Medi-Cal Dog food?????

[Sitkaspruce]

Sitka, our 12 yo Chessie has bad arthritis in her back knee (had a torn legiment when she was a pup) and both front elbows. It really starting to slow her down.:icon_frow

The vet has been giving her a cartrophen shot when ever she needs it. He has also been really pushing the Medi-cal "Mobility Support" dog food. At $77 for an 8kg bag it does damage the old pocket book!!!:wink:

We bought a small bag to see if she liked it, but I do not like Vet pushed food (Iams, Science Diet just to name a few) and have not read much good about Medi-Cal in general.

Main ingredients are not that good with "Corn Meal" as the second ingredient.

Anybody have any experiences with this food?????

We are also looking for any other suggestions on helping with her old age.

Thanks and Cheers

SS

[elkdom]

we had a black lab, a great dog, when he got to be about 12 years old he started to have a lot of hip pain and stiffness, went to the Vet, he suggested expensive regiment of medicines and diet foods, or the BIG sleep :cry:, so having a family to spend money on we declined both options from the Vet!:-|, my wife said lets try giving him a couple tablets of regular strength "ibuprofen", so we crushed a couple tablets and mixed in his food( if not powdered he would find it and spit it out) any way the next morning he was himself, walked the kids to school, came home, went for a walk a couple klms with my wife, so for about the next 4 years , he got a couple of powdered tablets as soon he started to get stiff and listless , he never exhibited any side effects and lived to about 16 years old, eventually the "ibuprofen" wasn't enough and he fell asleep, never to awaken , at the school buss stop, where he escorted the kids and met them every day his entire life,,,, our youngest kid had finished school 3 years earlier, but he still went to the bus stop, every morning and every afternoon,,,,,,,,,:wink:

[mainland hunter]

Medi-cal is crap, I think vets get paid off by medi-cal, it's no better than any of the cheap dog foods, We feed raw and the dogs seem healthier overall and they love it. Our amstaff was allergic to everything and the raw has seemed to solve that problem. Our Boxer has really filled out on it and both of them drink far less and sh!t far less than when being fed regular dog foods. We tried lots of different dog foods but the best results have been from raw.

[mainland hunter]

Isn't Ibuprofen toxic to dogs?

[Doe]

No dog food that lists the second ingredient as corn is worth what you paid. Corn = filler = garbage.
Talk to your health food store about a product called 'renew' ? animals can take joint suppliments that are as effective on them as humans....cheap and can be very effective.

[ROEBUCK]

cut a tylenol tablet into 4 parts ,give 1 quarter every time you work your dog ,it will give enough pain relief to keep your dog hunting for a morning or evening!!

[RJ]

Isn't Ibuprofen toxic to dogs?

My cousins dog got some motrin after a long walk and almost went into liver failure. Im thinking about raw for my own dog, I think its a little more expensive than the regular sawdust pellets tho.

[elkdom]

Isn't Ibuprofen toxic to dogs?

expected that, never fails,:-|

as the "ibuprofen" helped our faithful old Black lab live basically pain free for 4 more years,

I wouldn't know what I am typing,,,,:?

[mainland hunter]

I just thought maybe someone who's reading that advice should know the potential danger.

[elkdom]

I just thought maybe someone who's reading that advice should know the potential danger.

VIAGRA also has its highs and its LOWs,:?

so does PENICILLIN, and CELL PHONES and,,,and,,, and,,,:?

[Sasquatch]

expected that, never fails,:-|

as the "ibuprofen" helped our faithful old Black lab live basically pain free for 4 more years,

I wouldn't know what I am typing,,,,:?

Sounds like your dog did well on ibuprofen and that's great, glad to hear it worked out for you.
But that doesn't necessarily mean its a good medication for dogs in general.

I'll take the vets advice where meds are concerned and mine doesn't recommend ibuprofen for dogs - claims it can do more harm than good.

[Sitkaspruce]

Guys, I know all about the IB stuff and apparently a few others that are kind of a shock to me. So lets not let this post go sideways......thanks

See she is also going into Renal Failure and the cause might....and I will say again, might, be the two low dose aspirins she has been getting for the last couple years. Apparently all these anti inflam and pain killers are bad for dogs. Taken over time they can do more harm then good. At least that is what I am getting from the vet.

Time will tell, but for know I think we will change to a senior food like Orijen and add the "Renew", if we can find it. She has been on Summit Canadian Chicken so a change might also help as well.

Thanks for the info, it is just as I thought about the Medi-Cal. The good thing is that they have a 100% return policy, so we will return and spend the $$ on more good stuff for her.

Cheers

SS

[Sasquatch]

I was having real problems with my dogs food for a while also. Put him on raw last year and have not had a problem since.

It's a little bit of a hassle, but he's doing great on it.

Might be worth a try.

[The Dawg]

Try glucosomine supplements. We used to use them for the in-service K9's and they really helped a lot with the tired joints. Not overly expensive either.

[igojuone]

I'm trying a product called Syn-Flex. My dog Loco is now 13 and doesn't have the energy he once did. I haven't had him on it very long to give you any results but you can check out their web site. http://www.syn-flex.ca/
Took about a week to arrive and with shipping under $80 for 4 months supply, humans can take same stuff.

[mcrae]

Have a look at a company called Acana. They are made in Canada. Alberta IIRC. It has Glucosomine included in the food for Senior dogs.

High quality food. My wife works at a farm supply store and she deals with dog foods every day. Her assessment of Medi-Cal was much the same as everyone elses, " Its crap ". That was her expert opinion LOL...

We just adopted and AMStaff from the SPCA and we are going with the Acana for her. IMO its one of the best ones out there right now.

I had a rotti/doberman X that had really bad hips as she got older and the glucosoime supplements really helped her allot.

[bsa30-06]

we had a dog years ago that developed arthritis the vet told us to give her a aspirin when it started to bother her that seemed to work for awhile,but as you can see from the link below almost all medications have a possible side effect,our dog did fine on aspirin someone elses may not.
http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/altvetmedgeneral/a/dogcataspirin.htm

[Sitkaspruce]

Have a look at a company called Acana. They are made in Canada. Alberta IIRC. It has Glucosomine included in the food for Senior dogs.

High quality food. My wife works at a farm supply store and she deals with dog foods every day. Her assessment of Medi-Cal was much the same as everyone elses, " Its crap ". That was her expert opinion LOL...

We just adopted and AMStaff from the SPCA and we are going with the Acana for her. IMO its one of the best ones out there right now.

I had a rotti/doberman X that had really bad hips as she got older and the glucosoime supplements really helped her allot.

That is from the same company that makes ORIJEN.

Thanks for the info from all. Now off to see the dog food gal to see if she can get it in.

Cheers

SS

[J.300]

Usually i'm just a browser on this site but this caught my attention cause i've been dealing with a similar thing with my dog. she's a black lab rottie cross and also has bad knees and hips. I tried the glucosamine with her and it made a huge difference but it only goes so far. I personally dont agree with giving a lot of pain meds cause it only masks the real problem and thats degeneration. we are just startin her on a product call cartrophen (I think thats how its spelled), what its supposed to do is slow down the degeneration and help produce the natural lubrication in the joints. It still only helps slow down the inevidable but is supposed to increase the quality of life and thats the whole point isnt it? would be worth asking your vet about as one more option.

As a side note and this is my personal opinion we use nutro dog food and I think its one of the best out there. I think med-cal is way over priced for what you get. The vets probly just get a cut or something.

[mainland hunter]

Some of the nutrition education that vets and vet techs recieve is funded by medi-cal and hills. Their reps were doing the actual teaching when my wife was taking a vets assistant course.

[Ddog]

try this site,, i have not looked at it in a while as my dogs are fine with the senior technical, we also have a glucosamine powder for the older dog.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

[Marc]

I have both my dogs on raw food and supplement my 11 1/2 year old lab with Glycoflex stage III. She's been showing signs of arthritis and joint pain for a few years now. We were using recovery but found the results where better with Glycoflex. It's not curing the problem, but it's definitely helping with the mobility and she seems more playful.

http://www.glycoflex.com/glyco-flex-III-canine.php

I also have Marshall on Glycoflex Stage I as he operates on full throttle when we train or hunting season comes around. Figure it can't hurt him and hopefully promote healthy joints as he gets older.

[dedapair]

I used Adequan for my old chessie. He got to the point where he could'nt get up and down stairs let alone hunt. We started the injections and within a month he was years younger. It gave me three more years hunting pleasure and a couple more of companionship before we let him go. It was kind of expensive, but for us well worth it. It was injected once a week for the first month and then as needed, typically once every 2 - 3 months depending on his working/training schedule.

[CanuckShooter]

Our old shep/rotti has the same problems with his joints, got him the shots a couple of times [it really helped] and tried him on Renew, we [wife does it all] now she says that Glucosamine works better. She buys Pureform Glucosamine Plus [formulated for horses] from the feed store and claims it works better than Renew.

[huntergirl270]

Have you looked into the product called Recovery? You can buy it in equine form and I believe they even have a human product now, pretty sure they should have a canine dosage as well... Amazing stuff! Check out feed supply stores or places that sell farm products along with pet supplies... I know you can get this thru any vet but it is way cheaper if you source it yourself from one of these locations.
Good luck!
Sherry

[bighornbob]

Check out this site for dog foof reviews. great site.

Origen is a 6 star food (the top) while medical is a 2 star.


http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

BHB

[Lots'oLabs]

Currently we are feeding Eukanuba adult Maintenance for 2 of our boys and "Now" grain free for the boy that we are trying to determine a potentential allergy. Our old gal gets Senior Eukanuba. We will soon move away from Eukanuba as it has been a few years they've been on it and it's time for a change.

All of them get Recovery with their evening meal. None have joint/bones issues and we are trying hard to ensure that never happens as healthy joints are essential for the well being of high performance competitive dogs.

We've used Medical sensitive stomach on occasion (rarely)when one of them is having digestion issues.

They also each get 2 to 4 fish oil capsules daily. They love them more that biscuits!

[DevilDog77]

My Doberman had many digestive problems with medi-cal...we tried about 2 or 3 different types just like the vet recommended. Its expensive crap. Just like mainland hunter said, i wouldnt be suprised if they get compensated for selling as many bags as possible.

He's on Orijin now (believe its made in alberta), around the same price...its pricey, but hes doing very well on it. Worth the money you pay!

[RayHill]

That food is crap X2. It gave my doggie liver failure :(

[huntinnewbie]

We have fed our black lab Nutro for her entire life. She was started on Nutro Large Breed puppy and then switched to Nutro Large Breed adult when she was 1 year old. Both have Glucosamine and Chondritin in it for her joints.
She is now 8 years old and people are amazed at her energy and coat condition.
She has been hunted most of her life, is a swimming fool regardless of how cold the water is and pretty much does everything full tilt.
She is an indoors dog but gets tons of exercise as we live on acreage. We are hoping that her food regimen will keep her arthritis free for many years to come.

[Kasomor]

I feed Acana which is made by the same people who make Orijen but the Acana is not grain free.

Also have been using Recovery as an aid to joint health for 3 years now. Haven't had an issue with soreness, which was almost a daily issue, since then.

I've been told Proctor and Gamble just bought out Natura. Natura was the parent company for such foods as Evo, Innova, California Natural etc... Wonder if these foods will go down hill like Iam's and Nutro did when they were bought out years ago?

Kasomor

[BimmerBob]

Both have Glucosamine and Chondritin in it for her joints. She is now 8 years old and people are amazed at her energy and coat condition.
Go to Costco and buy Glucosamine with Chondritin in liquid form, give the dog a few ml's daily. My daugher has a Yorkie pup that had hind hip arthritis issues and was planning on surgery to fix it, she decided to try giving him Glucosamine with Chondritin and after a week he was doing so much better has decided against the surgery. The pup is doing great now.

[Casagrande]

Our Black Lab, turns 13 this week, very little grey and clear bright eyes, still wants to go, is also stiff in the back end. Never ran him hard, always high quality dog food and a soft bed to sleep on. Have given him Meloxicam for the last year or so and tried Recovery lately. Not overly impressed but I don't see any 90 year olds that move well either! Both meds are almost empty so we might try the ibuprofen instead. Not too worried about side effects, would rather have him pain free for the last part of his life. He's dealt with stairs all his life (living in the Pemberton floodplain) and I've always wondered what effect that has had.

[Sitkaspruce]

Thanks all for your comments!!!

The Medi-Cal went back today and she is slowly being switched to Orijen Senior as it has all she needs.

For Glucosamine to work, a dog needs 10mg/10lbs per day min.

We will look into Recovery, but not too many feed stores up here on the North Island. Farming and horses take a back seat to fishing and logging......

Again thanks for all the comments!!!

Cheers

SS

[moosetaken]

I went through all the old dog trouble a few years ago and decided that rather than change his dog food I would start giving him glucosamine etc myself. I figured that way I could control how much he got and increase it over time if needed rather than a set dose in the food. I am a BIG believer in the cartrophn shots he could hardly walk anymore when I started him on those and he lived another 2 1/2 years. check around on that one though my vet was charging me around $30 per shot every couple of months but when I had to make an emergency vet visit up in Fort St. John when he bailed off a tall deck the vet fixed him up and sold me a bottle of the cartophin and a handfull of needles which lasted the rest of his life. Check around and see if you can find a vet who will let you do it yourself you'll save a lot of cash and not spend so much time at the vet.