Does anyone use joint supplements?

[anchovies]

Just looking for recommendations really, our 1 year old lab has recently either damaged his hip ligament or worse case scenario has hip displasia (x-rays next week). Have read lots about glucoasmine, vitamin C, fish oils etc but to be honest am a bit baffled by it all. Not to mention astounded by the some of the costs! Can anyone help?

Oh and he has to stay on his lead for 8 weeks minimum, can anyone give me any tips to make this bearable for us both?! He loves his tennis ball and was thoroughly put out this morning when I kept him on his lead. Doesn't like being approached by other dogs when on his lead either which made it even worse. Trying to look on the brightside however am going to use the next 8 weeks to do some serious clicker training!

A friend of the family had her arthritic Labrador on glaucosamine (spelling questionable!) and it made a massive difference to her. She went from limping round the house to actually going on walks again. Check with your vet, of course, but it really made a difference to her. Not sure it would help if it's displasia, but if it's ligament/joint trouble it might.

As far as the lead goes, the only thing I can recommend is choosing walking locations where there are few other dogs to disturb him, and using an extending lead so he can wander off for a "sniff" but still be under your control. Several shorter walks rather than 1/2 long ones might be better too. Good luck!

Extendable leads are great, so long as you are vigilant enough to make sure they don't get any speed up before reaching the end of it! I have always found they improve social interactions on-lead too as the lead doesn't have to be taught.

Talk to your vet about glucosamine. Mine was on the tablets you can buy from Wilko (or wherever) and cost a fraction of the price of the stuff you get specifically for dogs (yet is the same).

Hope it goes well!

If your dog is insured there is a good chance that the insurance will cover the costs of the veterinary supplied products so worth checking that out and if so asking the vet to supply for you.

Don't know about supplements, I give mine sardines a couple of times a week though.

Few years ago one of my dogs hurt his hip joint and was limping ( never got to the stage of more investigations ) and vet recommended laying off the tennis balls as the braking and twisting at speed to pick up the ball can injure the joints/ligaments. Have had no further problems.

i use "Yumove" its about £13 for a tub - bascially anything with a high content of Glucosamine and Chodroitin (sp?) is recommended by vets - i also put cod liver oil on their food and the occasional tin of sardines goes down a treat!!

I give my lurchers this glucosamine supplement and also this fish oil. I do think it makes a difference especially to the older dog who can be a drama queen with limping!

Thanks for all the ideas, have started the sardines (he was thrilled!) and am going to see if we need to go back next week for the X-rays and get some supplements from the vet if we need to make an insurance claim anyway. Have ordered an extendable lead and some fish oil in the meantime.

Ooh Labradorlover you have given me hope! He is still limping at the moment but seems so much happier already, fingers crossed this is the end of it. I can now see how the ridiculous running and skidding after a tennis ball could cause problems though!