Arthritis

[bogtrotter]

Our poor old warrior - now twelve years old - is showing the cost of all those seasons in the marsh, woods and prairie. He needs medication for his arthritis - our vet prescribed Metacam which works well. Cost is an issue - $ 70 for about 24 days worth. I can pay this if I have to but I'm interested in your experiences of looking after an older dog - what else works ? Ice packs, aspirin, cheap sources of Metacam. Let me know what you have done.

[Jimbo]

I used to use a low dosage of aspirin for my old dog. Seemed to help him walk less stiffly and get up and down more easily.

[reach]

Our 12 year old Shepherd has osteoarthritis in one leg and gets Cartrophen injections every 6-8 weeks. They seem to do really well and are pretty cheap.

She also gets glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM pills and is on the expensive "joint support" food. Between all of that she's doing pretty well and seems to be enjoying life.

[Spokerider]

Vet's set their own costs for medications and such, unlike for our [ human ] pharmacare....... Check around at different vets, you may find it cheaper elsewhere.

There is no "cure" for arthritis.......other than joint replacement, so therapeutic treatment is the given choice. A soft bed in a warm enviroment for sleeping can help.

[huntinnewbie]

I remember an old dog at my father-in-laws farm that had it bad. used to feed him an aspirin every night and he slept like a baby.

[JeffR]

My dog gets the cartaphen injections as well, made a world of differance. He started getting them once a week, he now gets them about three times a year. Never limps anymore.

[Phreddy]

The best thing we ever used on our old Shepherd was glucosamine Condroitin with a bit of salmon oil to make it easy to get him to take.
Both items are one hell of a lot cheaper than anything the vet will give you and you usually see the results start after the first couple of days.
The arthritis in his hind end didn't bother him as long as he was taking the stuff, and he eventually had to be put down because he developed cancer of the spleen which is a whole different story.
Good luck.

[bogtrotter]

Thanks for all the advice, you have given us something to work with. This week I have been giving him the medicine every second day just to see if that had an effect. No problems so far. I will aslo try the Gluco. condroitin instead of the gluco. sulfate I had been giving him. I learned that GC is much better for dogs than GS.

Thanks again,

Boggie

[Wolfman]

I had my old girl on Glucosamine and low dose aspirin. It worked quite well.

[Night Hawk 3]

Most of the NSAIDs work only if you keep the proper levels in their system over the long haul... best to stick to the dose your vet recommended, or back it off slightly but keep the schedule the same.

Aspirin works well, and there are some good articles online with suggested dosages by body weight. My 13 year old Shepherd tore her ACL a few years ago (had surgery) and it bothers her more an more as she's getting older. She weighs about 65 - 70 lbs and gets 325 mg in the morning and also at night. It's very important to make sure they eat at least a small meal when taking any NSAID as the drug can damage the lining of the stomach and cause bleeding - noticed as darker than normal stools.

ASA is certainly cheaper than Metacam, and is effective. Be very careful with NSAIDs as some are very toxic to dogs and/or cats. Do lots of reading, and if you're in doubt talk to your vet.

NH3

[Beverly]

The equiv of Metacam can be prescribed by your vet and picked up at a pharmacy for about 1/3 the cost....it's called Meloxicam and comes in pill form.

For dogs it is important to give Glucosamine HCI not sulfate. They apparently absord it differently than we do and you'd have to give like 20x more gluc sulfate to get the benefits to 1 of Gluc HCI.

You can get PURE Glucosamine HCI powder at farm feed places in large 1 kg containers for about $65. It's for horses but it is the SAME Gluc HCI you'd pay $65 a small bottle from the vet or pet feed place. The other horse mixes of Gluc/MSM/Condroitin have way too much of cond/msm for dogs and can't be used...just the Pure Gluc HCI type. It comes with a 10,000mg horse dose spoon...which is way too much. An average size labbish dog would get 1/8th tsp (600mg) 2x a day for a couple mths (Glucosamine is lost in urine so important to give 2x a day not once) after a couple mths you can lower the dose to about half because it has built up in the system and requires maintaining. :) Hope that helps.

[Lots'oLabs]

[quote=Beverly;514528]The equiv of Metacam can be prescribed by your vet and picked up at a pharmacy for about 1/3 the cost....it's called Meloxicam and comes in pill form.

I agree. Meloxicam is a much cheaper option for Metacam, but in generic form. I found it took some convincing of my vet to get the RX. and also tough to find a compounding pharmacy that was willing to compound it.
Be dilligent. In the end the cost savings is worth the effort.

[Beverly]

You don't actually have to have it (Meloxicam) compounded if you have a pill splitter and of course a dog who will take the pills. The only problem with the pill form is it is hard to reduce the dose to the lowest effective dose unless you are real good at splitting tiny pills :) I've never had to have it compounded for any dog in the last 10 years or so.