Mar

Kupuggie

I have a doggie question. Puggie is having trouble with her leg again, we went to the vet yesterday and they tested her for Lyme's, came back negative, so they believe that it's probably scar tissue from her surgery and she's probably starting to get arthritis in her legs, she will be 9 in May.  So they told me to up the glucosamine  to two times a day and they put her on rimadyl basically everyday. I have to go back in 30 days and then every 6 months to get her liver enzymes  checked because they said like in 10% of dogs it can cause liver enzyme problems.

Anyways, my question is besides losing some weight(she weights 25 pounds), is there anything else I can do to help her not be in so much pain/arthritis?  We've been carrying her up and down the stairs(is this something we should continue to do) or should we let her do it them on her own? 

 What about walking? Will it hurt her more, currently we go on two walks a day, should I just do one? I'm not sure what to do because the walks are beneficial in a way for her to lose weight. We've been trying to get her to stop jumping on and off the couches as well, but it's hard because she's older!

 Ok, this got way long, lol, what are some of your thoughts? Thanks!

MarJo03

Aww poor little pugpug.

Losing weight will definitely help, I would keep carrying her up and down stairs. Walking is actually really good for arthritis, so unless she shows/tells you that she cant do the two walks/day anymore, I'd stick with that routine. 

Glucosamine, there's so many options. But I'm just going to talk about my favorite. There are studies out saying (in laymans terms) that oral/chewable/tab glucosamine is crap, and doesn't get absorbed by the body as well as liquid. That being said, there is an injectable glucosamine called Adequan. It's expensive, but it works. I use it on my old man, who is 11, and has horrible hip dysplasia. I could never tell a real difference when he was on chewable tablets, and since putting him on Adequan, I can tell a difference. Adequan is also big in the horse world for arthritis with ponies. I swear by it, and I do believe it's more effective than chewables. Do some research on it, and see if it's something you're interested in doing with puggie. It is expensive, but you can usually find decent prices if you price shop online pet pharmacies.

Rimadyl can be rough on the livers. And honestly, I've never heard of a vet perscribing it as long term use, especially every day. Normally, it's on an ass needed basis. With her age, I would be hesitant to use it every day for her, unless she was showing signs of really needing it. 

There are prescription diets for mobility out there. Hills J/D, and Royal Canin Mobility Support are my favorites. My guys is on Mobility Support, and after eating it for a month I could see a huge difference. The rx diets aren't glucosamine based so you can use them with orals/Adequan. They are fish oil based, which helps with mobility and also there are studies saying the fish oils help with pain also, not only in pets but in humans. If she's getting bad I would definitely look into getting one of those two diets from your vet. They're more expensive than regular dog food, but like I said.. after my guy had been on it for a month (this is a few months after we started the adequan) he was bouncier, wrestling with our pit bull, more eager to go on longer walks -- and seemed a lot less painful afterwards.

Hope that helps, it's a lot of information I know. Let me know if you have any more questions.