Advice on wear & tear in an aging Boxer

Mhmm...weetabix

Hi Guys,
I've got 2 Boxers, brothers from the same litter and they're going 10 in Feb (2 in mentality). Just noticed in the last week that the bigger of the 2 Robbie (He's a monster, my ma reckons a St. Bernard managed to get in there somehow, I cant remember his weight from last time he was in the vets but I was shocked! Was around the 45kg mark I think... He's never been fat though, he's just got a bit of a buddha belly these days,use to be all muscle!!!) has started getting stiff in his back legs. It was fine up until this evening and now he's finding it really hard to get up eventhough he's full of energy and he wants to, it takes him a few minutes. Anyways I'm just looking for any extra pointers on what I can do to help him. I'll bring him to the vet tomorrow!

He's been on metacalm for years now, so the problem has always been there, just not so intense.
He gets cod liver oil, Glucoasmine Sulphate/Chondroitin complex. Is there anything else you'd recommend adding to this? He doesn't deserve this at all and it's a killer to see him like this I dont really want the vet to put him on anti-inflammatories as he's a bit of a wus (in general actually like most boxers) when it comes to his stomach so I dont know if it'd be the best thing for him.
Any topical creams like a dog alternative to Voltrol (I know that helps myself when I'm in bad way). I'm just short of sitting there giving him hot and cold treatment!! He wouldn't let me anyway.

Anyway, shortened version of my rambling, any advice you can add on helping a boxer with stiff legs?

(Note: his brother Rodge has feck all wrong with him and is strutting around like he owns the place!!)

Thanks,
Dave

Honey-ec

Hi Dave

My first thought when I started reading your post was glucosamine & chondroitin, but I see you already have him on those. I'm not really sure if there's a whole lot more you can do for him, other than keeping up the good work you're already doing, and obviously not over-exercising him.

I have three Boxers, aged 2, 3 and 4, so I'll be facing this problem myself in years to come. Have you any pics of your boys?

looserock

Like Honey-ec said you seem to be doing an excellent job already.

The only thing I can think of is getting him a heat pad and or a heat lamp.

hadook

I used to just give Loki glucosamine & chondroitin for his arthritis but I've gotten much better results with Sasha's Blend (you'll need to get your vet to order it or to ok it for the first couple of orders) and Stride. The rep from Stride was at the Pet Expo and he said it's sold in a number of vets around the country and in Equipet in Ashbourne/Navan now. I always ordered it online.

Loki has improved more on Sashas Blend than on the Stride and is infinitely better than he was on just glucosamine & chondroitin.

ruben

We have a Shep with HD and as well as the Metacam, Glucoasmine/Chondroitin, we feed him Hill's JD.
We have found this really does give good results with our guy.
Maybe worth a try?

Mhmm...weetabix

Thanks alot guys, I had him down the vet this morning just to get him checked out. There's not a bother on him ofcourse (just rheumatism with age!), he's been bouncing around the house since we got back! I think he's faking it for attention! Anyways, I'm gonna get him the Sasha's blend and his metacalm dose has been upped to 15 mg a dose. Will also keep him on the glucosamine/Chondroitin complex.

I was also in the petshop and I happened to ask one of the assistants in there about cod liver oil for dogs and she mentioned that it's bad for their livers? Never heard this before, is she correct? In that case would Vegetable oils like udo's choice be better for them?

Looserock, would you say any heat pads would do or is there any you can recommend??

I'm useless for pics, my sister does all that so I'll get some more recent 1's of them this weekend, these are the only 1's I have on my laptop (actually they're from the sisters bebo, they wont upload from my comp!!) from about 3-4 years ago!


Rodge is the red fella and robbie is the Brindle!


This is Robbie up to his usual antics, he never stops!!


Where he knows he's not suppose to be!


I've never seen anything love the sun as much as this fella, he's part reptile I think!


The 2 of them love that seat!

looserock

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Looserock, would you say any heat pads would do or is there any you can recommend

[/QUOTE]

Sorry, can't recommend any as I've never used them myself, probably the bigger the better though.

I have only one really old girl and she sleeps on a thick rubber cow mat with 2 inch kingspan insulation underneath that, and a 250 watt heat bulb. This works well for her, but its an outside setup.