older dog with arthritis

Parent Cafe
1

<p>My dog is 12 years old and has arthritis. My vet has said that an orthopedic bed might help her. I haven’t been able to find one that fits my dog’s crate (which is where she prefers to sleep these days). So I’m planning on making one myself. At our pet store, a salesman suggested using memory foam as a filling for the bed. It is expensive. I’m willing to get it though if it really is the best alternative to cheaper foam or polyfill. Does anyone know whether using memory foam really helps with arthritis? Anyone know where I could get a piece of memory foam for a reasonable price? </p>

<p>Any help with this is appreciated.</p>

2

<p>My elderly dog (now deceased, sadly) responded well to a heated pad under her regular bed and Rimadyl. The heat helped my elderly cat too (also now deceased), who joined the dog on the heated bed. The cat took prednisone for years for her arthritis. (Before this sounds like a pity fest, I have a new dog and two healthy young cats.)</p>

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<p>I agree with the heat- I think they make them that reflect body heat.
My lab is 12 also, but she thinks she is 5. I have been giving her two healthy joint treats a day.<a href=“http://www.breeders-choice.com/Dog_Products/avoactivedog.html[/url]”>http://www.breeders-choice.com/Dog_Products/avoactivedog.html&lt;/a&gt;
If your dog isn’t already on chondrotin/glucosamine I would highly recommend it</p>

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<p>Thanks. She isn’t on anything specifically for the arthritis. We have just gotten a gastrointestinal problem under some control (after months and months) so the vet hasn’t wanted to add anything (meds or treats) that would upset her stomach. But I will check again with him.</p>

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<p>Another pitch for Rimadyl for arthritic dogs. Great drug, but also has negative side effects to the kidneys. Ask your vet about Rimadyl. It was a life saver for our dog.</p>

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<p>Rimadyl is only a pain reliever- chondrotin actually improves mobility
<a href=“Ask A Vet Online 24/7 - PetCoach”>Ask A Vet Online 24/7 - PetCoach;

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<p>I found a very cheap but good memory foam mattress pad for my son’s dorm bed at Hancock’s Fabric. You might also check T.J. Max and Stein Mart. You might also be able to find a cheap electric blanket this time of year. </p>

<p>Our dog occasionally has problems and Rimadyl works for him too.</p>

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<p>Try one of these places. I buy from them now and then:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.jbpet.com/Shopping/category.asp?catalog_name=JBWholesale&category_name=BedsOrthopedic&page=1[/url]”>http://www.jbpet.com/Shopping/category.asp?catalog_name=JBWholesale&category_name=BedsOrthopedic&page=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Or here:</p>

<p><a href=“worldpetstore.com”>worldpetstore.com;

<p>Or here:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.kingwholesale.com/Shopping/SectionIndex.cfm?Id=2116[/url]”>http://www.kingwholesale.com/Shopping/SectionIndex.cfm?Id=2116&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>What can I say…I have 2 spoiled dogs that I buy a lot of stuff for!</p>

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<p>Just a caution: Rimadyl is not without its side effects and some vets see it as a real problem. </p>

<p>That said when our older dog, now deceased, became very stiff, I started making all of his food–brown rice base with brewer’s yeast and chicken with carrots and other veg. He became far more mobile almost immediately. It wasn’t hard. I made large batches and froze them once every week or ten days. I used leg quarters when they went on sale for 29 cents a pound. It was worth it to see the extra year of comfort it gave him before we lost him.</p>

<p>Anyway, I have an extra memory foam mattress pad that we thought we were going to need for our motorhome, which we will go full-timing in starting this May. We took out the futon bed, so we don’t want the whole piece. We now just want enough for our own dog’s crate and a few pillows. If you want me to send you a piece for your dog, PM me and we can make arrangements to send you some. It’s pretty heavy stuff, but I’ll be happy to share it with you if you want to pay the cost of sending it.</p>

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<p>We initially gave our old girl enteric aspirin, then stepped up to Rimadyl when the aspirin was no longer enough. The Rimadyl really made her last year or so much easier.</p>

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<p>ctymomteacher–
Thank you for your offer. I have pm’d you.</p>

<p>1moremom. We also had my dog on enteric coated aspirin but once she started with her stomach problems (around Octoberl) we had to take her off of that. </p>

<p>Also, she has lost a lot of weight in the last year. I’m sure some of it has to do with the very low fat diet she is currently on. But my vet also said that weight loss is a sign of aging. She just seems so painfully thin.</p>

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<p>our cat was very thin before she died- she had been on subcut fluids daily for years for her kidneys- when she took a turn suddenly our vet wanted us to put her to sleep that day.
I wasn’t ready for that so we changed vets who put her on epogen and some other things that made her much more comfortable and she perked up quite a bit and did well for about another 7-8 months until it was obvious that her time had come.
Of course she was 21 years old, she had been a major part of our family for a long time.
Not to 2nd guess your vet, but you may want to make sure causes other than aging for weight loss are ruled out.
Is she eating ok? a friends dog had an abscessed tooth that came up all of a sudden to make her stop eating ( so she had to have a root canal or some such)</p>

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<p>Another opinion chiming in if you choose to try medication for your dog at some point. Our dog didn’t tolerate Rimadyl well, but did fine on Etogesic. </p>

<p>I don’t know if memory foam would be more helpful. We bought reasonably priced egg crate foam filled beds from the Doctors Foster and Smith catalog. I notice they also sell gel-filled beds which sound comfy. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.drsfostersmith.com%5B/url%5D”>http://www.drsfostersmith.com</a></p>

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<p>I answer these questions all day long for my customers.</p>

<p>I would put this dog on a high quality food with a nice protein level. Many times the protein level in a Lite or Senior food is not high enough. I would go to an independent pet store and ask for a dog food consult. </p>

<p>The supermarket foods are generally junk. I want no byproducts, no corn, and preferably no wheat. Read the ingredients and if it wouldn’t go on your plate, do you really want it on your dog’s plate? I am looking for 21% protein or so for a senior dog. In addition. I would supplement with glucosamine. Expect to feed a loading dose (about twice maintenance) for a few weeks, until you see an improvement, and then cut back to the maintenance dose. There is not enough glucosamine in most pet foods to do any good at all (there’s one with theoretical theraputic levels that I carry in my shop, but the protein level is too low).</p>

<p>The specific food I would recommend varies by the dog – and his other issues such as allergies, tolerance for different protein and carb sources, and taste preferences. That’s why I recommend going into your local <em>independent</em> store (i.e. not Petcosmartland), and asking their dog food buyer or the owner what they carry that would be right for your specific dog with these specific issues.</p>

<p>As far as the bed, a memory foam bed is wonderful, your basic egg crate topper on top of the regular filling works as well. In addition, I would add a reflective warmer (Four Paws makes one) to reflect body heat back at the dog. </p>

<p>Be careful about the pain killer drugs … often the glucosamines will fix things almost enough.</p>

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<p>Another endorsement for Glucosamine here. Our dog could hardly get up off the floor until the vet recommended Glucosamine. It took a few weeks for it to start working but the change has been remarkable. Also gave Rimadyl a try but in the end thought the Gluco. most effective. One word of caution…Our vet sold us a 3 month supply for $100 (dumb me, I didn’t know any better). I came home and found the exact same thing on one of those pet meds websites for less than half that price, delivered to my door with free shipping.</p>

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<p>With my dog, the progression went from glucosamine/chondroitin and heated bed to g/c and rimadyl and heated bed to untreatable pain. With the cat, it went from heated bed to prednisone to untreatable pain (and diabetes). I don’t advocate for wholesale use of drugs, but I certainly think a painfree life possibly shortened by the use of the drugs that allow for a painfree life is a better life for a pet than a long and pain-filled life.</p>

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<p>The tough thing about labs is according to Temple Grandins Animal Behavior book is, they apparently have high pain tolerance ( which makes them good family dogs- they can take roughhousing & good hunting dogs because they will swim in freezing water).
Mine is just on glucosamine at 12 and I haven’t seen any indication that she is in pain, although it is harder for her to jump up in the truck than it used to be.
I have found that while I buy pretty pricey food for the animals, there is a payoff in that it seems to give them a higher quality of life.
Our cats lived to be 21 and 19 , although only one of them required medication or treatment.
And our “puppy” while she is 12, and a big dog- is in pretty good health, only take the joint treats and a low dose of thyroid medicine, but I wouldn’t hestitate to add medication if she needed it.</p>

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<p>My dogs have been on the Bones and Raw Food Diet (slightly modified) for six years. They never get colds, their teeth are clean, their coats look great, zero allergies (one had flea allergies, another an airborne allergy, before I switched) and they have plenty of energy.</p>

<p>However, arthritis, while exacerbated by a bad diet, is partly from genetic causes (breed and individual) partly from age (calcium deposits, wear and tear) and often partly from injuries. We do not always spot the injuries as soon as we might, because dogs can adjust their gait to partially compensate for a stiff back, a twinging hip, and so on. Example: my trainer’s three-year old BC had a moderate ACL tear, it didn’t show up as an injury for weeks, and she watches him like a hawk - when they did the surgery, the vet said it had been torn for about six weeks.</p>

<p>As many vets advise, Cosequin is really better (though more expensive) and I believe that they are correct. I have tried many brands of G/CH, including human-grade, and I have observed that my Aussie Terrier (12) who had patella surgery seven years ago, does great on Cosequin, not as well on anything else. </p>

<p>I’ve found a nifty keen product called “InflamaSaver” by Figuerola, who makes similar products for equines. It has salacin complex, acid, ginger, chinese herbs, and a number of other ingredients (list is too long for me to type) including Superoxide Dismutase. It works as a COX-2 inhibitor. I give it to my ten-year old Aussie Shepherd for several days when she is looking a bit stiff (she has some thickening in the hip sockets and a chronic minor tendon injury in her right foreleg). I’ve found that it does not upset her stomach like baby aspirin or Rimadyl (which can cause liver problems) and seems to help significantly. You can keep a dog on a constant maintenance dose. So you might want to try it.</p>

<p>In a similar vein, I have found, for myself, that the NSAID etodolac works like a magic bullet on plantar fascitis and minor back stiffness. If I take 300 mg on the day of an agility trial, I feel like a 25-year old all day. In addition, the anti-inflammatory action seems to be more powerful than Motrin and similar over-the-counter drugs - that effect lasts for days from one dose. According to recent studies, it does not cause elevated blood pressure - a big plus! Like many useful drugs, it debuted on the veterinary side of the medical house.</p>

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<p>Great advice. I knew that people here would have experience with this. I’m going to look into the various suggestions. </p>

<p>For a while now, my dog has been on a diet of rice and boiled chicken (twice a day) which I have been cooking myself. As she just recently is under control for pancreatitis, I have started to add in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of her own food so she gets the minerals etc. she needs. The food is Eukanuba senior maintenance. It is nearly a week and she has been tolerating the addition of her own food (which in the past has caused her pancreatitis to flare up). I see her food has a small amount of glucosamine in it (375mg/kg). I assume that I need to consult with my vet about giving my dog any additional glucosamine?</p>

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<p>Yet another vote for rimadyl and glucosamine/chondroitin for arthritic labs. Our wonderful lab had severe arthritis, and the combination of rimadyl and glucosamine kept him (and us) happy for many years. He lived almost 14 years, which is pretty good for a big dog.</p>