I have only just come across this web site and im really impressed with all the advise and help that is at hand.

I have a Japanese Akita who is 10 yrs old, he has been suffering with Aurtheritus for a year or two and we have tried everything that the vet has perscribed.
Acupunture did not help nor has matacam, rimadyl plus many others.

We lost our Akita bitch last week to cancer of the uretha and since then our dog Tao has been especially clingy (understandably so). We would really love to be able to walk him to school & him be with us all the time without looking as he is in pain with his elbow/shoulder.

As of this morning we are trying PLT tablets 2 x twice daily for 5 days then reducing it to 1 twice daily to see if they help.

I have also purchased  Liquid glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplement from Holland & Barrett. However, i'm unsure what dose to give him and was hoping you could advise me from your own experiances.
He weighs 45 kilos (i did however give him 15ml this morning)  as that what it says on the back of the bottle.

Any advise is really appreciated

Regards
Sarah & Tao

Hi Sarah
I never used the liquid so I can't tell you what dose to give Tao but I did use the tabs from H&B for my old akitas' arthritis.  I also used a copper collar and this helped immensley with controlling the symptoms.  Another thing I used was asprin for pain relief which I gave him every day.  I prefered to use that instead of metacam as it's a bit easier on the tummy.  It was only if he was having a really tough time that I would use the metacam.  My boy really improved enough for us to hold off on PTS for a couple of years.  Saying that, when we lost our old akita girl, he went quickly downhill and we lost both in a matter of weeks.  I like to think he didn't want to live without her!
I hope Tao is feeling better soon.

Morning Cracar!
Thank you for your comments can i ask how much Asprin you dosed? Did you use the soliuable(sp) Asprin 75mg?
Tao wears a magnetic collar ( it holds 10 magnets and cost a fortune) im not sure if it helps or not to be honest.

We are worried like you must have been that Tao will loose the will to live as he has never been on his own,fingers crossed he will be ok i'm now off wk and i can spend most of my days with him. We have just come in from a walk and he is very happy and lively- howling at everything which is NOT like him at all!

The Metacam did nothing for him i even slightly increased the dosage, but no difference was noted.
Again Thank you for you post.
Sarah 

Hi my oldest girl has Arthritis in her her front leg and back leg from hyperdrug got dorwestveterinsry mixed vegetable tablets & garlic & fenugreek tablets from limping very badly to not limping at all in amatter of days, she is a 12year old cavalier, who we thought we might have to pts her but she is walking fine now we put one tablet a day in her meal. Hope your boy Tao is feeling better very soon

My akita was rather large in height and weight!!  so he used to get 2 aspirin tabs at a time.  I always fed him first so he never got them on a empty tummy.  You can ask your vet as it was my vet that gave me the correct dosage for my dog.  I can't remember the strenth but it was tesco's own normal asprin tablets(non-soluble).
My dog also howled more after losing his mate.  This is a thing they do to call in the pack so basically he was just looking for his pal.  Devastating to hear as he was so soulful.  Glad Tao is happy and lively, my boy was obviously depressed.

Has your vet tried Cartrophen injections yet?  If not, please ask about them.  They are relatively inexpensive but many arthritic dogs really benefit from them.

I tend to recommend trocoxil - it's quite new, not a lot of vets have heard of it but it's flippin amazing! It's in the same family as metacam etc, but the side effects are minimal (not actually heard of a dog having any yet) and the good effects are huge.

My 9yr old Soli has been on it for about 18 months now I think, it is literally her lifeline - without it she now cannot walk due to pain, and gets so stroppy she becomes dangerous to live with for me and the other dogs.

With it... well, last time she started a course (it's licensed for 6 months on, two months off, at a once-a-month dose), she went from sofa-ridden to running and completely pain-free in 3 hours. :-o

I've also just started my 13yr old on it - she came to me nearly 3 weeks ago now with severe, advanced osteoarthritis (same as Soli), she'd been in serious pain for a long, long time (no vet treatment of any kind given :-(), and rimadyl didn't do anything for her.  I decided to skip the others and go straight for the trocoxil - took about 24 hours to fully kick in but she's lost years of her age since, it really is fantastic - 90% pain free, charging around and harassing everyone just like she used to lol!

I've just learned that my 6yr old lab has horrendous arthritis in her knee (the vet's word, horrendous) and she'll be starting on cartrophen today - heard great things about that too but I've not tried it yet.  She'll be getting NSAIDs too, not trocoxil as yet but in all likelihood I'll put her on it too - I've just seen it work too well not to consider it, and I've heard the same from many other owners and from a vet who specialises in hip dysplasia and arthritis diagnosis and treatment.

Hi Nikita, My dog has ben on trocoxil for the past 4 months - having his tablets at the beginning of every month i would like to say that while they worked out cheaper they did not work as my boy was still as lame when we observed him. It's so hard to help relieve his lameness. He has been x-rayed and Artritis has been diagnosed in his elbow joint.
It what we are on now the PLT Tablets have no effect then we will have a look into the  cartrophen injections.

Thank you for you replys

Sarah & Tao x

Have you considered hydrotherapy? It has helped my elderly Goldie quite considerably. A couple of years ago he was on previcox, 1 tablet daily, and for a while I managed to get him pain-free with no drugs, due to better muscle tone putting less strain on his joints from the hydrotherapy. He is generally arthritic, with hip dysplasia and spondylosis. He is also on cosequin and at the moment is having half a previcox tablet daily.

Hi Nikita, My dog has ben on trocoxil for the past 4 months - having his tablets at the beginning of every month i would like to say that while they worked out cheaper they did not work as my boy was still as lame when we observed him. It's so hard to help relieve his lameness. He has been x-rayed and Artritis has been diagnosed in his elbow joint.
It what we are on now the PLT Tablets have no effect then we will have a look into the  cartrophen injections.

Thank you for you replys

Sarah & Tao x

One of ours has been on Cartrophen since last September and it has given him a new lease of life, aged six he has HD & arthritis and even better no noticeable side effects. I was very sceptical and all dogs are different but would recommend it. Good luck.