# Arthritis and the best treatment.



## seeana (Mar 16, 2012)

Hi.. I could start by saying I have the most beautiful,Handsome, incredible, loyal intelligent,loving and gentle Golden in the world but I am already preaching to the converted.

So instead I will ask for advice for my older Golden Shane' he is 11years old and suffering from Arthritis,for the last couple of years I have had him on Metacam' but I do not think it is working that well anymore,I have tried all the usual supplements like Cosaquin and the various offshoots but doesent help and I was wondering what else I could try as I cannot bear to see him in any pain.

He really loves his life and since we have got Rio (another Golden) he is a 12 month pup who is so devoted to Shane (in fact I have never had two entire males bond like this and it is a joy to see) but I know its hard for Shane to keep up sometimes and I can see his frustration.

We have a dam on our property and when they go swimming thats when Shane really feels his back legs afterwards, anyway he always has a limp so cannot jump up on his favorite chair in the lounge room so we help him up' but now Rio expects us to help him up too.(what a con)

If you have any ideas I would be so very grateful as I cannot bear to see him in pain as I also suffer from Arthritis but there seems a bigger choice in medication for me out there for managing the pain.:wavey:


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Does your vet carry Adequan? It is an injectable given every few weeks to help improve the joints. Also look into supplementing with fish oil. If he is really painful, your vet can prescribe some pain medications.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

*Physical therapy*

Welcome to the Forum!

One of the best options for arthritic dogs is hydrotherapy, whether in a canine swimming pool or an underwater treadmill. This is a gentle form of exercise that helps to build muscle mass without stressing the sore joints.

Here's a directory of canine physical therapy centers in the USA: Canine Physical Therapy Assistance: A Multi-State Listing. There are also canine swimming facilities that have the treadmills, even though they are not necessarily associated with physical therapists. 

I just realized that you are in Australia, not the USA, so I'm editing to add pointers that may help. Here's a directory of physical therapists in Australia: Home. There's a search tool that includes an option for animal physical therapy. And here's a pointer to the AquaPaws hydrotherapy center in Melbourne: Aquapaws - Animal Physiotherapy and Hydrotherapy Centre. If that's not close to you, perhaps they can help you find a similar center that's closer.

Good luck!


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I don't know what supplements you might have available in Australia, but my guys are currently on Nutramax Dasuquin with MSM and a daily fish oil tablet. 

I also had my Bridge boy on Dasuquin MSM with a fish oil tablet and Tramadol for pain. I continued to walk him, but shorter walks up until the day before we had to let him go. He swam a lot during the summer months, swimming is great for them but you said he's already doing that. He may be over doing it, my Bridge boy never wanted to come home from the beach and he often over did it. We had to start shortening the time we spent there. 

Do you have accupunture available in Australia? Several golden owners I know have used it with much success.


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## seeana (Mar 16, 2012)

Hi guys thanks for your ideas, I live in Benalla a rural town about two and a half hours from Melbourne so a lot of treatments are not available.

Already on the fish oil 3ooo mg a day which helps a bit,will have a chat to my Vet about the Adequan.
Shane is not too bad if he does not do much exercise but then the weight goes on so ****** if do ****** if dont,tried acupuncture but didnt help.

The trouble is Goldens are so stoic and brave they just seem to put up with it with a smile on their face but the poor old body tells a different story and it makes me more determined to try and take that pain away.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

With our old guys they were on glycoflex (comparitive to cosequin DS). That alone was not enough to help them out after they had a "busy" day. 

Any day that they had more exercise than normal, more clowning around outside than normal, etc - they needed to have a tramadol. That would be a mild pain med that does not require routine liver checks. 

Our collie has arthritis in his neck (related to his acrobatics and the way his structure is), and he gets a joint supplement (similar to glycoflex and cosequin) and he also gets a rymadyl on those days that he's obviously in pain.


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## jealous1 (Dec 7, 2007)

I will second the Adequan suggestion. I started my older ones on it a couple of months back and the difference in each of them has been amazing. Susie, my oldest, is also on a three week rotation between tramadol and metacam. All of mine also take HA and fish oil. 

Here is a thread discussing adequan: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...gy-breed-standard/111045-georgie-adequan.html


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

After 10 I started to give Lucky Fish oil and glucosamine/ chondrotine daily and 1 81 mg baby aspirin- Vet suggested. He never really had arthritis - A little stiff after sleeping or on really rainy day. He played fetch for 2 hrs the night before he passed at almost 13.


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## seeana (Mar 16, 2012)

Hi' thankyou for your ldea's and support it really is a good idea to treat them afterwards if they have done too much.

Should have realised that myself as I cannot take an anti inflammatory every day as they have side effects so just take them when I really need them.

You know some of the best pain killers out there are for humans like Oxycodine and the like but are so addictive' while I wait for an op on my back (in about 8weeks) I take 15mg of Oxycontin a day (the lowest dose)it scares the heck out of me but it stops the pain.
All in all there does not seem any efficient pain killers out there without some type of side effect, its just a matter of seeing which combination works together for all of us man or beast......thats all we can do.


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## Doug (Jul 17, 2010)

Unfortunately it depends on the dog. Our 11 year old did not respond to the injections but it is worth a try! We started her on Sacha's blend and have now switched her to Joint Guard. Check out the reviews on Google.
GOOD luck!


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

We used acupuncture successfully for two of our Goldens, in addition to anti-inflammatory levels of fish oils (see Iowa Gold's Sticky in this section). 

I've heard of several dogs with arthritis and hip dysplasia who underwent stem cell transplant procedures (Vet Stem here in the USA) and experienced dramatic improvements.


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## Winter II (Jan 29, 2012)

I have a 6months pup with hip dysplasia. I am giving him glucosamine as my vet advised. I believe its the same with arthritis.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

Since you already have him on glucosamine and fish oil, I agree with everybody who suggested Adequan injections and maybe adding Tramadol for pain meds. Tramadol can be used in conjunction with Metacam because both work differently on pain. The Tramadol does not have anti-inflammatory properties, so if the bloodwork looks good, you may want to keep him on Metacam also. Keep up on his bloodwork to check his liver and kidney function, very important. 
Good luck!


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## jonestm3 (Apr 6, 2017)

seeana said:


> Hi guys thanks for your ideas, I live in Benalla a rural town about two and a half hours from Melbourne so a lot of treatments are not available.
> 
> Already on the fish oil 3ooo mg a day which helps a bit,will have a chat to my Vet about the Adequan.
> Shane is not too bad if he does not do much exercise but then the weight goes on so ****** if do ****** if dont,tried acupuncture but didnt help.
> ...


if you don't mind me asking, what is the weight of your dog that you give the 3000mg of fish oil. I have a 13 year old golden who weighs 125 and I would like to try fish oil again, I think I just wasn't giving him enough. thanks.


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## G-bear (Oct 6, 2015)

This thread is from 2012 so you may not receive a response from the poster that you addressed your question to. I can tell you that I give fish oil to two of my 3 dogs. They receive 1,000 mg once a day. Both dogs weigh about 60 lbs.


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