My 9 year old Rottie cross is on 50mg Rimadyl twice a day and i give her Glucosime and condrotin as well.
Now she doesnt go upstairs at all during the day, but she does come up to bed with me a night.
Now this doesnt happen every night but it does seem to be getting more frequent.....
When she goes back down stairs in the morning she stumbles, and is slow. Seems like after being laid down all night she is very stiff. This morning at one point #I thought she was going to fall down stairs. Normally she is just very slow.
At what point do you stop your dogs going upstairs?????
During the day she is ok.
Now do i do what my dad says and leave her down stairs at night, would that be better, or do I keep her coming up stairs????
I dont want to leave her down stairs as I feel as if I am giving up on her and it will be the begining or the end, and she will feel left out.
What do you think????
Lea :)

Our old girl wouldn't go upstairs during the day but would at night.  She had always slept in my parents bedroom and of course she nor us wanted this to change.  Our girl was a Sheltie so somewhat easier to carry than a Rottie if need be but she never needed this.  She did like you describe your girl does sometimes 'stumble' when she reached the bottom but it was more a re-gaining her footing thing than anything else.  If your girl wants to come upstairs with you at night time then personally I'd let her as she would pine if left downstairs on her own - and so would you.  Just try and keep her moving during the day to keep her joints from getting stiff - we almost had to drag our girl out on her walks (which were more of a saunter) in the last couple of years bless her.  The fact is that as long as your girls happy and you're happy then thats what you need :)

I would put her on a lead in the mornings to ensure she doesn't fall.

Two years ago our Lab developed an aversion to going down our hardwood stairs.  Not up.  We thought perhaps she had slipped, or tripped over a darn cat, when we were out once, and was frightened of them. 

But last summer we discovered she has invertebral disk disease and spinal spondalosis in the vertebrae of her back just below her rib cage.  Our Vet said going down, jumping down, would cause her pain and another bad episode would require surgery.  She was treated with Dextabs, same stuff we humans are often given for the very same problem, and rest.  After her recovery and weaning off the Dextabs I noticed hesitancy in some movements had returned so now she is back on the Dextabs for the rest of her life.  It helps with her arthritis as well as her back.

She is fine as long as we hold her collar when she is going down the stairs.  Or if she hears a treat being dropped in her dish, or thinks she does, then she gets down without help.  Whether her back problem is really responsible for her reluctance to go down our stairs is a mystery 'cause she did not have a problem with any other stairs, only the ones inside our house, which are slippy.  But I'm glad to now know about her back so I can take the necessary precautions.  Maybe you could ask your Vet about this as mine said this problem in dogs is relatively common as they age.

I had an old cocker who just decided himself not to go upstairs, it was a gradual thing about 2yrs before he died.

Can I also mention that I tried Glucosamine for my arthritis and developed Diabetes which went when I stopped taking it. I had been warned by a friend and kept an eye on my blood sugar which was easy to do working as a nurse. I didn't find the glucosamine did anything to help with the arthritis anyway.

I didn't find the glucosamine did anything to help with the arthritis anyway.

Glucosamine with Chondroitin has literally meant the difference between life and death for my Golden with a hip score of 96. Without it, he can't walk at all and is in constant pain and therefore also bad tempered (Rimadyl eventually stopped having any effect whatsoever), with it, he leads a normal life. My mum takes the very same capsules and she found a big difference as well. It does take aorund 6 weeks before it starts to work though. Both the dog and my mum have been on it for around 3 years now.

In our two old rescue boys with more joint problems that our breed has textbooks, I've found not only Glucosamine with Chondroitin is useful but a year or so ago, whilst in the States, a breeder friend advised to also add MSM to this supplement. I bought some in the States but found it here too quickly enough:

Glucosamine with Chondroitin and MSM.

very useful alongside Green Lipped Muscle and Devils Claw too.

Di

Interesting, Di :) My older dog has arthritis - he is fine out and about, but has difficulty getting up, although the severity varies. He was on glucosamine with Chondroitin for some months, but there wasn't a huge improvement. A friend suggested that I change him to green lipped mussel - again there is not a lot of improvement. I wonder whether I didn't keep him on the glucosamine for long enough. Perhaps I should start it again or is it OK to give it alongside the green lipped mussel ??

Daisy

I didn't find the glucosamine did anything to help with the arthritis anyway.

We have Jet (55 lb lab) on 900 mg of Glucosamine with Chondroitin.  I've read that taking the combination is better than just the Glucosamine.  She gets one capsule with breakfast and another with her supper.  It's been wonderful for her and we've told many firends who have also reported success with their dogs.  We take it ourselves.  The two main ingredients work to actually stimulate the production of synovial fluid, (which lubricates the joint) and it helps to regenerate cartilege.  It works best if taken very early in the arthritis so perhaps yours was too far advanced.  It is more of a preventative than a cure.

I didn't know there was link to diabetes, will check that out.

Can I also mention that I tried Glucosamine for my arthritis and developed Diabetes which went when I stopped taking it

Wow, I found all kinds of links confirming that there may (MAY) be a link to diabetes.  Thanks for posting that, I never would have known.  I am not at risk for developing diabetes and get regular checkups with a blood test where sugars are monitored so I will continue with the Glu/Chon myself.

Is she happy downstairs or do you have to stop her from coming up? If she wants to stay downstairs and is happy then you shouldn't feel like you're giving up. If she would rather be with you and it's only in the mornings then you could try walking her around the upstairs for a minute or two to loosen up those tired old bones. Then have a collar/harness you can slip on to help guide her carefully down the stairs. Or use a towel under her tummy to help support her. Since it's going to be ongoing you could even make a canvas sling with some handles. I would worry about her going down alone if she stumbles.