Gemma, my nearly 10yo Rottie cross has artheritis of the spine, and is getting very slow.
So much so I take her off the lead as we are walking hom so she can plod at her own rate (She is braced with Ebba) on the last bit back home to stop her being dragged along by Ebba.
Tonight I could hear her nails scraping the floor, her foot seemed to very slightly turn in and slightly drag the top of her foot along the floor, her nails looks a bit scuffed as well. Hence the noise.
She is on 100mg Rimadyl a day, 2 Glucosamine and condroitin and cod liver oil which are all fed in her dinner at night.
Has anyone got and advice on what I should do??
Lea :)

Poor Gemma! No advice on what to do for the arthritis - sorry - but maybe you could put a boot on her when out so that her paw doesnt get sore from dragging. That is assuming that it is still appropriate for her to go walking right now. I bet she is undetered!

Hope someone else has some helpful advice for you.

Have you thought about accupuncture? It's not for everyone but I'm going to give it a try for my own knee problems and I've met people who swear by it for their dogs. I'm sorry poor Gemma is having a rough time.

Thanks. She doesnt drag the skin on the floor, so not ready for a boot yet!!!!
Acupuncture, unfortunatly I am not in a position that I can afford it :( :(
~She is fine when not on a walk, Doesnt drag her foot that I have seen.
When we go out she is bounding along like a pup :S A pup at heart, shame the body cant keep up :(
Lea :)

You can get sled dog bootees Lea, if it gets any worse :)

Hi Gemma
My old GSD had spondylosis, and was on rimadyl and cortaflex. We did have regular visits to an osteopath, which seemed to give her some relief. Just keep doing everything you're doing and let her choose her pace. BTW activity is essential for the management of arthritis, inactivity really is her enemy, so though it's slow, keep her exercise regular - to whatever she can manage.

Kat

we've an old lurchur with significant hip arthritus and a lazy rt foot, he's on a mix of metacam (nurofen for dogs, similar to rimadyl i suppose) and pentazocin (very,very strong pain relief) which does him wonders. we were also started on vivitonin by our vets, gives an old dog a bit of a brain boost apparently, he was on it a few weeks before we noticed any change but he's much more spritely now. we've had to shorten the old mans walks coz we found he got more lazy with his legs the longer he was out but as we try to do little and often to keep the joints moving. He's 14 now stands nearly as tall as a deer hound and still going strong.
Good luck

Dragging a hind foot (and turning in or out and turned in hocks) can be a sign of a more serious back ailment, such as invertebral disk disease or spinal spondylosis.  My old Lab girl has both.  She is on Dextabs (dexamethasone) 0.6250mg every second day.   Vet says this will help with her back pain and her arthritis.  I would suggest a visit to the Vet to see if a reason can be found for her foot dragging.  Will likely mean xrays of her spine.

thanks everyone.
she is getting slower and slower and having probalems getting up and dow stairs, but i have run out of glucosamine for last month, so may have something to do with that.
Think I will get an appointment on sat for her to see the vet. need some more rymadyl by then.
lea :)

You could try acupuncture :) My dog has a mild problem with his back and had his first session of acupuncture last night. I SWEAR there was a slight - not massive but slight - improvement in him straight away. Apparently it's usually 3 days before you notice a difference, out of 10 dogs one will respond brilliantly and one won't respond at all and the others will be inbetween, and it's usually 3-6 sessions. I think the organisation's called ABVA (Association of British Veterinary Acupuncturists), I was actually looking at McTimoney Chiropractic sites and can't remember which way I got to the site I needed to be at, you could try searching for ABVA. Let me know if there's anything else you want to know about it, or PM me. :)

Sorry, just read further down and seen that you'd already thought about acupuncture. I keep replying to first posts and not reading what else has been said first..