# Anything else I can do to help an aging dog besides only Rimadyl?



## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

I took Gracie, 8 1/2 yr lab, to the vet this morning because she's been favoring and occasionally limping on her front right leg. The vet didnt feel any injury and suspects arthritis. He prescribed Rimadyl and asked me to call next week and let him know how she's doing. He said she'll likely need the medicine whenever she has flare-ups for the rest of her life. Is there anything else I can do? Do supplements really work? I'm on a very limited income, but if they help, I'll buy them. Anything else? She's gained a few pounds, due to inactivity, so I'll work on that. I want to make sure I'm handling this properly and doing everything I can. Thanks.

btw, at her last checkup, I was told she needed to get in asap to have her teeth scaled, but I've been giving RMB's lately, and today he said her teeth are ok  they're not perfect, but she doesnt need a professional cleaning anymore. WooHooo!


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

In order of least expensive- Give fish oil capsules or Flax oil capsules (start at 1/2 the adult person dose, then increase to adult dose after a week. Starting too much at once can give them diarrhea. Both have anti-immflamatory properties, as well as being good for immune system, coat and heart.

Also do generic (people) Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM capsules. Give adult person dose. Will help joint lubrication. May take 3 weeks or so to see a difference.

Adequan IM- Injectable joint treatment. Effective in most dogs. Cost is about 245.00 for the month. Shots are given every 4 days for a month. Then you repeat it in 6 months. Much more effective dosing that way rather than once a month. Once a month dosing has been proven to not be very effective. Do the loading dose schedule if you do this. You can have your vet show you how to give the shots. Generally no side effects. This is proven to work and often used in racehorses and show horses.

Rimadyl is an NSAID (Non Steroidal Anti-immflamatory), like Tylenol, Aleve, etc. It will reduce immflamation, and relieve pain, but does not help solve the problem. The other stuff listed above actually helps solve the cause of arthritis, if it is just old age related, and not caused by trauma, like bone chips.

Do not give your dog any aspirin or steroids like Prednisone/Cortisone while on Rimadyl. If you go to the vet, remind them of when he had his last pill (if w/in 2 days), if they are wanting to give steroids.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Front leg lameness AAARRRARGGHHH. 

I'm going to post more tomorrow, my thoughts are not collected enough to make sense right now, but there is quite a bit you can do. Some nutritional, some supplements, some medications, some non-traditional treatments.


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## Charis (Jul 12, 2009)

Human Osteo Biflex worked wonders for our lab's arthritis. A 6 month supply cost about $40 for a 75 pound dog at a warehouse type store. It delayed him going on prescription strength pain killers for about a year and helped the flair-ups.


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## canine nutritionist (Jul 16, 2011)

Glucosomine/Chondroitin really does work! Give her a baby aspirin. That will work as well as Rimadyl and won't cost you a fortune. Watch for black stools as it may be a sgn of bleeding. Aspirin doesn't always go over well , it can cause stomach bleeding...so watch. I have been giving it to my 9 yr. old Aussie for 2 years now. It works great. Only give once a day...whatever time he/she needs it the most The Glucosomine supplement is cheaper if you buy horse and reduce the dose. Hope this helps!


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## Charis (Jul 12, 2009)

canine nutritionist said:


> Glucosomine/Chondroitin really does work! Give her a baby aspirin. That will work as well as Rimadyl and won't cost you a fortune. Watch for black stools as it may be a sgn of bleeding. Aspirin doesn't always go over well , it can cause stomach bleeding...so watch. I have been giving it to my 9 yr. old Aussie for 2 years now. It works great. Only give once a day...whatever time he/she needs it the most The Glucosomine supplement is cheaper if you buy horse and reduce the dose. Hope this helps!


Buffered Aspirin tends to sit better on a dog's stomach than regular aspirin as with NSAIDs the risk of GI bleeding goes due to blood thinning properties and irritation to the GI tract. Do watch carefully if you give it but it does work - we used buffered in place as a pain killer for our dog. Also a baby aspirin can be a smaller dose than a lab needs to relieve the pain (baby aspirin can be 81mg or 325mg) and so you may want to just read the back of a buffered aspirin bottle to see the dosage to use or ask the vet.

Don't mix NSAIDs. If you give one don't give another kind as well - risks go way up.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Much of the above. Have also had some good results with acupuncture. Many vets also have cold/hot laser therapy these days. It's not a long term fix, but can make them feel better in the short run. I'm guessing you have had a recent test for tick borne diseases?


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Glucosamen, Chondrotin, MSM, Fish Body oils and Tumeric all of which are antiinflamitory. Do NOT give buffered aspirin with Rimadyl, they are both NSAIDS.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Ok, after a good night's sleep my thoughts are in order.

First of all, front leg limps are extremely frustrating to get a firm diagnosis on. There are a lot of soft tissue/tendonitis issues that can occur in the front leg that can be very difficult to diagnose because dogs can't tell you where it hurts and with that type of injury they tend to not be painful when you examine the leg or manipulate the joints because it only hurts when they're using it. If your vet suspects arthritis it's a good idea to try to narrow it down to a specific joint and get some x-rays to confirm and make sure it's not another problem. Arthritis in the elbow is particularly troublesome because it is a relatively small joint that does a relatively large amount of work.

Assuming it is arthritis... There are several different categories of pain relievers, and many of them can be used together as needed. NSAIDS -- Rimadyl, Metacam, Deramaxx, Previcox are the most common veterinary ones; many people use aspirin. I personally don't like aspirin, it works ok but even the buffered aspirin has a high risk of stomach ulcers in dogs. Rimadyl and Metacam are available in generics to help with costs. Each one has specific potential side effects that you should talk about with your vet if you're going to be using it long term. Never give 2 NSAIDS together or an NSAID + prednisone. Tramadol can be added to NSAIDS, it's in its own class of drugs but is most like a narcotic. Then there is a whole class of drugs that work in the central nervous system (such as Gabapentin or Amitryptiline) to block pain that can be used together with both NSAIDS and Tramadol. If worse comes to worst, there are even some antibiotics that have anti-inflammatory properties as a secondary effect that could be added or tried.

Glucosamine/chondroitin work great for some dogs, not as much for others. It's always worth it to try them. Also I'd put Adequan into this category, worth a try but works better for some individuals than others.

Depending on your budget and availability in your area, physical therapy can help a lot with some of these dogs depending on what the specific injury is. They have a variety of different specific techniques.

Acupuncture can be very, very helpful for some of these dogs. Not only for the affected leg, but I find that many dogs with chronic front leg limps end up with some back pain because of how they adjust their gait and acupuncture is really strong for back issues. 

Nutritional supplements like fish oil may help, the ratio of specific fatty acids in them has anti-inflammatory properties. Again, they help some dogs more than others. 

I feel like I'm forgetting stuff. I'll add if I think of something later.


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## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

Wow, you guys are great. Thank you very much for all this! I'm not comfortable with his diagnosis. I want further testing to find out exactly what's going on. If it is arthritis, I want to know where it's at, so I'm going to ask for x-rays. There goes my bill money . 
She's much worse this morning. She's not putting any weight on it at all today. I'm calling the vet as soon as they open.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Labmom4 said:


> Wow, you guys are great. Thank you very much for all this! I'm not comfortable with his diagnosis. I want further testing to find out exactly what's going on. If it is arthritis, I want to know where it's at, so I'm going to ask for x-rays. There goes my bill money .
> She's much worse this morning. She's not putting any weight on it at all today. I'm calling the vet as soon as they open.


Make sure you manipulate toe nails, and look for any abnormalities. I had a dog that gradually became lame on a front leg, and it ended up being a tumor growing in the nail bed. Nail looked like it was broken. The tumor was benign, but growing, and pressing on bone, cutting off the blood supply to it, and causing pain. So toe was amputated. Dog healed fine, with no further problems.


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