12 year old Labrador with arthritis concerns

wonder456

My gorgeus 12 year old Lab has arthritis it started in her front right leg a few months ago and she gets an injection once a month at the vets sometimes it helps sometimes I don't see an improvement, she is on pain meds to. Lately she is not making it out the back door when she is in to go to the loo so the dining and kitchen is constantly being pood on and every morning when we get up she has done the same overnight so its non stop cleaning changing and washing her bed and I feel awful for her. I also noticed one of her back legs seems to be weak. I have mentioned all this to my vet as she loves her walks and swims in the river/sea and she cannot do it anymore so she is not happy on top of soiling and being in pain, so I have asked him is it time to face reality and be kind and let her go which we do not want to do we were talking about it as a family last night and we all cried thinking of life without her. She is gorgeous and looks great if she didn't have this she is fine as she is eating and drinking. My partner adores her and thinks we should wait till Jan and see how this month goes but he is not in the house everyday seeing her like this, she doesn't even jump up anymore excited about anything. Has anyone been in this situation and can advise?, should I go to another vet and get a second opinion as I feel just so sad for her but letting her go would be just so heartbreaking for us all. We lost our Jack Russell due to old age he was 20 in Dec 2023 and to go through this again is the worst feeling sure we still miss him and get upset losing our Lab would be just awful.

Max H

https://www.cartrophen.com/for-dog-owners/what-is-cartrophen-vet/

We found this massively helped our 12 year old GSD

wonder456

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124044840#Comment_124044840

Thank you so much!!

DBB

Ah you poor thing OP.

There is looooads of great advice on management of canine osteoarthritis on this website and on their socials: https://caninearthritis.co.uk/

There are quite a few options for pain control too, sometimes use of a number of them in combination helps... but it would be most helpful if your vet is on board with trying different things.

I'm guessing the monthly injection is Librela. It works so well for some dogs, but it's certainly not a magic wand across the board.

Keeping your dog's weight down is hugely important and makes an enormous positive difference to their general physical ability.

I'd also strongly suggest getting a referral to a good veterinary physiotherapist. They can help arthritic dogs hugely with various gentle exercises (I do daily pawlates with my dog as advised by our physio... her quality of life is vastly better as a result).

Don't panic just yet OP. There are likely to be options still available to you to help your dog 🙂