Arthritis care for 9 yr old collie

aarchk

Hi all

I hope you can help. My husbands lovely border collie is beginning to show signs of stiffness in the back legs. Is there anything we can do to slow down the arthritis?

Hes a working farm dog so fairly active life so far. He eats a mix of dry food and tinned meat (with the occasional sausage thrown in!).

I have heard that cod liver oil is good but not sure if there is a particular type for dogs and how much he would need (he wont swallow capsules).

Any help or advice appreciated!

Thanks.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi, there's a few supplements around that can help. My old boy gets:

Glucoasmine & Chonodroitin: http://www.glucosamine-arthritis.org/arthritis-pets/glucosamine-chondroitin-dog-arthritis.html

MSM: http://www.yourdoghealth.com/dog_msm.htm

Green lipped mussel: http://www.greenmusselfactor.com/francis.htm

I'm not recommending any of the specific products in the links - the articles are useful.

I now get "human" versions (works out cheaper) and he gets these - dosage confirmed by my vet. Have a chat with your vet and see what he/she recommends.

Good luck

elsien

My vet suggested I look at the joint care dry foods. He said he had initially been sceptical about the merits, but anecdotal evidence from people who'd tried it showed some improvement - he was also keen to stress that he hadn't seen any proper scientific evidence, but that he thought it was worth a try. Mutt's arthritis has stabilised however, so I never got as far as giving it a go.

Edit - I have a feeling I've read in the press a while back (I don't remember the details unfortunately) that after a review of the evidence in humans, there is little to show that glucosamine and chondriatin has much impact.

Mrs_Arcanum

Definitely go with the Glucosamine. Worked with a lady at The Blue Cross who's Springer was on these and the dog still managed to get about at 16 years old.

Moody_Mare

I do agree with what others have said.

At 10 our Golden Retriever developed arthritic problems in her legs, we tried various supplements that cost a fortune incuding one from the vet with little effect. Because we are a horsey family and knew that equine cortaflex appeared to work on quite a few horses we knew, we decided to try the Canine Cortaflex. After about a month we including the vet were amazed by the results she was almost puppy-like in her mobility.

It was quite good value as well we used to get a months supply for £21 from the local farm/equine feed merchant. Think the bottle was 200mls? we went for the liquid option that just went onto her dried food as vet said liquid absorbs better into the system.

I am not saying it is a cure all, at 12.5 she also had to go on Rymadly as although still bouncy she was starting to show some pain but as the vet said he could see no problem with staying on the cortaflex as it is there to help slow down the progression of joint problems.

I even bought her a magnetic collar at £20 quid with the view that it was a small one off payment so worth a gamble but maybe not a good idea for a working collie.

We lost our beloved girl this year to a stroke aged 14 but she till had 90% mobility and a few week before was happily trotting around a large x country course. Personally in the future I will stick to this brand for my big boy as it was reasonable and did a very good job. Hope you have good results with whatever you decide to use. x

Griizelda

If the lady in my local pet shop is anything to go by, Green Lipped Mussell for joint problems is the way to go! (Since she's been taking this, her problems with her knee have disappeared). I've just started my flat coat Retriever on Chudley Senior as this has Green Lipped Mussell in, and so far, it seems to be working (intermittent shoulder stiffness).

Frugalista

aarchk wrote: »

I hope you can help. My husbands lovely border collie is beginning to show signs of stiffness in the back legs. Is there anything we can do to slow down the arthritis?

I have heard that cod liver oil is good but not sure if there is a particular type for dogs and how much he would need (he wont swallow capsules).

9 years old is quite young to be showing signs of arthritis - especially as he has led a very active life.

What has your vet said?

Has your vet actually diagnosed arthritis or is this a self diagnosis?

You say the dog "won't" swallow capsules - what has your vet prescribed for him?

paulsad

If on the rymadil - metacam route just watch out for side effects my 13yr dal (sadly pts a few weeks ago because she had really bad degenerative arthritis) suffered increased stumbling and dragging of her front paws causing bleeding from her worn down nails. Her condition seemed to worsen with the drugs. She also had steroid injections which didn't seem to help much.... however dogs (especially my old brave trooper) can't really tell you how much pain they are in. I held on and on hoping she'd regain strength in her hindquarters but after a year of helping her to stand up enough was enough for her.

aarchk

wow Thanks for all your advice!

The collie hasnt been diagnosed by the vet yet but since hes the 5th collie my husband has worked with on the farm he recognises the symptoms. He says it looks like very early stage so I just wanted to see if there was anything we could do to help in the meantime (he is due in the vets for his yearly check up in a couple of months). Will try some Chudley senior and investigate the canine cortaflex in the meantime.

Ta very much.

Becles

My old collie was about 9 or 10 when she started getting stiffness in her hips and the vet said it could be the start of arthritis. She was a pet but she loved running and was very active on walks.

The vet said to try human cod liver oil and see if that worked first as it was much cheaper than vet medicines. She did manage the capsules and used to just eat them like a sweet. He said I could get liquid and pour it on her dinner if she wouldn't take the capsules.

They did work and the change in her was amazing. She stopped getting stiff and was back to out running my collie pup in no time

Mayflower10cat

I used to garden for a very nice lady, who's daughter had an adorable collie cross with arthritis. Every month, the daughter would drive up from Cornwall with her lovely dog and stay over with her parents, so she could take the dog to London for acupuncture treatments with a very famous vet.... And I'm not going to namedrop!!! All I can say is, I'd see the dog being helped out of the car via a dog ramp and she'd walk stiffly and flop down awkwardly on the grass. A day later, I'd see the same dog, having had her treatment get out of the car without using the ramp and she'd walk almost normally. It certainly made a difference to her condition.