https://caninearthritis.co.uk/ loads of information can fully trust as from vets & specialists. Medication is only part of what you can do to help manage arthritis, It's well worth signing up for annual membership of £25 to get full access ( it supports the site so they can continue to be independent).
Holly's Army CAMs owner support FB group.
Much comes down to management and home/life adaptions. I had the stairs issue and used the Help em up harness to support. I did also consider making an adapted stairlift as these are often cheap second hand & DIY track options on youtube, but I've too complex stairs. There is also complimentary therapies, physio/massage, laser ( stimulates cells to heal/reduces pain), electrotherapies, accupuncture. Hydrotherapy can be beneficial to hip dysplasia as helps increase muscle to support them, the warm water takes off the weight of body so they can move more freely and with less pain than on land, arthritis often leads to muscle loss as become less active and they move differently to offload a painful area.
Sometimes what works best is a bit of a meds cocktail to work on the different pain pathways/ inflammation reduction.
Gabapentin works on the neuropathic pathways to reduce nerve pain but I found it very useful for my dogs arthritis. It often gets a bad rep because of the side effects of drowsiness/ wobblyness these often pass as the body adjusts but ideally it should be titrated upto the desired dose to avoid, so if you have this issue please speak to the vet about a lowering the dose with plan to increase gradually. The only side effect my dog had was increased appetite which was actually a benefit when she had kidney disease.
It's controlled drug so can't get repeat prescriptions but if have a common dose it's very cheap to buy from a human pharmacy (not boots) so vets £40 v £15pm script + £8meds ( my vet can't buy it at that, not ripping me off)
Galliprant is a NSAID which targets the specific receptors so is more gentle on the gut/kidney than metacam & other NSAIDS, but depends what the blood issue is whether maybe suitable. These reduce inflamation rather than just being pain relief.
There is cartrophen injections too which has anti-inflam action can be bit hit and miss whether makes any difference but a course is 4 weekly injections and it wasn't as expensive as some treatments to try out. It should be given at same time as nsaids but can alongside other pain relief.
You can get some meds in liquid form which can syringe in, dogs can have human paracetamol but needs to be correct dosage & without any extra stuff, so they can have like Calpol but not with xylitol sweetener which is very toxic to dogs so would check with your Speak to the vet nurses, they are pro's at getting meds into animals, if you need help with tablet technique.
If your insured/have funds its worth seeing an orthopedic specialist as they are much more knowledable on medications/treatments available and able to pick up issues the GP vet may have missed because they have the wealth of experience of these cases and access to more hi-tec equipment.
Sometimes require anesthesia but not the ordeal of more invasive surgery. Various types of intra-articular injections to reduce inflation/lubricate problem joints or regenative therapy treatments.
My dog had stem cell & platelet rich plasma treatment at 14yrs as most joints apart from hips/elbows were arthritic, we'd exhausted many option and otherwise was very healthy. It made a huge difference to her comfort & mobility but it was very expensive and wouldn't been an option without insurance paying bulk of cost. I think there a donor stem cell option has now come out to reduce cost as lot of the expense is the lab to grow from their own fat cell sample. This was pre -librella and some people have similar result but it only treats the pain and the joints will still be degrading and possibly at faster rate if activity not regulated.