My 9 year old chessy female is showing the effects of age and an active life. She is getting up slower than she used to particularly after exercise. I am giving her joint therapy capsules containing glucosamine, chondroitin,MSM,and hyaluronic acid. The benefits have been slight.

I am hesitant to put her on Rimadyl fearing side effects.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I would continue with the joint supplements and start a non steroidal like Rimadyl when she is getting worse and having more problems getting up. Your vet should do bloodwork before putting on and then again after she is on it awhile to make sure all is well. I wouldn't hesatate putting a old dog on Rimadyl if it is going to make their life easier and painfree. Yes there can be side effects but I think they are minamial vs the dog being in pain when it gets up/walks ect. The medication has come along way these days in its safety. Good luck.

quote:

I am hesitant to put her on Rimadyl fearing side effects.

I'm not a fan of Rimadyl. There are some liquid joint supplements on the market that I have heard are pretty good...you might want to research them on the Internet. I use Ascripton for pain management especially during hunting season. I also supplement all my dogs with Ester C. Although this article relates to HD I have also seen the benefits of using Ester C especially with my older dogs.

http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0039.htm

I agree with Susie, esp. about the Rimadyl. I don't really think that a 9 year old is really old, but I know many can be. Have you have a work up done on her to make sure hips are okay and knees are okay as well? My old dogs did very well on a glucosamine supplement along with Ester C on a daily basis and Ascriptin (which is buffered aspirin) as needed.

Just my two cents worth.

Kathy Miller
Sandy Oak Chesapeakes

She has not had any tests on her hips. My vet stated that it was arthritis and suggested rimadyl .

I have ascriptin at home and have used it when she was really sore. I did not know if it was safe to administer on a daily basis.

I will pick up some Ester C and get her started on that.

Thank You.

Stay away from Rimadyl! It caused liver failure in Monica (lab before cbr Chelsea) in 4 months.
You mentioned your 9 yr old's problem getting up, especially after exercise. Are you 100% certain her pain is from the joints. If it's joint related pain, she'll have difficulty & pain continuouly with movement. If the pain is not daily, esp when she does not exercise, I'd suspect the problem lies elsewhere. One possible
cause is muscular tightenng. This usually occurs
from 1 hr to 12hrs after exercise. 9 yrs old is not OLD for a previously active dog, however, there could be underlying problems that are starting to surface. I'd suggest X-rays of the joints to rule-out several ailments/conditions. If the problem is muscular related, I have a drug/chemical free solution that will help, but first let me know if the pain & difficulty getting up is noticable all the time or only after she exercises or is active. (afterthought,
if it (pain) is truely joint related, she would
not be able to exercise or be active without great stress. How you described her the day after exercising, she must not have marked pain
when active -since you referred to her actually
exercising).

She always exhibits some difficulty when getting up and also jumping on the bed is hard for her.Exercise seems to aggravate things for her.She still launches as hard as ever when in the field, you would never know that she is in any discomfort.When we are done working however is different story.She is one sore puppy.

Paul, quick update. when I was typing post, your update was not available to view. Arthritis diagnosis (assume X-rays)
eliminates the muscular issue. Ascriptin is OK for short-term or intermittent use but do not use long-term (more than 3
months). Even though it's "buffered", it is sill asprin based. Better to use special buffered 81mg asprin tablets (used by heart patients) since they are low dose and present less possible side effects. You can also get special timed-released
81mg tablets through your local pharmasist

I agree that you should have X-rays to rule out joint problems or at least know where you stand if that is the problem. NO RIMIDYL....I would ask your vet about using Tramadol Hydrochloride. It doesn't hurt the kidneys and is used in humans for pain. I have been using this for our 11 year old and on a couple of dogs after surgery and it works great. also it doesn't cause stomach problems like aspirin products.


Joyce

Also agree. The vet just put my lactating bitch (with 4 newborn) pups on Tramadol following her C-Section. I made sure to ask if it was okay with nursing pups, and they said yes, and I don't see any ill effects with Sara either.

Usually if you can give to a bitch nursing pups, it should be safe.

Kathy

If you want to try a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, there are other options besides Rimadyl. Every dog is different, but my veteran Peakes have been getting Metacam (a liquid that goes on top of their food) for several years without any difficulty. One dog has arthritis of the spine; the other had a difficult TPLO surgery and is a bit gimpy on the injured leg.

I have added tramadol to Metacam (there is no interaction between the two and they have different target organs) as the condition of the eldest deteriorated. She has been on tramadol plus Metacam for a couple years. We have needed to increase the dose of tramadol over time (her problem is progressive), but at 13 1/2 years old she is still making therapy visits to a nursing home.

Claire

I have an 8 year old that I give glyco-flex III
and previcox. I don't think the glyco-flex III does anything but I think the previcox helps with pain relief. But what do I know?? Opinions are welcomed? Any iformation on previcox is appreciated.

For what it is worth any drug has potential side effects but Rimadyl caused liver failure in a disproportionate amount of LABS, so for other breeds you could consider it a possibility.

I use Deramax and Glycoflex III with my older dog. It seems to help some. She quit eating when she was on tramadol.

If you are using Metacam look into the generic brand, Meloxicam, about 1/10 the cost. I think the dog needs to be 75lbs or more though, ask your vet.

Good Luck.

I had an older female CBR that had got kicked by a horse and was a little stiff in the shoulder when she got older. I also put her on glucosamine sulfate and didn't notice much difference til I doubled it. I also gave her buffered aspirin on her stiff days.

And I am ashamed to say I assumed a lot of h er stiffness/lameness besides the arthritic shoulder, we thought was just her age showing til one day she could barely even stand. She had Lyme disease and we probably missed a lot of early signs attributing them to her age. I don't know how prevalent ticks or tick borne diseases are in your area (the deer tick and Lyme disease are almost epidemic here) but it mioght be worth getting her checked and/or putting her on doxycycline. The doxy also has some beneficial effects on stiff joints.

Anyway good luck with your girl but it sounds like a trip to your vet and discussion of different pain med options that people suggested is in order. I never had any problems with using rimadyl but I never used it long term on any dog either, just occasionally for pain relief.

Thanks to everyone who took time to reply. As always the feedback was very informative.

I will pursue this further with my vet. I want to keep her as comfortable as possible

Paul,

9 years is kinda early for a dog to be showing major signs of arthritis. I would at least have some hip x-rays taken and an orthopedic vet examine them to see if there are any signs of artritis or other degenerative disease. I would also be suspect of DM. Read the articles on this site and the links to the other sites. Watch your girl closely. Is she dragging her back feet? Having trouble lifting them off the ground? Look at her back feet especially the nails to see if there is any sign of dragging the foot. Also watch for signs of muscle wasting in the back hip area.

T.Mac

T.Mac, she is not exhibiting any of those symptoms. She still runs hard and is a beautiful muscular healthy dog. She just gets up really slow for a day or so after I run her.

Thanks for the reply.

You might want to also have her "knees" stifles checked. More often than is realized, dogs have problems in the knees particularly when getting up more than in the hips.

Dyane

Thanks Dyane, I think a trip to an orthopedic vet is in order.

I had adog live till 16. He had trouble getting up - I helped him up. Went to a boat ramp so he could walk in the water wothout falling down. But it came time when he stopped eating and just wouldn't get up anymore with help. I brought him to the ocean so he could see it. Loved the ocean and then we went to the vet. I was with him till the end. The vet gave me the option of dropping him off or staying with him. Dropping him off is not an option. This dog only showed me love I was there petting him and talking to him. I had a puppy then Murray. Said he would never be the dog Sam was. I was wrong. He eventually filled that emptyness. But never replaced the memory of Sam.

He'll tell you when.