Arthritis in older doge **update, it's not arthritis**

puppylove2014

Hello fellow animal lovers! Hoping for some guidance from the members here.

I have a 12 year old Boston Terrier who is becoming increasingly stiff and is having more difficulty with mobility. He is able to get up and down the stairs, but has to be lifted onto the bed and we have a step to assist him in getting up to the sofa. I have been giving him glucasamine with no improvement (it has been over 3 months since we started).

I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for supplements or OTC treatments. The last time he was at the vet it wasn't this bad and I wasn't interested medicating him until it was absolutely necessary. I feel that time has come. At this point I just want him to live out the rest of his life as comfortably and happy as he can. I will be calling the vet Monday to see what she thinks, but I would like to know what has worked for others as well.

He has always been a healthy weight and aside from being completely deaf (which doesn't seem to bother him) he is in very good shape for his age.

TIA for any tips!

aggiebug

There is a lot we can do to manage the pain from arthritis.

-weight, keeping him slim and trim helps for several reasons. Less weight on joints the less work they do and also fat cells are a huge source of inflammation so reducing the number of active cells reduces inflammation.

- short easy walks. Exercise is phenomenal for arthritis and arthritic pain, keeping a nice easy gait for up to 20 min at a time greatly helps with pain.

-dasequin . This is a very specific glucosamine combination product that is phenomenal. Glucosamine helps protect what cartilage is left in the joint, but dasequin has ASUs which specifically help with pain and inflammation.

-Duralactin. This is hyper immunized milk protein. There are several studies on its benefits in people. Duralactin is the only dog formulation that I know of.

-cold laser therapy. This is a service you would have to get from your veterinarian and not all clinics use this modality. It is a newer therapy but the evidence is beginning to grow that it really is a great help for many problems including arthritic pain and inflammation. You would start with something like 3 visits a week for 2 weeks then maintenance therapy of anywhere from twice a week to once a month.

-veterinary specific NSAIDs typically Rimadyl but there are several on the market. Many senior pets end up on a daily regiment of pain meds. They can have side effects but just like NSAIDs for people (ibuprofen etc) they are quite safe.

** a side note and disclaimer please don't give human NSAIDs or any human drug to your pet without consulting your veterinarian they can be very toxic!

-physical therapy type exercises and acupuncture have also been shown to help with pain, but I recommend you get referred to someone who specializes in those areas to help you.

puppylove2014

Thank you so much @aggiebug. You have given me some great options to review with his vet. I will certainly look into the dasequin right away. 

He is at a nice trim weight, but I should probably be exercising him more. I've been lax with walking him since he seems so sore. He does play with the puppy every day and I still play fetch with him until he decides to get distracted by something else. 

Thank you again!

puppylove2014

So, we saw the vet today and it appears this is actually more likely a disc issue. I mistook his inability to really tell what his back leg is doing for pain. This explains his lack of grace when descending stairs. Now that I know, it's very easy to see in his gait and movement.

We are going to try Rimadyl just to see if it helps. There isn't anything severe going on, so that is good to know.

I thought I would update since this is a perfect example of why you need to see your vet, even when you think you know what is wrong 

TarponMonoxide

Try acupuncture --- there are acupuncturuists that treat animals.

Hope your guy feels better soon.