies I haven’t posted showed that if you decrease the amount of omega-6 fatty acids while simultaneously increasing the omega-3 fatty acids (adding fish oil) you get a better clinical effect- in kibble, simply avoiding kibbles with grains will reduce the omega-6 content dramatically.[/QUOTE]

Hah, thanks. Recalculating how much food he gets is easily do-able. I want to drop it a little anyway so he gradually loses some weight to see if that helps too, so it’s something I should do anyway. (And keeping his fat intake up actually fits into that - he seems much more sensitive to getting ‘enough’ fat than Foxy is. If he’s on something that’s too low fat he gets dry skin and just doesn’t look as healthy as he should.)

I might try putting Foxy on fish oil also. She doesn’t seem to have problems with arthritis (they’re the same age, but she’s much smaller) but she does have seasonal allergies that drive her nuts, and when I was trying to find a definitive number for ‘how much for arthritis?’ fish oil did come up a few times as possibly helping with allergies. Even if she still needs antihistamines from time to time, if it keeps her from needing the occasional course of steroids that’d be fantastic. (Steroid munchies in a dog are not fun.)

[kdow]

If anyone is still reading - any photos of what you’d consider a good weight to aim for would look like? Since he’s a mutt it’s hard to guess at what he should actually weigh, so photos are easier to compare to.

(Making an appointment with a new vet on Monday to try them out. Unfortunately I think they’re kind of busy so we probably won’t get in right away.)

[jetsmom]

Most dogs should have a “waist” when viewed from above, and you should be able to feel the ribs.

[Horsegal984]

They should look like a peanut from above, and have a defined tuck up in the flank like a horse. The ribs should e easially felt but not seen( except the last one or two if you’re aiming for lean healthy). If you have to push to feel ribs there is padding to lose.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=jetsmom;6505799]
Most dogs should have a “waist” when viewed from above, and you should be able to feel the ribs.[/QUOTE]

That’s the standard guidelines for ‘normal’ though, right? That’s about where he is now. When I got him he was so stressed out from the shelter that he was actually ribby and his coat quality was AWFUL. (So not just skinny, but not-healthy skinny, if that makes sense.)

So I guess I should aim for something between where he is now and where he was when I got him, to take a few pounds off to make things easier on his joints but not make him too skinny, as long as he stays health looking otherwise?

(Hopefully I won’t have to wait TOO long for an appointment with the new vet.)

[wendy]

run your fingers lightly down the back of your hand- feel how easy it is to feel the bones? that’s what your dog’s side should feel like when you lightly run your fingers down it. You shouldn’t have to push or palpate at all to be able to feel the ribs or the bumps of the vertebrae. If your dog has short fur you should be able to clearly see the outline of the last ribs. Most people think a dog at “correct” weight is a little “too thin”, so if you think your dog is ok he probably could stand to lose a few. Better to err on the side of a little too thin than on the side of a little too heavy.
With older dogs, also check the neck- some older dogs get “bony” bodies but pack fat on under the skin of the neck.
Also, be careful if you go by what your vet says- most vets see fat dogs all day long and if your dog isn’t a waddling blimp they think you’re doing ok and will tell you your dog is “fine” when he’s overweight.

[frisky]

I took my dog to the vet last year because she was feeling creeky and not quite up to snuff. The vet recommended that I try cosequin or some of the other supplements. I’ll tell you, I supplemented my dog with double, maybe even triple the dose and I never saw any difference. Honestly, as much as I’d love to buy the products, I think they are a waste of time.

So I changed vets . . .

I tried different nsaids-- first, rimadyl, which was hard on my dog, and then deramaxx until it became a problem getting the drug. Recently I tried metacam and it’s made a huge, huge profound change in my dog’s quality of life. She’s happy and she feels like going places again.

The positive side of metacam is that my dog has lost weight! She had reached that middle age where it was hard to keep her trim, mostly because she wasn’t moving around quite as much. I’ve been trying and trying the diet, but it never had any effect. Now after a few weeks on metacam, my dog has started losing weight. It’s great.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=wendy;6508367]
run your fingers lightly down the back of your hand- feel how easy it is to feel the bones? that’s what your dog’s side should feel like when you lightly run your fingers down it. You shouldn’t have to push or palpate at all to be able to feel the ribs or the bumps of the vertebrae. If your dog has short fur you should be able to clearly see the outline of the last ribs. Most people think a dog at “correct” weight is a little “too thin”, so if you think your dog is ok he probably could stand to lose a few. Better to err on the side of a little too thin than on the side of a little too heavy.[/QUOTE]

Okay, that tip about feeling the back of your hand is SO HELPFUL. Pirate has long fur and a double coat so sometimes going by looks is really pretty tricky, and he’s not even a ‘puffy’ furred breed. Plus, his floating ribs (I think that’s what they’re called) poke out quite a lot so you start feeling like he’s looking ribby before he actually is, I suspect, because you see these bony bumps and go ‘what the heck?!?!’