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 Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:31 pm
Ok so I've been doing a lot of thinking and for some reason in the back of my head I've been worrying about Abby's hips/joints. Being an older dog plus part lab and considering labs are prone to hip/joint issues just keeps bothering me especially since she started agility class. As of right now she's shown no signs of joint or hip issues, but still I'm a tad paranoid. I plan to chat with our vet at her next appointment and see what she recommends, but for now just thought I'd see what everyone on here recommended as far as brands.
I've been searching the lab forums and other forums and I found the main brands everyone is talking about and recommending are cosequin DS and Hylasport Canine. So far I've just really looked in cosequin since it's available near me and I'm thinking about starting her on the Cosequin hip&joint support bonelet plus since it's going for about $20 at the pet supply store I shop at and I've heard good things about it.
I also read that cosamine DS is the human equivalent to cosequin DS for dogs so people often use cosamine DS as a supplement.
Anyways I don't plan to start her on anything till after I chat with her vet, but I'll most likely go with cosequin. Just wondered if anyone else had any other recommendations or thoughts?
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:05 pm
Its very much recommended in my area (Florida) to just use human join supplements. Like Glucosamine, I thinks its called, and/or a few others. It does the same thing, and for a large dog like Abby, it should be easy to dose. Not to mention, easier on your budget.
Several different vets have suggested it to us for our 15 year old lab, to my grandparents for their Havanese who had to have bones removed from her back leg (yay for puppy mill dogs... They sure learned their lesson on that), and by the owner/operators of a local Wildlife Center (they have knowledge of domestic animals as well).
You should look into it some more smile
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:38 am
Yeah when I was poking around on some forum(can't remember which) they were saying something about using people supplements like glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, Vit C would be easier especially since she's a larger breed so I can dose it properly. We'll see what it all comes down to, but for now just still doing my research
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:31 pm
I think it was savage who told me that too much glucosamine CAN be a bad thing. Since a quality food does have glucosamine, if you add too much ontop of that to a dog that doesn't really need that much, they can loose their ability to produce it. Now I haven't read that anywhere, I don't know if it's true, this is just what I heard.
Also keep in mind, labs are probably prone to hip issues mostly as a result of them being prone to obesity, as long as Abby stays a healthy weight, her risk is probably lower. I don't remember her age, after 7yrs I would start thinking about it.
That being said, one of the two suppliments I recommend to just about everyone is omega 3's. The food does have this, but fresh omega's are anti-inflammatory, aid with circulation, coat, energy, brain development and focus. I'm currently using ascenta because it was the only molecularly distilled fish oil that I could find. My boss recomended to me dasequan chews and, I forget the brand, but green lipped musle tablets. (She's a registered canine physiotherapist) Now green lipped mussles have been shown to be a really great source of omega 3, maybe better than the regular fish oils. Medical uses it in their joint diet. I've been feeding Kiwi Pure canned to Rascal which contains green lipper mussle's as well as Q10 and though it's hard to say if that's what did it or if other factors were involved, but his kidney values dropped into the normal range, and my vet seemed to think the omega's would be capable of doing that. So I've ordered some for Cowboy as well. (my new boss is pretty awesome, I told her I wanted some for Cowboy and she ordered a whole bunch for our store)
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:28 pm
Thanks Gabby. She's been getting daily omega 3 supplements for a while now(I wanna say since we switched to TOTW back in feb) and it's really improved both her an Bo's coats.
I'll have to look into the glucosamine thing I know that can happen with Vit C(I think it's Vit C anyways) since dogs produce it on their own, but I'll double check and see what I can find.
She's 6 right now, but I think she'll be 7 in April I'll have to find her vet records again to narrow it down. I jut really want to start as a preventative as well as to give me a little piece at mind
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:13 pm
We give the older rescued dobermans at the kennel a combination of S.O.D. and Boswelia tablets and Arthrisoothe. Harley, our oldest dobe, has shown an amazing increase of energy since we started him on it. He gets two S.O.D. tablets at breakfast and at dinner and one Arthrisoothe tablet at dinner. Best of all, it tastes good enough that we don't have to hide it in a meatball. smile
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