Does your dog have arthritis>?

[gsdlover4ever]

Does wondered if your dog had arthritis?

How was it diagnosed?

What age did they get it at?

How was it treated?

How was/is your dogs quality of life?

What things did you change?

Did you put your dog on any medication?

[jesterjenn]

Originally Posted by gsdlover4ever

Does wondered if your dog had arthritis? Jess does, yes

How was it diagnosed? Vet told me, so I believed lol

What age did they get it at? 2

How was it treated? I am just really careful with her exercise. I go by what she tells me is enough. Thankfully it isn't bad, and I cut the walk short if she starts to favour her back end.

How was/is your dogs quality of life? It's honestly no different. The only different is that I don't let her jump as it's her back end that's the arthritic end.

What things did you change? I monitor her exercise. She gets up to two hours per day of road walking/park running, but sometimes, she can't manage that, so on those days, we just cut the running part short (she barely favours herself when on lead - it's mainly the exertion of running). I changed her bed to a raised one (this is the one she has - Petmate Durabed Elevated Dog Bed Extra Large and although it's expensive, it's helped no end and was the best buy I've made for her, and 4 years on, it's still like new). I also changed her onto raw, and I don't know whether this has had any effect on her arthritis (the change to raw wasn't to do with her arthritis, but she's only improved since being on it, so I don't know if that's a contributing factor or not).

Did you put your dog on any medication? I give Jess a combi pill of Glucosamin, Chondroitin and MSM daily, along with a squirt of salmon oil. I believe the pills have helped as if she misses a day, you can generally see it the next day.

It's not all doom and gloom with a dog with arthritis hun You just have to have a sensible head on and be tuned in to how your dog moves.

[sami]

Sami started to have problems from about the age of 10. The vet at the time was more interested in selling me medication than any diagnosis. It was more just "well she is 10 what do you expect"

She has Rhustox which is absolutely fantastic for her, if she doesnt have it for any reason then within a couple of days she is visibly struggling.

Leo has only had problems since he turned 11 and tbh I am not sure if its arthritis or cruciate ligament damage. My new vet diagnosed arthritus by physical exam. He prescribed metacam. I have tried glucosamine and chronditin and rhustox on him none of which seemed to make any difference. At the moment I have him on 150mg of asprin daily and it has made him more comfortable.

In terms of quality of life Sami is not the slightest bit bothered by it, she has early stage cdrm too but she just goes with the flow and adapts. She still has what I consider a reasonable walk and is very bouncy and happy with it.

Leo on the other hand isnt happy with it, he really isnt happy not having the walk he wants and I cant get him to realise the connection between big walk and pain. I have to try and find him doggy buddies and people to fuss him on his walk which is what he is really interested in.

Sorry I went on a bit didnt I!!!!

[wildmoor]

Zandi - OCD elbows diagnosed at 13mth when xrayed for scoring he has been on supplements since, I know he will also develop in his stifle due to damage, he runs about with the other dogs no problem, or if he smells fox

I have found a lot of supplements dont work esp the human forms and the pet ones from H&B
the ones that have been affective are Synoquin growth, Cosequin and Seraquin - with a couple of days I can tell if he hasnt had them

[Stuart]

None of my GSD has it, but my old Bearded Collie has it

Originally Posted by gsdlover4ever

Does wondered if your dog had arthritis?

How was it diagnosed?....Limping, hard to get up, wanting to change resting position a lot

What age did they get it at?.... He was lucky, he was about 10yrs when it first showed itself,.. he is now 14yrs

How was it treated?, .... We had Jake before the GSDs, and he was fed on commercial food,.. when we found out we changed his diet to a raw diet, this also included a lot of fish, this seemed to help a great deal,..other than that he does get pain killers that is given on fairly rare occations when he really has trouble getting around

How was/is your dogs quality of life?,... I have to admit, that it is the other dogs that have helped a lot here, they tend to keeping him moving a lot more than if he was on his own,,.. and of course the more he is moving then the more supple the joints are, and the happier he is,... and he is a very happy dog,...just a bit slower

What things did you change?,,.... He is an old lad now, so the changes may have had to put into place anyway,.. but the vet told us to try to keep him reasonable dry and warm, and not to walk him too far... so he doesnt get many walks, his main excersice is playing with the other dogs at home

Did you put your dog on any medication?.... just a general pain killer from the vets, but because of the diet, and the fact that the other dogs keep him moving around a bit, he doesnt often need it

[gsdlover4ever]

Thanks for the information

Can I also ask, for those of you that had/ have dogs with possible knee arthritis, did you hear your dogs joints make a clicking noise?


I have problems with my joints and they click a lot, but Zara's only do it sometimes.

[sami]

I have knee problems too, I havent heard Leo's knee cracking but I would imagine they do get it.

[Stuart]

No,..I have never heard Jakes`s crack,.. not even felt anything when massaging the legs

[wildmoor]

no Zandi's was due to injury he had a TTA and partial meniscal removal

I have one knee problem but mine doesnt crack

[MARYLOU30]

Originally Posted by gsdlover4ever

Does wondered if your dog had arthritis?

How was it diagnosed? Generally slowing down and taking lonoger to get up.
What age did they get it at? 9

How was it treated? Carprodlyl tablets (I think that it how you spell it) which has made a big improvement.

How was/is your dogs quality of life? Not really affected Freya, she has just slowed down, but Vet has also suggested that she has early onset of CDRM, but no fromal test undertaken, just reaction test.

What things did you change? Nothing really - Vet said not to let her run around too much and try to lead walk her, but if Freya can't play with her football, she would be really miserable (it is her favourite thing in life!) so we just don;t kcik it too high so that she doesn't have to jump for it. TBH, it hasn't made it any worse and at least she is happy
Did you put your dog on any medication? See above

Hope this helps

Louise x