Oh No - here is the non-kennel senior lab owner again. But I have a problem and need advice. My 12 year old is getting "weak" in the hips. She would rather sit than stand and is getting a little slower getting up but will initiate play and will run short distances. She was rated excellent on her hips but old age is catching up. Got Nutri-Vet Hip & Joint Plus with glucosamine, MSM, Chondroitin and Hysauronic acid. Gave her only one tablet and she ate it with no problem but it soon came back. This is a dog who will "return" plain, nonseasoned, no skin, baked chicken along with other things so she stays on her regular diet that she has no problems with "returns". I want to do whatever I can to keep her as healthy and comfortable as possible, but I am stumped as to what to do. Any suggestions???

Talk to your Vet about possibley giving her Pepcid prior to feeding and giving oral suppliments. Your Vet will give you the appropriate dosage for her weight OR maybe suggest another medication to protect her stomach such as Carafate. I give most suppliments with food and that seems to work well for my guys. Good luck with your old girl!

Have you seen the liquid glucosamine at Costco? That might do the trick.

Try glyco-flex on her, all natural stuff and never had one that couldn't handle that.
Aloha,
jackie

Have your vet give you a supply of Adequan, it can be injected SQ(under the skin) it does not have to be given in the muscle. My Accupuncture/Chiro vet gives it this way. We have our 11 year old girl on it,and it does help alot. Try giving just the MSM with a food treat. and slowly add in the others. We also added creatine capsules to help her muscle strength. And a last ditch she is on Celebrex as she can't tolerate Rimadyl,Metacam,Duragesic or even prednisone without having a horrible stomach/intestinal upset. Sadly it is the tumour on her spleen that will be the deciding factor of when to let her go. But until then she is comfortable....

If you are feeding kibble be sure it is high enough in protein for your old girl to maintain muscle mass which in turn will help her with her weakness.

My old girl had hind quarter weakness and it was diagnosed as degenerative myelopathy. She doesn't have pain with it, just diminishing usage.

I noticed this by the size of her front end before I noticed the weakness of the rear. She looks like a competitive body builder as she pulls herself with her front legs. I took her in for a thyroid test and the vets gave me the bad news.

So, it's not something many of the mentioned drugs would help at all.