My dog has just been diagnosed with very mild arthritis in her right front "elbow" (sorry don't know the technical term). She is only two. At present she is on metacam with limited exercise. After two weeks I have to gradually increase the exercise. Has anyone else any experience of this or any advice ? Thank you.

Hi my dog was diagnosed with luxating patella, about nine months ago, I  started giving him glucosamine&msm from Holland & Barret, it has made such a difference to him, no longer needs metacam.

Also a friends dog diagnosed in the summer with arthritis 4yrs of age, he was put on metacam, she started him on the same supplement, and the dog no longer walks with a stiff leg, (she stopped the metacam after a week) its amazing the difference, did take a few months to see the improvement, if you do a search on arthritis, you will see some other peoples stories. hope this helps eleanor.

My GSD was diagnosed with gross HD and arthritis at 18 months of age, after having a hip x-ray for scoring, although at that time she wasn't showing any outward signs.  Shortly after she went off her back legs and was prescribed Metacam, and I also now give her Green Lipped Mussel Tabs. A few weeks ago I bought her a magnetic collar and the difference has been amazing. She's back to being a young pup again. I bought the collar from a local distributer but you can get them off the net, I think the website is Bio-flow.

Sashakameo, can I ask how you find the magnetic collar. A friend suggested that I get one for Penny who is now nearly crippled with arthritis, and she is only 4. Painkillers are now only working to a certain extent and she has to have weekly injections. I am now having to seriously consider her quality of life and will try anything but up till now I dont know anyone who has used the collar.

Kay

Sasha has been absolutely brilliant since she started wearing the collar (well after about 2 weeks), and different people I meet on our walks have said that their dogs have been the same, one in particular a 12 years old labrador.
She's not only more active, but looks a lot happier, as if the pain and discomfort has gone. Whereas she used to have difficulty getting up from a lying position she now gets up with no problem. She is
walked for hour an half in a morning off lead and the same in an afternoon, and is also active in the garden. I also take her hydrotherapy swimming which she loves. You can get the collars from www.simplymagnetic.com, mine cost £30, from a local distributer.  They work on the principal that the magnet draws the impurities from the blood, but like you say for a young dog anything is worth a try.  Mine may have to have a hip replacement operation later on in life, but have been told that they don't like doing them before the age of 5. But at the moment she is having a good quality of life anyway, so will just see how she goes. I got to know about them as my friend was a keen horse show jumper and they use magnetic horse boots on them.

Thank you very much for the replies. I have a magnetic collar and glucosamine on order. Sorry I don't know what msm is. She only has to take the metacam until the bottle runs out (probably a month) then I've got to see how she is. I'm very upset about this as she is so young.

Tess53
M.S.M. is Methylsulfonylmethane, it is one of the major building blocks of key structural components in cartilage and plays an important part in the maintenance of joint cartilage. (not brainy, just read about it) you can also get capsules containing glucosaine, chondroitin & M.S.M. Chondroitin is another extract which is good for flexible joints. The cheapest place to buy vitamins is.............. www.zipvit.co.uk who will also give advice on dosage for dogs.

Thanks very much for that. I've been on that website today and ordered some more stuff.