My 6 year old Golden Retriever tore her ACL and has developed a pretty bad case of arthritis in her back leg. I was just wondering if any of you guys had pets with arthritis, and if so, do you know any good ways to treat it?

I've been doing some research on some natural remedies but just wanted to see what other suggestions were out there. It's just a sad sight to see a dog that used to be so active be almost bed ridden. Any help would be great. Thanks!

1/29/2009 10:34:39 PM

my fiance's family dog had arthritis, and she took a pill for pain (dunno how often or what it was). she went from barely able to get up and down and in obvious pain when trying to sit to comfortable and even frisky. it was quite a transformation.

1/29/2009 10:54:41 PM

My fiance's dog is somewhere between 10 and 14, and has some pretty bad arthritis. He used to slowly hobble everywhere. The vet gave us some Dasuquin, and like ^, he can run and has full range of movement again.

It was remarkable.

1/29/2009 10:56:46 PM

get her started on dasuquin:
http://www.1800petmeds.com/Dasuquin-prod10913.html

you can get some NSAIDs (deracoxib/carprofen) for her through your vet. you'll have to do monitoring bloodwork (every 6 months or so) to make sure it's not affecting her negatively. if she is in severe pain, your vet might also prescribe her something like tramadol in addition to the NSAID.

1/29/2009 10:59:25 PM

The problem here is that her osteoarthritis will only continue to get worse until that ACL is repaired. And although I know the surgery is not cheap, by not stabilizing that joint she will continue to put more stress on her opposite leg and it's only a matter of time until that ACL blows as well. Typically there is already an underlying condition in both joints that will inevitably cause the degeneration of both ACLs. The typical rule of thumb is that the disease will become bilateral within 1-2 years. And obviously this will cause her to be completely non-ambulatory.

Right now there is nothing stabilizing the knee when she flexes it-so every time your dog puts any pressure on that leg while walking, her tibia pushes forward in front of her femur and there is rubbing. Also the ACL prevents internal rotation of the knee so that leads to additional irritation. Continual irritation causes joint inflammation, cartilage deterioration and the formation of proliferative fragments of bone surrounding the joint that are very painful.

By treating her right now just for the arthritis and not addressing the root of her arthritis-you're just masking the pain. This will be successful for a short bit, but will never allow her to regain normal, comfortable, pain-free movement. If you get the surgery the success rate for significant improvement and near normal movement is 90%. Unfortunately, her osteoarthritis is a permanent change and will be a source of some pain for her from here on out. Typically this can be managed successfully with glucosamine-chondroitin supplements and maybe a mild anti-inflammatory.

One thing I have used personally to manage arthritis in my old dog is bee venom. It is a sticky liquid that you administer by the teaspoonful based on weight. I think most holistic vets carry it, or have access to it. I gave this in conjunction with metacam for a few months and then phased the metacam out and just dose him with the bee venom, an omega-3 tablet and an antioxidant capsule. So it is possible to treat without the liver-unfriendly NSAIDs. But I wouldn't recommend this until her ACL is repaired-it's too painful otherwise!

Hope that helps, sorry it's long..

1/30/2009 1:43:28 AM

^^ we had her ACL repaired, but the vet said arthritis was bound to set in if it hadn't already when we took her in.

sorry i should have clarified that earlier

1/30/2009 6:26:26 PM

we use cosequin to help at work but its more of a preventitive but it wouldnt hurt although it can cost money

1/30/2009 11:09:12 PM

We use glucosamine condroitin for all of our cats and dogs, you can noticeably tell a difference. Our 18 year old cat actually has a bounce in his step again.

1/31/2009 1:16:33 PM

I concur with ^


Our 9yo chow/lab mix was showing signs of aging, becoming less active and putting on weight and all of that. Sometimes you could tell she was in pain when she would get up to run somewhere. She doesn't have any specific muscular or skeletal injuries, I'm just assuming joint pain associated with getting old.

We started her on dog food with glucosamine chondroitin and in a few weeks she was back to her youthful and energetic self, it was pretty amazing. Not sure if that's what you need for her specific injury, but it'll probably help her in general.


$1

[Edited on January 31, 2009 at 6:48 PM. Reason : age]

1/31/2009 6:47:56 PM

Seriously, give acupuncture a try. It has shown to reduce pain responses in dogs and animals don't get the placebo effect. Toss in some glucosamine and chondroitin for good measure.

2/2/2009 2:17:22 AM

I started Jinzo on a glucosamine based food recently... When I worked at the vet, you could also give your animal supplements, although the vet brands are expensive, you can still give human form which i think is slightly cheaper. (I am not sure though) I think the vet also prescribed Rimadyl for pain management... baby aspirin might be just as affective... I would consult with your vet though...

2/2/2009 10:41:00 AM

my dog got hit by a car when i was a kid and got really bad arthritis in his hips. we gave him a pill for it for a while. i think it was called rimadil (sp?) or something. it worked pretty well for a while, but eventually the pain just got to be too much for him, and we had to put him to sleep back in august

2/2/2009 11:07:56 AM