Dog with arthritis

reeta

Hi, my seven and a half year old Springer spaniel has chronic arthritis in her elbow. The vet has put her on tramadol and anti inflamatries for six weeks. If she has not improved by then he is thinking about fusing the bones together or worst case scenario amputation.

She is on these one week but showing no signs of improvement. I bought her a memory foam bed for comfort and a heated pad for her bed. Is there anything else I can do ? Also for a dog who loves her food she isn't eating as well as normal, could the medication have anything to do with this ?

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks.

cocker5

reeta wrote: »

Hi, my seven and a half year old Springer spaniel has chronic arthritis in her elbow. The vet has put her on tramadol and anti inflamatries for six weeks. If she has not improved by then he is thinking about fusing the bones together or worst case scenario amputation.

She is on these one week but showing no signs of improvement. I bought her a memory foam bed for comfort and a heated pad for her bed. Is there anything else I can do ? Also for a dog who loves her food she isn't eating as well as normal, could the medication have anything to do with this ?

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks.

Have you considered good supplements OP? My cocker is 12 with hip dysplasia and arthritis... my vet also prescribed loxicom etc which I did use for a month or two but since June I have him on really good supplements (Riaflex joint care plus, & green lipped muscle) salmon oil, turmeric paste, CBD oil and weekly hydrotherapy all combined have made a huge difference - he’s flying around at the moment. No prescribed pain killers and no sign of discomfort etc!

What are U feeding her?
Yes some anti inflammatories can upset a dog tummy etc

Also weigh is super important - try to keep her lean and trim this will help her arthritis

pudzey101

as above good supplements is key , iv my 12 year old staffy on CBD oil its working wonders also added i give it to my 4 year old GSD and shes not as aggressive towards other dogs anymore . Research CBD oil for dogs online and see what you think

em_cat

Yes the meds can cause loss of appetite. Be aware the tramadol will likely constipate her so maybe get some liquid parrifin oil.

Avoid magnesium as it leaches water and can dehydrate. You could also use a small amount of flax seed oil, but avoid if you don’t like the smell as she wil excrete the smell via the skin.

Maybe give her some boiled chicken, brown rice & small bit of steamed 🥕 You could alternate the chicken with some type of oily fish. Keep her on a bland diet as the anti-inflammatory & pain killer can cause tummy discomfort and or vomiting.

+1 for the CBD oil.

I would also let your vet know if she doesn’t improve after 10 days from start of meds.

I hope she gets feeling better soon.

Nothing worse as a poorly feeling pooch.

reeta

Thank you for your replies. She was over weight but with a lot of work she recently went from 21kg to 15kg so that has helped a lot. I will certainly start her on supplements. I have googled cbd oil, can you advise me where i would get it from ? She is on hills prescription food which seems to really agree with her, I put half a teaspoon of fish oil in her food every day. She also gets arthriaid in her food.

It is so strange after seven years of her watching my every move to make sure I don't go for a walk without her and being constantly by my side she will only walk 10/15 mins and she wants to come home,:( I will do whatever is needed to make her feel better. She is sitting beside me now feeling very sorry for herself......

cocker5

reeta wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. She was over weight but with a lot of work she recently went from 21kg to 15kg so that has helped a lot. I will certainly start her on supplements. I have googled cbd oil, can you advise me where i would get it from ? She is on hills prescription food which seems to really agree with her, I put half a teaspoon of fish oil in her food every day. She also gets arthriaid in her food.

It is so strange after seven years of her watching my every move to make sure I don't go for a walk without her and being constantly by my side she will only walk 10/15 mins and she wants to come home,:( I will do whatever is needed to make her feel better. She is sitting beside me now feeling very sorry for herself......

Well done on the weight loss that’s amazing!

Personally I didn’t find arthiraid any good.. but I’ve seen huge improvements with the riaflex

Here’s where I get my CBD oil:

https://www.recoverycbd.ie/

Turmeric paste is amazing...

Also hydro therapy is great for dogs where are u based op there may be one in your area

reeta

Cocker5 I am based in Dublin 16. I am going to get the cbd oil. Regarding the turmeric paste I have read before that it is very good. Is this ordinary turmeric powder or is it a special paste ?

cocker5

reeta wrote: »

Cocker5 I am based in Dublin 16. I am going to get the cbd oil. Regarding the turmeric paste I have read before that it is very good. Is this ordinary turmeric powder or is it a special paste ?

You make it yourself here u go:

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/healing-with-turmeric-golden-paste-for-dogs/


For hydro.. here is where I go its just past blanchardstown:

http://sharpwellsk9hydrotherapy.com/


Or there’s one in church town:

http://thecaninecentre.ie/hydrotherapy

reeta

Great info the one in church town is very near me so I am going to ring my vet on Monday for a referral letter, will also try the turmeric paste. Thanks again, Will let you know how she gets on.....

cocker5

reeta wrote: »

Great info the one in church town is very near me so I am going to ring my vet on Monday for a referral letter, will also try the turmeric paste. Thanks again, Will let you know how she gets on.....

Best of luck!

Just on a side note if u have pet insurance you’ll get a portion back but honestly the hydro is amazing!

tk123

Bailey has arthritis in some of his toes.. fusion has also been mentioned but he's improved so much it hasn't been mentioned since which suits us fine(!) Atm he's on 1 tramadol morning and evening (anti-inflam was dropped as we didn't think it was needed), YuMove Advance and fish oil. I blagged a free box of the yumove so have enough for the initial 6 weeks loading dose and then decide if i'll continue him on it - it's proven to work with trails etc so we'll see what happens when Bailey is involved lol. For the oil - I got omega wild on offer from healthy hounds so trying that - no issues so far. We did have problems with salmon oil being too thick/sticky and causing problems for Bailey but this one seems fine. I had been using other capsules but kept finding them behind the bowl stand lol :rolleyes:
He's also wearing booties on his walks to cushion his foot and it's made a big difference!
We did try cbd and turmeric and didn't see any difference.

Another important thing is their exercise levels - you need to cut them back to let them heal then it's trial and error building it back up. A few shorter walks vs longer ones etc etc

loconnor1001

cartrophen injections worked great for my old guy. 😊

tk123

loconnor1001 wrote: »

cartrophen injections worked great for my old guy. 😊

They did nothing for Bailey except burn a hole in my credit card lol!!

Ave Sodalis

Have you looked into a few sessions with an Animal Physiotherapist? They may be able to give you some exercises and help with pain relief. They work under vet referral though so perhaps ask your vet about one.

Have you seen the Canine Arthritis Management page on FB? They might be able to offer some advice too

loconnor1001

tk123 wrote: »

They did nothing for Bailey except burn a hole in my credit card lol!!

Awww, they worked wonders for a couple of years, but now they have no effect (he’s 15 now)!

tk123

loconnor1001 wrote: »

Awww, they worked wonders for a couple of years, but now they have no effect (he’s 15 now)!

I think it might depend on the problem? He doesn't have cartilage worn away that needs repairing - his problem is that there's basically strands of tissue growing out of the bones causing his pain - kind of like bone spurs.

One of biggest issues we had was the vets in on practice (we're going back and forth between 2 atm as he had knee surgery in the 2nd one and then we thought he was lame in the knee!) metacam -> cartropen -> metacam cycle - no mention of newer medicines or pain relief like we had in the 2nd one!

Oh OP another thing to think of would be acupuncture?

aonb

Well done OP on the weight loss - will really help him in every way.
Ive had zero success with Cartophen injections, but have heard of some that have helped.
The salmon oil, and tumeric paste are definitely worth trying. Make sure you buy a good quality and very importantly fresh, Tumeric powder.
My guy with arthritis is on 1 Previcox tablet daily - along with the addition of arthriaid, salmon oil, tumeric, he's pain free now, we're back to 1 long walk and 1 short walk a day. Previously he was in so much pain, he couldnt walk at all.

The problem with arthritis pain Ive found (2nd dog with arthritis) is that you have to find the mix of products that help your dog - it take 3-4 weeks to see a difference -