Feeding a dog oily fish for his joints

NellieNewbie

gettingready wrote: »

Zara gest Salmon Oil , she has a bioflow collar and also gets Ester C (1 tablet of 1000mg per 10kg of the dog weight, available from Boots)

Ester C info:

http://www.yourdoghealth.com/dog_ester-c_study.htm

As I started her on Ester C and got her a bioflow collar at the same time - I am not sure which one (or a combination of both) have helped but she is much better and is not on metacam or any other pain relief... for a year now.

I'm really torn over Bioflow collars. I've read posts saying the owner's vets recommended them and others that they are just a gimmick. Reading posts on different forums though the problem is similar to yours i.e. more than one treatment was started at the same time, so you can't be sure if one or both are helping. If the collars weren't so expensive I would give one a try, but it's a lot of money on a limited budget. I am so tempted. Nobody seems to have a dog only wearing a collar and not being fed any extras! Sounds like we are all the same when it comes to our pets and their health - we'll try almost anything to help them! My Gran swore by her magnets too!

dawnie1972 wrote: »

Milo has a muscle/tendon/ligament (not really sure what it is) problem in one of his legs, he used to have joint aid but then we found a fantastic dry food called Symply - I started to give Milo the Symply Senior and the difference was amazing - its available online from Pets Corner stores and i opted for this as opposed to the joint aid as the Glucosamine etc was higher content.

That's interesting because Buddy's back leg weakness is also from an old joint injury. About 6 months ago we changed him to Harringtons Rich in Lamb & Rice which suits his dodgy tummy and has Omega 6 & 3 fatty acids and nutrient rich kelp. I can't say I've noticed any improvement in his mobility.

krlyr

There's another brand of magnetic collars which I've heard good reviews for, and they're cheaper than Bioflow. Think the brand is Armadillo

rising_from_the_ashes

NellieNewbie wrote: »

Reading posts on different forums though the problem is similar to yours i.e. more than one treatment was started at the same time, so you can't be sure if one or both are helping. If the collars weren't so expensive I would give one a try, but it's a lot of money on a limited budget. I am so tempted. Nobody seems to have a dog only wearing a collar and not being fed any extras!

I also tried the magnetic collar for Ben - and, yes he was getting the supplements too so was never too sure what was making the difference.

However, after a few months of being on the supplements, I gave up on the collar - really because he absolutely hated having one on all the time and used to do everything he could to get it off!

Didn't notice any difference with it not being on but .... like us, they're all different so different things will work for different dogs.

NellieNewbie

Did Ben hate wearing the collar because he doesn't normally wear one or just the magnetic collar? Buddy does wear a collar all the time.

Krlyr thanks - almost half the price for the Armadillo collars!

Dollardog

NellieNewbie wrote: »

I've heard about all of these too except turmeric/curcumin.

It doesn't surprise me though about turmeric/curcumin because there is a lot of history of using natural hot spices as pain relief. I can't take regular anti-inflammatory drugs, so I use capsicum cream for arthritis in my hands. I think it is the heat that helps most.

Someone recommended Yumove Triple Action Dog Joint Supplement and that contains -
150mg Triple Strength Green Lipped Mussel for pain relief
250mg Pure Glucosamine with natural dog Chondroitin and Manganese for joint support
750 mcg Hyaluronic acid and Vitamins C & E for general mobility.

Cost is a big issue for me and thankfully my dog is small (just under 10 kg), so a 2 month supply would be about £9/£10.

Giving a joint stick as a treat sounds like a great idea too and tbh I never believed that any treat could really be healthy until Dollardog mentioned the ingredients of the Pedigree ones.I hate the idea of my dog being in pain, but I can't afford to buy lots of things to try which is why I was trying to use his food as a way of helping him.

I'm not a particular advocate of Pedigree products, I have to admit, but tried them as my dog's vet recommended them.
I've just got the packet of Joint care + sticks out to read the ingredients. Bearing in mind that these are the ingredients in the sticks for large dogs, Rising mentioned that Ben had Green lipped mussel - where Chondroitin comes from - and Glucosamine which is also the ingredients of the Youmove that someone has recommended.
These large dog sticks contain (in each one) - 500mg of Glucosamine, 500mg of Green lipped mussel powder (which provides the Chondroitin), also MSM, Methionine, Omega 3, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and zinc.
My dog also has Propolis that I sent you the details of which alongside other things is anti-inflammatory and I have had really good results with a previous dog just on its own. I was able to cut his vet's tablets down from 2 a day to just one every 4-5 days or so.
I also feed Arden Grange either Chicken or Lamb which also has Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM in.
Personally, I'm not a fan of a lot of the drugs that are commercially available because of side effects, preferring natural remedies where possible although obviously, sometimes they have to be used.

rising_from_the_ashes

Dollardog wrote: »

I've just got the packet of Joint care + sticks out to read the ingredients. Bearing in mind that these are the ingredients in the sticks for large dogs, Rising mentioned that Ben had Green lipped mussel - where Chondroitin comes from - and Glucosamine which is also the ingredients of the Youmove that someone has recommended.
These large dog sticks contain (in each one) - 500mg of Glucosamine, 500mg of Green lipped mussel powder (which provides the Chondroitin), also MSM, Methionine, Omega 3, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and zinc.

He got MSM too (sorry forgot about that one!)

NellieNewbie wrote: »

Did Ben hate wearing the collar because he doesn't normally wear one or just the magnetic collar? Buddy does wear a collar all the time.

He hated wearing any collar full stop!

Every time we got home after a walk & took his off he'd have a big shake, whilst making "grumping" noises and glare at me!:D

Dollardog

Just a thought, but as the large joint sticks are for dogs weighing 25-45kg and your dog is only 10kg, you could probably save money by cutting them in half, they only need one a day so a pack that would normally last a week, would then last two weeks, it says you can't overdose them with them.
I think these were 2.75 a pack of 7 or £7.99 for 21 in Sains. So cut in half they would be quite economical.

WolfSong2000

We've used bioflow collars on our old dogs and it's made a big difference...didn't realise until we removed the collar off one for a few days and he started limping badly again. No guarantees it will work for every dog, but it has for ours.

Other remedies include green lipped musell and rosehip (which makes a big difference, too).

As far as glucosamine supplements go, the absolute best I have found is Cortaflex. I really should work for the company I recommend them so much (I don't work for them, for the record. lol).

My latest success story came last summer when I was working in a organic dog food/pet store in America. A customer spoke to me about her elderly dog who had joint problems. I recommended Cortaflex. A few weeks later I met the owner who was absolutely overjoyed. She'd tried Cortaflex and it had apparently given her dog a completely new lease of life - the dog was even jumping up on its back legs (something it hadn't done for a while).

So yeah...I'm a big Cortaflex fan

*Robin*

My DIL's 10 year old staffie was so stiff she hardly ever got out of her bed, until DIL got her a Bioflow collar. Three days later I met them and thought DIL was walking her dog's 5 year old 'pup', the difference in her movement was amazing!

A few months later my 12 year old husky started crying out in pain every time she got up, sat down or just walking from one room to another - suddenly she couldn't get into the car, her back end was dropping and she simply refused to go for a walk.

The choice was simple; it costs me £60 to walk through the vet's door, or it was half that for a Bioflow collar. Like many others here I prefer a more natural solution to problems where possible, and there would have been a delay in seeing the vet, so I got the collar that day.

Within 24 hours of fitting the collar, there were no more cries of pain and the dog was noticeably more relaxed as she moved. Two days later she was keen to walk and could jump into the car. In the past year there has been no recurrence of the symptoms.

I was so impressed I later bought collars for both my older dogs, who now at 14 and 15 years are slowing down; one was obviously stiff when sitting or rising sometimes, so the collars seemed worth a try to hold off the effects of ageing as long as possible.

All the oldies are regularly assumed to be around half their real age by other owners; we walk a mile on the road and three or four on softer ground most days. So I call that a success and money well spent.

However, again like many other MSEers, I do start supplementing all my dogs' diet with Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM when they reach their 10th birthday. Therefore all three of my seniors were taking these before getting the collars.

I would be interested to hear if any other makes of collar are as effective, as my other dog will soon reach double figures and DH has also started moaning.. So I have at least two more to buy - I'd like one too - and any saving would be very useful! (*wonders how DH will look in a collar* ).

ETA: DIL's staffie does not get any supplements - the collar is the only treatment she has for her arthritis. She can't walk as far as my dogs, but her condition was far worse at the start. She certainly still enjoys her life and appears to be pain-free.

N9eav

Usefull thread.

My 11 year old Pyrenean is finding it hard to get up, so perhaps I need to consider some joint supplement. But when your dog weighs 60kg it must be fairly cheap