Author Topic: Dog Arthritis?  (Read 2931 times)

Kirsti

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Dog Arthritis?
« on: August 31, 2006, 07:33:12 am »
My puppy, (who no one was able to agree on an age, I got her from the pound, the vet said she was 2 the pound thought she was over 5..) Is having problems getting up from sitting or laying down. I took her into the vet and he said she had arthritis in her left leg.  :-\ So he gave me a list ( I mean I huge list) of different kinds of meds to give her... and one was Asprin. So I got that, but is it sapose to be regular strength? or is the too much?  After this last visit I really don't like this vet much, so I'm looking for a new vet, but in the meantime, what should I do? Keep her on the asprin? ???

~Kirsti

Offline lshelley21

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Re: Dog Arthritis?
« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2006, 07:47:53 am »
definitly put her on glucosamine,chondrotin, and msm.....there is a dog chart just listed for asprin....
Lauren, Jazmine (great dane)
Jazmine's pets:
Calvin (ferret)
Willy (ferret)
Samantha (ferret)
Baxter (ferret)
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Oh yeah.. my pet.. Matt (hubby)
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Offline Saint and Mal mom

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Re: Dog Arthritis?
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2006, 10:43:01 am »
Be very careful with the aspirin! Too much of it will cause the stomach to bleed. Watch stools closely to see if they turn black because that will mean bleeding in the stomach, but use aspirin only if you have to!!
Marissa

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Offline cataria

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Re: Dog Arthritis?
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2006, 05:31:29 pm »
I've been giving Shade (15) an aspirin a day for a while now.  Course, at her age, I'm not sure that much is going to help :)  The handicap ramp out the back door helped the most!  (Still beaming about that ramp...she is so happy to be able to go in and out without going up/down stairs!) A word of caution here:  Ensure your vet knows exactly what medications/dosage your dog is on.  There can be serious drug interactions with any medications and you never know when there is going to be an emergency.  I know that sometimes I get complacent because a drug is OTC, but my vet had mentioned to me years ago that there are some medications that can't be given if the dog is on glucosimine and ensured her chart was coded.  Whatever vet you use, just make sure your companion's chart lists all medications/dosage.  It might make a difference later on.
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Offline longshadowfarms

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Re: Dog Arthritis?
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2006, 03:25:42 am »
Glucosamine chondroitin is definitely worth trying.  It does take a month or longer before you see results though.  Our chocolate lab started with arthritis very young and lived to be 14 yrs old.  She did have a pretty high pain tolerance but we were able to manage her pain with a number of different drugs.  The glucosamine chondroitin was the backbone and we'd use asprin (buffered) as needed (when she had a bad day when younger, most nights as she got older) and rimadyl (on bad days when she got older) as needed. 
Daphne