Patrick Murray said:
My 8-year old female GSD, who has had both hips replaced due to HD, shows a lot of lameness getting up. I try to feed her right and get her moderate exercise and keep the weight off. I also supplement her diet daily with a dog vitamin. Any suggestions on anything else I can do to help her? Thanks.
Yes. At eight, a large breed is at the age to show symptoms of osterarthritis. Fortunately for her, not in those replaced joints!
I hope she can get some swimming exercise when it warms up ---- great exercise for OA.
The recent study saying that glucosamine wasn't as useful as everyone thought did not register with me. It was based strictly on reported pain (human), and it was much too short (6 months) and small (1500 very elderly advanced OA people).
Human-quality glucosamine (without chondroitin, which hasn't panned out the way glucosamine has), especially in a cap, so you can open and sprinkle, has done a lot for two senior arthritic dogs I've had. It helps to rebuild the worn cartilage.
Weight control is number one, IMO, then glucosamine, with long-chain Omega 3 EFAs, which are found in oily fish like salmon. The fish muscle (not liver) oil should be distilled, pharmaceutical grade, because distillation leaves behind heavy metals like mercury.
I buy the same one for my dogs and for me.
Omega 3s are a potent anti-inflammation agent, with no downside (IMO), and OA is an inflammation disease.
I use the human dose on the bottle, adjusted for weight, assuming that the bottle refers to a 150-pound human.
So what I would do would be to start the salmon oil (not liver oil) and the glucosamine now, and call the vet about the severity so you can decide whether NSAIDs are also indicated. The vet will need to see her.
The vet is *very* likely to commend the use of salmon oil and glucosamine, IMO.
No matter what they sell for oil supplements at the vet's, I would not buy it until I checked the company on a list I'm going to post in a minute of the companies that follow a voluntary monograph relating to quality of fish oil.
And extra Vitamin E (preferably mixed tocopherols) has to be given with fish oil supplements because dogs use it up in processing the fish oil, and it's an anti-inflammatory agent itself anyway.
I will post some backup to what I've said here and I'll post that list of fish-oil companies.
I'm not a health professional.
