Help, My dog's hip is hurting him

My little guy Winston[/url][/IMG] is about 9 years old and hurt his back several years ago and now his hip is hurting him so much he can not climb up the front stairs yesterday when I brought him home from the groomer. This has me worried so I am looking at starting to give him a hip supplement like Dr. Fosters & Smith joint care 2 or something similar. He is a little bit overweight but not bad.

Do any of you guys have any suggestions on products that i can use to help him with his issues.

 

My GF has a little guy looks just like that. Same thing. Every once in awhile throws its back out or pulls a muscle or what have you. She has some doggy muscle relaxers she got from the vet. After a day or two bumbling around all buzzed up dog good as new.

Also heard baby aspirin helps sometimes? Good luck!

 

I do give him aspirin occasionally when he seems a little worse than other days. Like last night, I gave him one before bed.

 

Rimadyl

 

I tried to get an after-hours/weekend appointment for my dog who was having joint pain as a puppy. She said to give him children's benadryl according to his weight. He was fine the next day.

That said, I would try a vet first.

 

I agree, i would talk to a vet first. If you dont like what they say, find a different one. Dogs react to some medicines different than people do, and sometimes the dosages are nowhere near the same (you should see how many benedryl we have to give Caesar for it to work).

Other than that, i dont really have any good advice. I just hope you can help him. It kills me when I know Caesar doesnt feel good.

 

I know you are going to think I'm crazy but look into acupuncture. Our Jack Russel slipped a disc when he was 4 years old. All the vets told us he HAD to have surgery or he would never walk again. The surgery came with a rather significant risk that it could do permanent damage to his spine and he would be crippled for life. We ended up finding a vet who literally shut the door and whispered to us to go to a holistic vet and try acupuncture first. Within three or four treatments he was back to about 90%, no surgery. Our regular vet could not believe his eyes and told that he would have never believed it if he hadn't witnessed the change. He now recommends the treatment as a first line in a lot of cases. Our Jack passed last year at the age of 13 from cancer. We never had another problem with his disc.

 

Aspirin caused an ulcer in Hank's upper GI tract on a hunting trip a few years ago. I had always heard it was a no-no, but I gave it to him on the advice of my former vet. He bled internally for 36 hours and finally at about 4am one morning her had a massive bowl movement with a mixture of blood and stool, was very lethargic, wouldn't eat and his gums were white as snow. It ended up costing me about $2500 and ended a trip.

I would first speak with my vet and ask about alternatives like rimadyl or another.

 

Glucosamine/chondroitin/msm ... look for those. Sulfates over HCI as well, sulfates absorb better the HCI (that's per Vet ... horse vet but still)

We use Active Flex 4000 on our horses & its amazing stuff + economical. I believe they also make canine joint supplement. Manufacturer is Cox IIRC.

 

Vet.

Prescription anti inflamatories (meloxicam) and pain meds as needed would be my guess.

Depending on the life expectancy check on hip replacement / FHO / TPO surgical options.

 

Yep. Our 12-year-old GS gets Medicam daily for her hips. It has made a world of difference in her comfort.

 

Vet for sure.

Be prepared to help the dog lose weight. Dogs with joint problems should be UNDER weight, not over.

Ask your vet about a product called Phycox. Has glucosamine and also some other naturally found anti-inflamatories that are safer to a dogs stomach and liver than a prolonged treatment other pain meds and NSAIDS (i.e. rumadil).

 

what are you feeding him? My previous dog had hip issues that were greatly reduced when I changed her food to a holistic senior life food from a local vendor. The price was greater per pound from what I was feeding, however she ate less than 3/4 of what she was previously eating.

Also augmented her meal every few meals with Nupro which is a vitamin/nutrient powder that makes a gravy on the food that is high in Glucosamine/chondroitin.

Further towards the end she was on meloxicam.

 

VET. Make an appointment now. Get an xray to see if it's dysplasia. Read up on 'femoral head ostectomy' so you can discuss it from an educated point of view with the vet. Rimadyl is a good anti-inflammatory if an FHO is cost-prohibitive.

And, yeah... WEIGHT LOSS!

 

This is what I give my rott/lab mutt,has helped him a bunch.

 

This is not as crazy as it may sound. A friend of mine thought his bird dog was going to have to retire, tried acupuncture, that dog is like a puppy again.

 

Have the vet check for Lyme
Antibiotics knock it out easily in animals
Much easier than in humans
My wife, two dogs and two horses have all been diagnosed and treated
Only my wife still has it

 

my 13 year old GS gets baer for his hips all the time. I brought him in once carrying him because he couldn't/wouldn't walk, thought for sure he wasn't coming home with me. He got a shot of cortizone and vet said to give him arthritis over the counter pain killers. Seems to work but winter is hard on him.

 

I do think that he is a little over weight. He get to be a pretty shaggy dog, and I just got him groomed and you can see where he has put weight on.