Newly arthritic dog - what treatment?

[Katyaadlerscoat]

Small 10 year old dog has arthritis. Trouble getting on and off things. Vet suggested we try Yumove or Synoquin which we can buy on the internet and "which may or may not help". Are these dietary supplements? I was surprised he didnt want to prescribe something more "medical". Any thoughts? If you have an arthritic dog, what are they on?

Metacam? but maybe the vet doesn't think it's needed yet, it's good but expensive and some dogs don't tolerate it
No harm in trying the supplements first and you might have to help him get on/off beds and sofas

Yumove is good or Joint Aid which is like granules you add to food. Metatacam not great for long term use it can cause kidney damage.

Salmon oil is good too

I hear amazing things about Librela (sp?)

Liver sorry not kidney

Ours has been on YuMove for over a year now (he's 11 and a half) and he's very fit and active.
BUT occasionally he has arthritic episodes where he refuses to walk up and down stairs and is reluctant to go out for walks. The vet thinks this is osteoarthritis and has prescribed Gallipant but he can't be on it long-term.

Yumove is amazing. My cocker spaniel was very stiff (she's almost 13) but has improved so much since being on it. I don't giver her metacam at all now. I expect I'll have to eventually but she certainly doesn't need it now.

yup, at this stage I would be looking at dogs steps up to the sofa, lifting into the car, keeping jpints warm and dry and so on. My old boy was on rimadyl and paracetamol both prescribed by the vet but he was a lot worse than your littlie sounds. He also had yumove and it did help for a while.

https://antinol.co.uk/products/antinol-for-dogs?gclid=Cj0KCQjw7KXBhCoARIsAPdPTfiKNtEc2eCiJWMoqcRxoqG9iQ8SiL9VO38aSEEPTQfgD7YhdI-ea-UaAkIQEALww_wcB

My vet prescribed this insurance paid. Eventually needed metacam, tralieve as well.

YuMove has really helped my 6yr old dog with her arthritis, she couldn't tolerate the metacam so was swapped to galliprant and that was great for her, the specialist said she can take it long term if needed but after an operation last year we're managing with the yumove, massage, and then rest and a heat pad if needed.

Thanks for all the posts. I'll try him on Yumove to start with then and see how he goes. We're lifting him a lot now and he has a step to the sofa.

My dog was seen by specialists for her operation on her arthritic shoulder. They said she can take Galliprant long term so might be worth double checking that.

Librella has worked very well for my girl.

I used Jointsure for my arthritic Lab. It has the same or more of the same ingredients as YuMove, but buying three for the price of two big pots on Amazon worked out at half the price of YuMove.

Both of mine are on yumove but we also give them golden paste which has turmeric in. Both together has really helped our older dogs stay more supple. The one we use is Golden Turmeric Paste, 100g amzn.eu/3da4bKF

Galliprant is more targeted NSAID so less risk for ulcers or organ issues.

TBH if dog is struggling with getting up and down chances are it's impacting them in other areas but signs of chronic pain can be subtle in dogs, so maybe they just appear to have slowed down, not wanting to walk as far or seem a little stiffer, panting or licking more.

I'd now look to medicate earlier rather than later just so you can observe if there are improvements, I felt terrible when my boy who I thought was natural aging became like a springy pup with pain relief 😔

I've found Vet Physiotherapists are much better at pinpointing problem areas with more subtle signs and being able to target treatments as the muscle trigger points change. Often dog is more relaxed in physio or home environment and physio has much longer consult than a vet, any info can then be fed back to vet to aid medications or further investigations. Equally seeing an orthopeadic vet doesn't have to only be for major operations and a consult can pick up issues a primary vet may not considered with their experience and have greater knowledge of suitable treatments & medications.

Check out Canine Arthritis Management for vet checked informantion. They've changed website format recently to have a membership level for the tonnes of extra info that built up and also offer online owner training courses which can make it much less overwhelming to learn about arthritis and how to manage the condition.
Holly's Army is CAM owner support group, there is also load of useful vet/specialists talks on the CAM main FB page and YouTube.

Our border collie has been on Yumove for years and it has helped. Then Librela came along. It has worked wonders for him. He is almost eleven and riddled with arthritis and cannot take any kind of oral anti inflammatory. He has been on it for 18 months.
He also takes tumeric for dogs twice a day, CurcuPet-K9.

Hi OP, a combo of the following can really help:

1. Weight control. Being overweight makes a massive difference to an arthritic dog's ability to cope, and to how long they can remain mobile
2. Joint supplements e.g. yumove, or prescription food e.g. Hills J/D
3. Prescription pain relief - tons of options: NSAIDs such as galliprant, rimadyl, metacam... non-NSAID medications... pain relief injections such as cartrophen and librela (an absolute miracle for more advanced cases)... joint injections... etc
4. Physiotherapy - massage, laser, hydrotherapy

An important thing to know: They don't cry with joint pain. It 'just' looks like slowness and stiffness - that is how they show their pain. Often it is only when you put them on pain relief that you will notice the big change in their mood ("acting like a puppy again!") and realise how badly they felt before.

Supplements work well for some dogs, but if his stiffness persists, please ask your vet about pain relief. There are some fantastic options now.

Thanks again for all the replies. He's worse again today, hardly walking (as you describe, Alfixnm). I'm going to ring the vet first thing Monday and hopefully get supplements and pain relief.

Oh, and the vet says he's the perfect weight.

My 2 spaniels are 10 1/2 and 11 1/2. I started them on Yumove a few years ago, then switched to Yumove Senior; which is higher in certain ingredients. I've just switched the older dog to a new product, Yumove Plus, which is stronger still.. They also both have Metacam from the vet.
Yumove original and Senior can be bought from several places, including Amazon; but the Plus can only be bought from Yumove themselves. It does help a lot.
I did try them on glucosamine and turmeric, but it didn't seem to do much good.

My cocker spaniel is 9.5 and he's on Riaflex. It's a powder that you add to their food and it's had far more effect than Yumove (think it's got double the level of some of the supplements) did on him. He doesn't tolerate Metacam at all so I'm dreading when he does need medication...........

I would get the vet to prescribe pain relief and look at some alternative supplements too.
Yu move is great and we also had really good results from proflax bone and joint alternated with immunity and vitality proflax.co.uk/ it worked wonders. They are very helpful if you call them for advise. A really good quality food too. We tried raw but I know it not everyone's cup of tea, but anything with a high meat content and no nasty extras.

If he's struggling to get on and off the sofa I would say he definitely needs pain relief from the vet. Maybe once he's a bit more mobile and supplements hopefully help a bit you can reduce it.
Proflax really worked wonders with our elderly westie though.

Thanks again for the replies. So many options, it's a bit bewildering. I've ordered Yumove senior which will come tomorrow. Hopefully the vet will prescribe pain relief even if they can't see him. Vet said he had signs of arthritis a few weeks ago but we hadn't noticed it. Now this. It's come on so quickly. Will make a note of other supplement suggestions too.

Seeing vet later. That's also 2 mentions for Librella now.