<p>My dog has arthritis and spondylosis. The vet put him on Rimadyl, but I hope to not have him on this for long because there are horror stories about side effects. What supplements have you found to work with dogs? When I had horses, I had remarkable success with Lubrisyn - hyaluronic acid, and I may try that, but it is expensive.</p>
<p>We had our lab on Rimadyl for several years and he tolerated it very, very well- living to the ripe old age of 14. We also fed him glucosamine tablets wrapped up in peanut butter- and that seemed to help as well. I also seem to recall reading about dog massage (this was some time ago) and trying some of those techniques. See how your friend does on the Rimadyl. You may be surprised.</p>
<p>My dog has been on Rimadyl for over a year. He limps badly without it. So far as I can tell, there are no side effects. He does have to go in every 6 months for blood tests and the medicine is pretty expensive.</p>
<p>Thanks for the good reports on Rimadyl. I think regular blood work is necessary. His stomach is already so sensitive, I am hoping to find an alternative for that reason too.</p>
<p>We use Rimadyl as well, but only on days when he’s limping. And we only give 1/2 a pill, since he had digestive problems taking a whole pill twice a day. The 1/2 dose seems to work well.</p>
<p>I agree with the massage idea. Our golden retriever has the beginnings of arthritis, but we started the massage a couple of years ago. She is terrified of storms and used to try and hide behind the bed whenever there was thunder. But she wouldn’t back out, she would turn around, practically folding herself in two to get out of the tight space. She woke me at 3 a.m. whimpering and was not able to walk. We got her to the vet who seemed to think that she had just wrenched her back. She gave us pain killers and muscle relaxers for her and suggested massage along her spine. She resisted at first, because there was obviously a knot that we eventually worked out. Now I try to do it several times a week, and she just basically melts into me when I do it. She seems to have an easier time going up and down steps and getting up off the floor afterwards.</p>
<p>Try Bigelow Oil (horse linament). We use it on our standard poodle, she has ACL issues, it seems to help a lot…not sure if it’s the linament or the massage while we put it on her, but it makes a difference.</p>
<p>Good luck, it’s hard when the pets are sick.</p>
<p>my lad ( who will be 15 in June) is on Deramaxx which is similar to Rimadyl. I also was concerned about the reported side effects but she has been fine.
She is also taking Denamarin which helps with the liver & Dasuquin With MSM which is a chondrotin supplement. </p>
<p>I was getting Cosequin ( which is made by same company as Dasuquin) from the vet- but I found buying it online ( from Allivet) to be much cheaper. ( I also get the Deramaxx from the online pharmacy)</p>
<p>We started out at 1/2 a pill. That worked for awhile, then we had to go up to a whole pill. When he’s on the Rimadyl, he can take nice long walks. Without it, he can’t. For him, it’s a quality of life issue.</p>
<p>My dog sometimes takes Deramaxx. She only takes a quarter pill a day, so a two month supply is only about $25 from the vet. Fortunately, her leg is now better.<br>
She also takes a half of a glucosamine/chrondrotin pill a day. Those are always on sale buy one get one free.</p>
<p>Our dog is about 13. He was a lab rescue reject-the lady thought he might have mastiff. At his best he was 110#. His elbows, knees & hips are bad. He was diagnosed when problem was too severe to operate. Vet tx originally with rimadyl inj and glucosamine/chondroitin. He did well with just the suppplement and occasional injection About 4 yrs ago mobic was started, it did wonders. The oral remidyl just didn’t do the job for him. Mobic (melodicam) is now generic and the cost decreased from $100 a month to <$10 for 100 days. 2 years ago he was again in pain. A substitute vet perscribed torbutrol, a controlled substance - I call it doggy stadol he takes 5mg twice a day. 2 months ago vet suggested tramadol in place of torbutrol. $200 vs $10 a month. Dog was addicted to torbutrol so we tried tapering off torbutrol while adding tramadol. Dog started doing better with decreased dose of torbutrol plus tramadol. He is still on meloxicam and glucosamine/chondriitin. Dog is pain free-we’ve seen him in pain so that’s why we say he is pain free. He walks v slowly. He has a history of stomach problems but the occasional gi upset is usually treated with pepcid. Vet tested liver & kidney labs and he came out great. Frankly if his tests came out bad, we probably wouldn’t have changed anything. We feel like we are doggy hospice and let him have just about any treat he wants. Good luck just wanted to say our vet has been able to find several options for us. Got to go time for 5pm tramadol</p>
<p>We did Rimadyl as well. I tried to give it to her with her daily food. They also make it in a chewable - dog thought she was being spoiled by getting treats.</p>
<p>She did later have issues with liver function and had medicine to help with that. She was quite old by then and I think the decreased liver function was more an issue of aging.</p>
<p>I will likely try the massage too - I used an arnica linament called Sore No More with my horse that I will probably try on the dog too. I applaud everyone for going above and beyond to keep their pals pain free. It is heartbreaking to see him in pain. Of course, going to the vet made a difference - he was better as soon as we got home, with no treatment.</p>
<p>We used Rimadyl and glucosamine/chondroitin. When it was really bad, vet gave a shot – don’t remember of what, though, sorry.</p>
<p>Not arthritis, but joint related, we have both our 6 year old newf and retired racing greyhound on glyco-flex for mild joint pain. It seems to do the trick, but the maladies are low grade but have had tendencies to flare-up. Neither has had an occurrence (or ill-effect) since they’ve been on the supplement. </p>
<p>Newf was treated previously for it with prednisone. The cure was worse than the affliction.</p>
<p>We gave our 14 yr old lab Rimadyl but she did not tolerate it well. We had success with Duralactin (think that is it) It smells like cake batter. We also the last 2 yrs of her life gave her a pain pill. We also began at the same time as the Duralactin a supplement that we sprinkled on her food. It is called Platinum Performance Plus. It was originally developed for horses by a Vet in Santa Ynez, Ca. Prior to this she had days where she could not get up. I don’t know what was working best or if it was a combination of the two.
Our Lab died this past summer but we have continued to give the Platinum Performance to our Golden Retriever. The nice thing is the dogs don’t seem to mind the taste. The smell is pleasant. Sort of like horse grain.</p>
<p>I have friends who used the Platinum Performance with their horses. Horse people spend tons of money on supplements because performance horses have so many joint problems. There are hundreds and hundreds to pick from.</p>
<p>mom60 - I’m sorry about your lab. I am a huge lab fan, but have a Boston Terrier now.</p>
<p>On an ortho dog site I’m on, Vaxamine K-9 is recommended as a natural alternative to NSAID type drugs like Rimadyl. Some dogs get relief from Adequan injections also. Some have gotten results with hyaluronic acid. A glucosamine/chondroitin supplement like Dosequin DS is a basic along with salmon oil. We use Grizzly Salmon Oil.</p>
<p>My late, beloved standard poodle got some relief from Metacam but she enjoyed its flavor so much that it wouldn’t have mattered if it hadn’t helped her at all. But it did help.</p>
<p>We started our Golden on glucosamine/chrondrotin when he was 3. Our vet suggested it as a preventative measure. I also take it (no more creaky ankle) - so we just share a bottle.</p>