Joint Pain

is glucosamine effective in old dogs with joint pain or am I betterof putting them on a Derramax or rimadyl?

My Rotties are both 13 years old,they still enjoy daily walks and swimming at our beach and show no signs of pain while doing so,as soon as I get home they suffer.Am i doing them wrong by still walking them and is Glucosamine really as good as everbody says?

Public Comments

1. Glucosamine and chondroitin improve joint function instead of just treating pain.I use it,but would use rimadyl as a last resort.Swimming is a much lower impact exercise for your dogs.
2. Get a multi-supplement that contains glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM and use daily. You can also use veterinary buffered aspirin if they get really sore. Derramax and Rimadyl are very harsh on the liver and can cause damage over time. They should not be used unless you have no other alternatives. The supplements will help greatly.
3. It is fantastic. My old girl is also 13 and she was very sore in joints and back. I put her on glucosamine powder and she is a different dog. She runs around again like an 8 year old. Walk them as normal. They still need exercise and feed them senior food. Hills has a great one. Good luck with your seniors
4. It's excellent. Like Dreamer above said get Glucosamine, Chondrointon and MSM. It is the best. I would also give around 3 fish oil capsules everyday. Keeps the joints well lubricated and acts as an anti imflammatory. Good Luck.
5. Glucosamine is extremely effective for many dogs. However, each dog is an individual and it does not work equally well for all dogs. The nice thing about glucosamine is that it is very safe, so even if it doesn't do much for your dogs at least it is not going to cause any complications either. Another supplement that you should look into is Vitamin E. Vit. E has shown evidence of having anti-inflammatory properties and can also make a difference in arthritis pain. ALL N-SAIDs, including not only deramaxx and rimadyl but also aspirin (even veterinary buffered aspirin), are harsh on the liver. However, when it comes down to a quality of life issue you have to decide if relieving your pet's pain is more important than the risk that the pain reliever *might* (it may not) cause liver damage. This is why any responsible veterinarian will require bloodwork before starting on these medications and require at least annual blood tests to spot check the liver values (many recommend testing every 6 months). As for exercise, no you are not doing wrong. Arthritis creates this vicious cycle because the best thing you can do for it is to keep the affected joints moving and active. Which can be hard to do if they are painful. Inactivity will cause their joints to stiffen more. You may reduce their walks a little if they seem pretty painful, but keeping them moving with regular, moderate exercise will actually help their arthritis.