Hi

My 9 year old Rott has become increasing worse with his arthritis lately and was given some anti inflams from the vet which did take the edge of it but if I can help it I would like no avoid 'drugs' on long term basis.  Therefore I wonder if you can give me some advice as to alternative remedies, we already have glucosamine and the bio flow collar.

I would also prefer info that does not come with a hefty price tag, I am no longer working and therefore if I can find him something to help that isn't too expensive it would be worth trying initially....iykwim?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks x

I have read about folk giving their dogs the spice Turmeric, don't know anything about it but I am sure Google will help.

Think pain control is important and if the anti-inflammatories do not prove satisfactory on their own you can also give Tramadol - do not worry about long term if he is 9 years now he will come to no harm unless he proves to have unexpected side effects, at this sort of age the quality of live is the most important rather than the quantity.

Have tried several less potent remedies and they are just that less potent or of no use at all.

We've taken Tumeric pills for the last six months to help with the old achey knees. I feel it helps, but its difficult to be totally subjective about it because of the placebo effect. All I can say is that the combination of more natural remedies now means I'm not taking so many Diclophenic pills as I was before. So each day I take a Glucosomine, a Tumeric and a rose hip pill, also wear a magnetic bracelet and have made a determined effort to lose weight. Means only a Diclophenic  on an if and when basis rather then the three a day previously.
One of my dogs suffered badly from arthritis in her spine. I also found the bio flow collar and Glucosmine really helped. My only suggestion is to make sure that you have a good quality Glucosmine. We noticed the difference in the dog when we changed to a more expensive one made especially for animals. You may want to add chondroitin and green lipped mussel to see if that helps.

Green lipped mussel extract was the best supplement I used for my collie who has osteoarthritis. Tried glucosamine, chrondroitin and MSM supplements and bioflow but easily saw the best improvement with green lipped mussel extract.

I wouldn't give Glocosamine to any of my dogs after taking it myself and developed a high blood sugar, luckily I had been warned by a friend about this being a possible side effect so monitored my blood weekly, gradually it started to creep up, the benefits were negligible so I stopped taking it and blood sugars returned to normal.

Thanks all, that's really helpful...will give those a go ;-) xx

You could also as your vet to try Cartrophen, one of ours has been on it for some years & believe it has really helped. Started with one injection each week for a month & then monthly, after three years thought it was not making much difference but he's had another four over the last month & he's noticeably improved.

Our Rott ( died at 13 ¾) wore a Bioflow collar for about 6 years and also had Devils Claw root daily for about the last 4 years.

Why try to keep him off drugs if they are helping? Quality of life is so important, and no alternative remedies are going to be as effective. I never hesitate to put my aging dogs onto metacam when it looks necessary and have never had any of their lifespans shortened because of it-- quite the reverse. One of my GSDs was on metacam from the age of 8 and died at 14-- a grand old age for that breed. She would never have got there without metacam.

Give my girl devils claw root (can't say I'm convinced) and she's got a bio flow collar (can't say I'm convinced) but she has catrofen injections (now THERE is something I'm convinced about :-D )

Ask your vet about cartrofen ... it's made a HUGE difference to my girly. Start off with 1 injection weekly for 4 weeks then every 3 months, my vet charges I think something like £16 - bargain :-D

I was told it was only successful with 50% of dogs, I guess I'm very lucky in that my girly is in the 50% :-) Worth a shot for the price!

There are so many options for this, but it all comes down to trial and error as no two dogs are the same!  For my guys I have variously used:

Supplements...
Devil's claw (natural anti inflammatory)
Green lipped mussel (chondroitin)
Turmeric (natural anti inflammatory and a very good one, had the most response to this)
Coconut oil
Salmon/fish oil
Raw feeding
Glucosamine

Drugs...
Metacam
Previcox
Rimadyl
Trocoxil
Prednisolone (steroid, not used lightly!)
Onsior
PLT (older style painkiller)
Gabapentin (when other things haven't helped, can be given alongside non-steroidals)
Tramadol (as per gabapentin, this gets used first)
Cartrophen

And my friend has tried...
Flaxseed oil
Joint Aid

And I've also tried...
Chiropractic (VERY helpful for all my arthritics as the pain of arthritis causes the dog to shift their weight, causing pain elsewhere so this helps alleviate that pain and keep everything in line)
Hydrotherapy

I still have to try a magnetic collar (got a magnet from a Bioflow to try, I just haven't got round to sewing it into something yet), acupuncture and bowen therapy, and eggshells and shark cartilage, but they're on the to do list :-)  All dogs are different though - one of mine only ever responded to trocoxil, yet another did better on turmeric than anything else and Saffi has started responding to that since she's been on raw food, whereas previously she only responded well to PLT.  So it can take a bit of experimentation!