I'm switching Bramble over to Green Lipped Mussel as he has been on Glucosamine for several months now and although he seems a little better, he still gets very stiff on occasion. The pills are 250mg - Bramble is about 18.5 kg - how much should I give him ?? He also gets fish oils. Should I give him anything else (he was on Vitamin C and MSM with the Glucosamine) - I don't want to overdo it :)

Daisy

Hi daisy keep on with the vitC don`t stop :) Don`t know off hand about glm but will have a look for you :)

Thanks, Christine :)

I'm trying to keep away from the vets ;) (he is insured, so it's not the cost), as he's only about 8 and his quality of life is very good - he just gets very stiff after overdoing the exercise, which is very difficult to prevent without making his life a misery :D

Daisy

Couple of sites suggest differing dose

http://www.1stvitality.co.uk/az/green_lipped_mussels/arthritis_dogs_cats_horses.htm

http://www.byregion.net/articles-healers/Pet_Arthritis.html

so either half a 500gm tablet per 10kg bodyweight reduced to half the dose on improvement or 300gm per 15kg per bodyweight suggested by sites above :)

Thank you very much, Christine :) The articles are very interesting :) I'm still trying to decide whether to have him X-rayed to confirm that it is arthritis. He's a very nervous dog and I'm not sure that I want him to go through a GA etc if it's not really necessary.

Daisy

I wonder if the things that work on horses arthritis are any good on dogs - I had a lot of success with Apple Cider Vinegar at one point :)

Yes Chloe some do, quite a lot of people give acv to their dogs :)

I suppose it depends on how bad he is on whether you feel carrying on with investigations and trials on alternatives to how bad Bramble will react to going to visit Uncle vet man :)

You know him so it is difficult to advise as never having met him :)

Why not see what days the vets are the quiet and try and arrange to take him early so there is nobody about. They could sedate him then and so he will hopefully this would minimise his stress ? :)

I am sure if your vet is good they will accomodate your requests as far as they possibly can ?

Your welcome Daisy :)

Think if it was me I`d rather know what it was I was dealing with :)

Yes - I think that we may have to do that. I did talk to the vet about it a few months ago - he was against rushing in with drugs (which pleased me) and said to go back if he didn't improve. Hubby and I will have to have a talk :)

Thanks everyone for your comments :)

Daisy