I would recommend supplements including wild salmon oil, glucosamine/chondroitin with MSM and Vitamin C in a powder or liquid form (easier for the body to absorb) and plenty of low impact exercise to keep the weight down. Swimming is excellent for exercise, if you have access.
By the way, these are all things you and I would take for the same issues. I get most of my suppliments at the health food store or online.
Timmy has been taking these supplements (on a low dose) since he was 2 because he is very, very active.
We buy the glucosamine/chrondoitin (human grade) at Costco and halve the pills for our 13 year old corgi mix. He takes them well wrapped in a little soft cheese and he seems to move better.
Permalink Reply by Sam on April 27, 2008 at 5:43pm
If he is just having a small bit of problems I would forego the anti inflammatories at this time. I use Glyco Flex for my senior dogs. One gets Adequan injections monthly which seems to help. I do periodically give him an anti imflammatory when he has a particularly bad day. Keeping the weight off helps tremendously. If you have the ability to swim him this provides great exercise with no stress on the joints.
Joint supplements, weight loss and low-stress exercise. If he's still painful, you can talk to your veterinarian about possibly starting him on an anti-inflammatory. Be careful with these though, they can cause some liver problems, so be sure to have preliminary bloodwork done and recheck this bloodwork on a regular basis.