Aging Dog with Arthritis
Answered by: Kerry Hackett
Question from: Josie Politano
Posted on: November 03, 2005

I have a almost 14 year old black lab with arthritis in both hips and now in her front shoulder. I have her on Metacam for pain but I also have her on glucosamine. Anything else that you can recommend to keep her comfortable?

The first thing I would suggest is that she be on a good, homemade diet, if she isn’t already. Recipes can be found in books by Richard Pitcairn, "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats", "The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and "The Barf Diet" by Ian Billinghurst. I would also look at adding a crushed Vitamin C (buffered form) tablet to your dog’s food: up to 1000 mg twice a day. The guiding principle with Vitamin C is that if the dose is too high, your dog will start to have loose stools. If this happens, cut the dose back by 250 mg and see if the stools return to their normal consistency. After two weeks, start to build the dose back up to the original amount. Secondly, you could give your dog the homeopathic remedy, Rhus toxicodendron 30C. See the previous posting on this website (www.richters.com) and search the Q&A section for the title "Dog has Stiffness in Back Legs"

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