My dog's joint supplement isn't working after 4 weeks. What next?

If supplements alone haven't helped, it may be time to add in a pain medication or other joint medications to help relieve Halo's discomfort. Unfortunately, these do require a trip to the vet in order to be prescribed, but it's a good idea to schedule a vet visit anyway to monitor Halo's joint health and any progression of disease. Your vet may recommend regular bloodwork and X-rays to watch the hips for any additional deterioration so that medications and joint supplements can be adjusted as needed. Changing supplement types in addition to this, such as adding in fish oil and vitamin E, Green-Lipped mussel, or another glucosamine/chondroitin combo may also help, however, consulting with your vet first to make sure there is no interaction with other medications is best.

Joint supplements such as glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM promote joint health by protecting cartilage, reducing or slowing cartilage breakdown and improve joint lubrication. While these supplements do not cure or reverse hip dysplasia, they may slow the progression and provide a measure of pain relief. Please discuss surgical options for Coco with your veterinarian. There are surgical options available.

Hello, I’m sorry to hear about Diesel. Dogs can experience arthritis as they age due to instability in their joints. One of the most common places for them to have arthritis is in their hip joints. Just as in people, arthritis leads to aches and pains with movement. Supplements can be helpful with arthritis, because they contain compounds to improve joint health. However, they will not heal the arthritis and get rid of the pain completely. If the supplements don’t seem to have a large effect on Diesel, I would recommend having him evaluated by your veterinarian. They can examined his joints and look for discomfort. They may prescribe a course of anti-inflammatory medications to help with the discomfort. Hope this helps, good luck!

I hate to hear that Brody is experiencing some issues with his legs. I agree that the hips look like they could be the source of the lameness with decreased acetabular coverage of the femoral heads and also a slight thickening of the femoral necks. I do not anticipate lameness from the bladder stones. Discomfort from the bladder stones tends to occur when Brody urinates and I have seen some pets exhibit no signs. You may discuss with the veterinarian ways to address the stones as they can cause problems with urinary tract infections or even cause obstruction of the urethra. Most pets will have surgery although depending on the type of stone, some may be able to break down with a special diet. Regarding the lameness, Dasuquin is a good product and it will take 4-6 weeks to reach maximum strength. Most vets recommend loading the supplement (so they take a higher amount for 4-6 weeks) then they decrease it. Give it a little more time to take effect. Other things that can help with arthritis including giving an additional omega 3 fatty acid (Nutramax makes a nice product) can help with natural inflammation control. There is another product I like called Duralactin and it is a joint supplement that I often use in conjunction with Dasuquin. If you are interested in a diet change, Royal Canin makes a diet called Mobility Support which has green lipped muscle as an ingredient and pets tend to do very well in it. Lastly, you make consider seeking a veterinarian or facility who can offer physical therapy. Especially with the hind legs, muscle mass and tone is very important in stabilizing the joints. Daily, low impact activity is very important in maintaining this. A physical therapist will examine the lameness and all the muscle groups and will show you exact exercises you can do at home to maintain optimal muscle health. Long term, this is very important. Sometimes the therapist will recommend other things like working on an under water treadmill, swimming or even acupuncture to help. It’s definitely beneficial to get therapies started early while the signs are still mild. Certainly if Brody does not respond well after 6 weeks, I think seeking a second opinion is valid. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. Joint supplements are designed to aid in the inhibition of the degenerative enzymes that break down the cartilage in joints, therefore they are chondroprotective. If the old pelvic fracture did not actually involve the joint, & most specifically the coxofemoral joint (hip), then joint supplements will not help in this situation. But joint supplements may be beneficial to all the other moving joints in the body, so knees, elbows, hips & hocks can be helped. In general, for the bigger dogs, like Husky's, I think starting a joint supplement around 7 years of age is ideal, unless radiographic signs of arthritis, or pain in the joint begin earlier. Hope this helps. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

If it is quite mild pain she is experiencing you could try giving her a supplement of chondroitin and glucosamine. You can get this from good pet shops and it helps to lubricate the joints. If that does not help you may have to go to the vet to get her something stronger such as an antinflammatory. Also make sure she has a well supported bed to take pressure of her when sleeping.

Arthritis is definitely a possibility. You could start him on a joint supplement, like Dasuquin and see if that helps. Your vet could also take an x-ray to evaluate for arthritis and then start him on a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, like Deramaxx, Previcox, Rimadyl, etc. NSAIDs help relieve the discomfort associated with arthritis.