Anti inflammatory for long term use

[mancin]

My 12 year old boxer Abby has some arthritis, stiffness, and swelling in the bottom part of her spine which makes it difficult for her to get up sometimes on our slick wood floors (she insists on laying on the wood instead of the area rugs!) She doesn't seem to be in much pain, it just seems like her back legs aren't as coordinated as they used to be. A friend of mine is a vet and put her on Rimadyl for about a week to see if that would help, which it did, but I'm not comfortable leaving her on Rimadyl long term. She also had success with prednisone when she had a neck injury a couple of years ago, but again I don't want her on long term steroids. Are there any other safer alternatives, or should I just suck it up and do Rimadyl and have my vet friend check Abby's blood frequently to watch her liver?

 

[PetuniaChung]

Call me crazy, but did you ever consider acupuncture for Abby? I don't have any doggy experience with it, but have had acupuncture done on me before. It really does do wonders!

 

[Gatorblu]

Thor can't take Rimadyl, or Deramaxx. We opted for the more natural fish oil. You can give 200 mg for 10 lbs as a normal dosage, and can double it for theraputic reasons. If you do opt for fish oil be sure to add vitamin e as well. The body uses a lot of vitamin e to process the fish oil and can lead to a deficienc. So for a dog over 50 lbs, 200 iu of fish oil for the basic dosage of fish oil or double to 400 iu if you double the fish oil.

For Thor's arthritis I have also added 500 mg of human glucosimne chondroitin msm. I got some that has no flavor additives. It has definitvely has made a improvement for him.

 

[mancin]

Abby is getting salmon oil with her food currently (the Grizzly Salmon Oil pump type), but it's not a lot as I was worried she was putting on weight from it. She also is getting Liquid Health Glucosamine with chondroitin and MSM. I just put both on her food every AM and PM. I'll double check the dosing for both and make sure I'm giving her enough!

 

[ELubas]

Call me crazy, but did you ever consider acupuncture for Abby? I don't have any doggy experience with it, but have had acupuncture done on me before. It really does do wonders!

Acupuncture has worked wonders for my girl! I would most definetely give it a try.