joint supplement and natural dog food

[Liz Jefferies]

I am new to this site and I was wondering what you fed your rotties. I have an 8 month old female, which just went thru surgery for UAP. Do I need a natural joint supplement for her? What is your suggestions on that. I was told to use nupro joint supplement with a dog food which is suppose to be all natural called Artemis holistic dog food. I would appreciate any input from expierence rottie owners. Thank You

[Carina43]

Hi there, Liz.
I have a dog who was dx/d with elbow dysplasia, FCP in both elbows. He was limping badly off & on for months, and at first we thought it was a muscle pull, then the vet missed it on the first set of x-rays - a second set showed ED, and we went to an ortho vet who confirmed this and sent me to consult with a surgeon at MSU for arthroscopic surgery. In the meantime, he suggested glucosamine/chrondritin daily. After giving him that for several weeks, his limping went away, and by the time we got to MSU, he hadn't limped for weeks!

More xrays did show problems in both elbows, but since he was completely asymptomatic, no surgery (yay!) That was back in December. I can take him for 3-4 mile romps and he doesn't limp one bit. So I say, those supplements surely cannot hurt, even though your girl has had the surgery. My dogs eat a raw diet, BTW.

Also:
*Keep your dog THIN. Cooper was not overweight, but the vets wanted him downright thin, so he's down 7lbs and holding. He's almost 2 1/2 yrs old now, and about 93-95lbs
*Exercise as tolerated, so her muscles can build up to compensate for joint weakness. Swimming is great, or even wading in water.
*If you do a search on elbow dysplasia in the vet forum here, there's been a few discussions on ED, maybe you'll get more info there.

Hope that helps...your poor girl is awfully young to have that surgery, I hope she recovers fine!

[Rott-Wiley]

Hi Liz and welcome to the forum. My 2 year old girl had a chipped bone in her left elbow and had the surgery to remove it when she was 12 months old. It was done at an ortho clinic here in Central Florida. After her surgery I put her on a human grade dose of MSM, Shark Cartilage, glucosamine/chrondritin. It comes in a capsule and is a white powder. She also went on a diet of raw food around the same time. I also keep her very thin, it's a battle to keep her at 86 pounds. She is very well muscled and anyone could hardly know she ever had any problem. She never limps or shows any discomfort and she is very active. Good luck with your girl.

[Liz Jefferies]

Originally posted by Carina43
Hi there, Liz. Thank you so much for your information. But ,I was wondering what kind of raw food do you feed your rottie?
I have a dog who was dx/d with elbow dysplasia, FCP in both elbows. He was limping badly off & on for months, and at first we thought it was a muscle pull, then the vet missed it on the first set of x-rays - a second set showed ED, and we went to an ortho vet who confirmed this and sent me to consult with a surgeon at MSU for arthroscopic surgery. In the meantime, he suggested glucosamine/chrondritin daily. After giving him that for several weeks, his limping went away, and by the time we got to MSU, he hadn't limped for weeks!

More xrays did show problems in both elbows, but since he was completely asymptomatic, no surgery (yay!) That was back in December. I can take him for 3-4 mile romps and he doesn't limp one bit. So I say, those supplements surely cannot hurt, even though your girl has had the surgery. My dogs eat a raw diet, BTW.

Also:
*Keep your dog THIN. Cooper was not overweight, but the vets wanted him downright thin, so he's down 7lbs and holding. He's almost 2 1/2 yrs old now, and about 93-95lbs
*Exercise as tolerated, so her muscles can build up to compensate for joint weakness. Swimming is great, or even wading in water.
*If you do a search on elbow dysplasia in the vet forum here, there's been a few discussions on ED, maybe you'll get more info there.

Hope that helps...your poor girl is awfully young to have that surgery, I hope she recovers fine!

[Liz Jefferies]

Originally posted by Rott-Wiley
Hi Liz and welcome to the forum. My 2 year old girl had a chipped bone in her left elbow and had the surgery to remove it when she was 12 months old. It was done at an ortho clinic here in Central Florida. After her surgery I put her on a human grade dose of MSM, Shark Cartilage, glucosamine/chrondritin. It comes in a capsule and is a white powder. She also went on a diet of raw food around the same time. I also keep her very thin, it's a battle to keep her at 86 pounds. She is very well muscled and anyone could hardly know she ever had any problem. She never limps or shows any discomfort and she is very active. Good luck with your girl.

Thank you very much for your information. My girl will not put pressure on her front paw. She just hobbles around now. But the surgery was just done on friday. She is back to normal with playing and such. How lond does this take for her to start walking normal?

[Rott-Wiley]

With my girl it took about a month before she would put pressure on that leg. I was real concerned after a couple of weeks and I wasn't seeing the results I had expected. Fortunately now, she seems to be completely over the whole ordeal. I still have her on those supplements and a raw diet. I think that helps.

[Carina43]

I thought there was a 6-month recovery period for this surgery...what does your vet say?
You may get more answers if you ask that question on the vet forum...but I'm not surprised she's still hobbling since the surgery was so recent - then I've never had that done, so I dunno...

[Rott-Wiley]

Originally posted by Carina43
I thought there was a 6-month recovery period for this surgery...what does your vet say?

The vet that did the surgery on my dog is board certified in ortho and he said the recovery time was 3 to 4 weeks. First 7 to 10 days was cage rest with only on lead toilet walks. He saw her again and I was instructed to allow her to have short walks on lead for the rest of the time. She'll be 2 next month and she seems to have a complete recovery.

[Skip]

My boy Rocky had both elbows operated on last spring. I give him K9 Liquid Health. It has chondroitn and glucosomine in a concentrated liquid form. It is great stuff and I HIGHLY recommend it. The liquid gets absorbed a lot more efficiently. After the normal 'slow and easy' recuperating time, he is doing great and behaves like he never had a problem.

[Rott-Wiley]

Originally posted by Skip
My boy Rocky had both elbows operated on last spring. I give him K9 Liquid Health. It has chondroitn and glucosomine in a concentrated liquid form. It is great stuff and I HIGHLY recommend it. The liquid gets absorbed a lot more efficiently. After the normal 'slow and easy' recuperating time, he is doing great and behaves like he never had a problem.

Do you still have him on the Liquid Health? I've read that the liquid type supplements work better on the joint and I have been considering changing to one. I'm not real motivated to change cause she's doing so well now.

[Skip]

yep, he's still on it. I will probably use it on him for the rest of his life. I really think it's a great product and worth every penny.

[brianc0428]

I have my 4 year old male on K-9 Liquid Health Level 5000 and I think it is a great product. He will be on it for the rest of his life.

[rottlove]

One more vote for liquid joint supplements. I saw a remarkable difference over tablet/capsule form.

[Rott-Wiley]

I just ordered a bottle of it over the Internet. Thanks for the recommendation everyone.

[kaylynn143]

Merlin was recently diagnosed (sp?) with moderate hip displasia. Where are you ordering the liquid joint supplemnt from? I have not been able to find it.