Magnetic dog collars - arthritis

[threestepsforward]

Has anyone had positive results using these?

Our 13 yo staffie is suffering from arthritis and I'm desperate to try anything now

He's just finished a course of anti-inflammatory injections over one month, which has helped in the past, but seems to be less effective this time around.

He can't take anti-inflammatory tablets as his digestive system can't handle them (been the same since i got him a 2 yo - we have to manage that with prescription food and daily medecine).

He has food supplements to help (nutriquin) but I want to try this collar and see if it helps.

Brand is armadillo which seems quite reputable from looking at their website.

Any info / feedback gratefully received

So sorry to hear your dog has arthritis, it's a bugger isn't it? With our darling old girl, we found fantastic results with attending hydrotherapy. It undoubtedly gave her another year of good quality of life - prior to that, we, like you, had tried most things. Most vets will recommend hydrotherapy - you will need a letter from the vet referring. Ours went once a week to start with, then dropped to a fortnightly sequence and she loved going (her tail would start wagging as soon as she could see where she was ). It noticeably increased her flexibility and helped her maintain movement right up to the end of her life (she was enjoying a walk in the park the day before she was PTS). I guess you are doing all the other lifestyle stuff like keeping his weight down, warm supportive bedding (lots of good reports of memory foam mattresses), wearing a coat at night etc etc. We always found the winter was harder for her and tried our utmost to keep her warm and cosy.

I can't comment on the magnetic collars - there seems to be no rational scientific basis that I can see, though I do know various people who swear by them anecdotally. I think it depends on your approach to "woo" in general - I'm not a fan at all but some people seem quite happy to waste huge sums of money on lunacy like homeopathy.

Thanks scuttle (am at "woo" therapy!)

Yes we're doing everything we can i think. The vet did mention hydrotherapy and it's the only thing we haven't tried - but he hates water with a passion. I don't know if I could bring myself to make him do it if he hates it, even if for his own good.

Day-to-day if he's not out (which is more often than not at the mo) he's tucked up in his bed with blankets over him, he loves being under blankets all times of the year!

His weight is good - around 19 kilos, he's a staffie cross really so not quite as stout as full breeds can be.

I think I'll give the collar a go and put my cynical faith in some woo and see how it goes!

Thanks so much for replying. So pleased your girl got some quality of life back

I'm also massaging his leg twice a day with Dog Oil from Holland and Barrett, which might not be helping, but he's enjoying

Our greyhound girl was not a fan of water AT ALL and like you, I was very sceptical about how she would react to it. The therapist was lovely, v professional and really took her time. There were two ways of doing it - full on swimming in the pool or a water treadmill which is what our girl used. She'd walk up a ramp into a glass tank mounted on a treadmill, then the tank would be closed, with us and therapist standing by, and warm water was very gradually fed into the tank up to her tummy, then she would gently walk on the treadmill (usually with me waving a little treat at her) . She really enjoyed it and never got stressed and gradually built up quite a good pace - the water provided a great deal of buoyancy and of course she was actually working harder too. Once the session had finished, water drained away gently, and then the tank opened and she emerged like Aphrodite, down the ramp and into a waiting warm towel for a rub down and take off her little harness. Then home for tea, and a sound snooze in the evening.

Like the idea of the massage.

Scuttlebutter thank you again!

That's reassuring to hear. (I imagined him desperately splashing around in an olympic size pool!). We have to go back to vet in 2 weeks to see how he's doing after the injections and if he's still struggling i'll ask them about hydrotherapy. I'm insured so should be covered I'm sure.

Onwards and upwards. If you take out the arthritis bit, he's still a 2 year old at heart

Not quite the same thing but I used magnetic leg boots on my horse for several years and it helped his arthritis loads. I also have a magnetic wrist band myselft which I find helpful.

rogersmelly, the company I bought his collar from primarily sells horse stuff!

Just a quick update: it's early days, the collar came yesterday and he wore it through the night, and I honestly think there is a change

He was marginally improved from the injections but still hobbling yesterday and today he is standing squarely on four feet (again, )

The big test will be a visit from my Dad and his new dog - my boy will undoubtedly go crazy with excitement - so we will see how he is later.

Can't quite believe it actually!

Both my horse boots and wrist band are armadillo. They are really tough and hard wearing.
I try not to go by how I feel, but I bought my wrist band at horse of the year show about 6 years ago, I was wondering round before the evening show started, knees aching, back aching, sore fingers. Couldn't even get my purse open without help. Bought the wrist band, put it on, went to watch the show. went to the loo in the interval and bounced down the stairs, got to the bottom and realised I didn't hurt anymore. It was literally like magic. Even managed to do my buttons on my jeans up first time.

That is amazing rogersmelly! Unbelievable!
I'm so pleased to hear you've got some relief on what must be just awful, constant pain.

His collar is from Armadillo too.

I'm trying not to get too excited too quickly, but there is almost definitely an improvement. He has a lot of muscle wastage from not using his leg for so long (over a month) but if the arthritis pain continues to lessen, I can start building the muscle back up.

Do you think overnight is long enough each day(night), or do you think I should keep it on him for longer? (The site says to take it off for a few hours every 12 hours but didn't specify how long I don't think).

No worries if you don't know, just thought I'd ask as you use the magnets on your horses.

Horse had his on over night in the stable and off through the day in the field. If he was at a show or had a particularly hard day he would wear them 24 hours with a couple of 2 hour breaks through the day.
I wear mine through the day and off at night.