I have an 8 year old terrier who has arthritis in one front leg (at top, front of shoulder). He's had problems for the last three years following an injury (we think caused by his jumping !). Anyway, following an xray earlier this year the arthritis was confirmed. He's been on Metacam on and off for a fair time now, also steroids occasionally for a skin complaint which drives him mad with itchiness (meadow grass is the worse thing). He has monthly Cartrophen injections which I felt helped initially but now I have doubts. After his xray he was given a steroid injection which helped his leg so much, he was a different boy and the pain obviously eased a lot. Now, six months later his limp is back and he seems so sad. He still has lots of energy to chase a tennis ball and the pain is suddenly forgotten !. Sadly for him, we limit this sort of exercise and he has far too many short walks on a lead and he hates it - his spark disappears when he realises that's all he's having.
I'm struggling to know what to do for the best. I mentioned another steroid injection to the vet but she wasn't keen - although it worked, the fact that it was a long lasting steroid meant that it's not ideal to give him too often. I'd hate to think that a decision I make now could cause him many problems later but it's a tricky one - quality of life over quantity. He's miserable too often - at the moment his leg is causing him pain and his skin is so uncomfortable.

I'd really appreciate advice about some of the supplements I hear about - Green Lipped Mussel etc. Do I buy from a pet suppliers or are the ones from high street suppliers the same ?. How do I know the dose etc ?. 
If anybody can advise on all things like this - I desperateley want to help him and I have nothing to lose by trying to help him this way.
Such a dear boy and so loved, I just want to make him happy by easing his pain and his skin discomfort.

Thank you.

Try Glucosamine with Chondroitin. My Golden Retriever Dandy had severe hip dysplasia and the Rimadyl eventually stopped working. He couldn't use his hindlegs very well at all, when he got up from laying down his hindlegs would drag behind him -it was awful. I started G&C on the advice of my vet, and within 6 weeks (it does need weeks to have an effect) Dandy was able to go for walks again and he lived for another 6 years, died aged 13 last year of other reasons. He stayed on the G&C all the time.

I quickly stopped buying the vet version though, back then they charged £54 for a bottle of 120 capsules. I found you could buy them far, far cheaper on the internet or in health food shops, picking human versions. Asked my vet and he said that was absolutely fine. I used to buy large quantities and my mum would share the capsules with Dandy. :) (She takes them for her arthritis.) You cannot overdose on it my vet said and Dandy who was a large dog got 2 capsules a day sprinkled over his food so I'd imagine one capsule would be plenty for your dog. I much preferred capsules to tablets as the tablets can be huge. I always bought them from Vitamins Direct and these are the exact ones I bought:
http://vitaminsdirect.co.uk/glucosamine-chondroitin-120-caps
Sometimes they have offers on (tend to be printed in newspaper adverts only and not mentioned on the site) so you can get them even cheaper. They more or less saved Dandy's life I'd say. He NEVER needed any pills from the vet again.

I'd agree with Marianne, give Glucosamine and Chondroitin a go. I do use the veterinary version for Hamish as I can claim for it on my insurance, otherwise I'd get the human variety. Would hydrotherapy be an option? It has helped Hamish considerably, reducing the need for painkillers to a bare minimum, and keeping his muscle tone good. As your dog is a terrier you may even be able to do something at home in the bath, it'd certainly be cheaper! I don't have that advantage with Hamish being a Goldie! Are you insured, as some insurance companies will cover hydro?

Definitely agree with giving Glucosamine. Transformed my 14 year old boy from being just able to totter outside to lift his leg to managing a slow canter in the field several times a day. It was great to see him able to run again and enjoy life. Takes a couple of weeks to begin to take effect and I get his tablets from Tesco!

If you're using human grade glucosamine & chondroitin, then you have to make sure your dog has vit C in their diet, as (with many things) vit C is needed to allow them to absorb the vitamins and minerals, the same as us.  Otherwise it isn't as effective; I give Indie one human grade tablet twice a week, as mine are on barf, they get raw blended veggies regularly and so she will be able to absorb it more effectively than without any vit C. 

Other supplements are devil's claw and green lipped mussell extract, I've heard good things about both, although never used them myself.

I also put into their blended veggies apple cider vinegar (one cap for enough for a fortnight) and turmeric (one t-spoon for enough for a fortnight) both of which promote healthy joints.  Mine also get tinned fish in either oil, or tomato juice once a week, although the tomato juice will contain a small amount of solanine, lycopene, the stuff that makes tomatoes red, is a very effective free radical, and although Indie has arthritis in her knee and possibly one of her shoulders/elbow too, it hasn't exacerbated the problem.  But I would avoid giving any of the nightshade family with green parts, so green capsicum, green parts of tomatoes, any part of an egg plant, and green parts of potates, you get the idea, as these are rich in solanine which can exacerbate arthritis. 

You could also try a bio-flo collar, again, I've heard good things, although with my own experience it didn't help Indie much, if at all.

The capsules I linked to have vitamin C added. :)

Good to know, as not all do, it's amazing how different vitamins and minerals work with each other, and I've only just dipped my toe in the surface reading up about diet and stuff for my dogs!  :)

I have a similar problem, my daft dog managed to get distracted mid jump over a fence and crashed down onto his should and has been lame ever since. No sooner do I start to get him over it than he does somedaft again!

The vets version of glucosamine is a natural version and is more expensive than some supplements you can buy in shops. The main problem with the shop version is it is often glucosamine sulphate and recent tests carried on a wide range of these (all glucosamine sulphate), showed a lot of them had high doses of salt in them to stabilise the sulphate which is not so good for humans or dogs, and so it is probably best to get the veterinary version.

I am having success with a herbal mixture from CJS called Get Over which somebody on this forum recommended, it contains devils claw which I see has been mentioned in another post. My dog also gets sardines and mackerel in oil (another CD forum member recommendation) and the veterinary version of glucosamine. Since he has been getting the herbal mixture and every other day the fish I have noticed his limp is slowly beginning to go.

Hi,

My dog has OCD, and when it was really bad (when 12-18 months) I gave him green lipped mussel extract rather than metacam.  It really did work.  I just bought human stuff from Healthspan and gave him 1 per day.  I gradually took him off them though, to see what would happen, and was advised that they can build up a sort of tolerance to these kind of supplements.  He's now just on an alternate day dose of omega 3 fish oil, but if/when arthritis sets in I'll definitely use green lipped mussel extract again!

Clare

Thank you all so much for taking the time to let me know all about the various supplements. I'll certainly be heading down this path and I'll let you know how it goes.
He has been to the local dog hydrotherapy pool a few times and I agree, it does help and it certainly keeps his fitness up during times when we won't allow him to go mad.

Flex green-lipped mussel from ace canine is very good and is not too pricy and they are doing free samples.http://www.ace-canine.com/

> My dog also gets sardines and mackerel in oil (another CD forum member recommendation)

Which is why it's great to have such a forum.  It is great to give advice to others, based on your own experiences.  And when you've heard that it's helped, it is so rewarding.  But I've lost count of how many handy tips I've picked up at one time or another.

You can never know it all, and I can't think of anywhere else that we can get help so readily.  Isn't it nice that everyone wants to help everyone else.  :-)  :-)