My dog's severe arthritis meds aren't working. What are my options?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about your baby! The good thing is that arthritis has some treatment options that can be quite effective. That diet is excellent. However, the metabolic aspect of it is for dogs who need to lose weight. If Koko Rae is already in a good body condition, you can get the Science Diet j/d that is great for joints but does not have the metabolic component for weight loss. That diet alone can make a huge difference. Deramaxx is usually used on an as needed basis for pain control. You could also consider joint supplements such as Dasuquin and Cosequin. All these things can help her tremendously. Good luck and have a wonderful day!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I’m sorry to hear Chloe is suffering from arthritis. Medically, in addition to an anti-Inflammatory like previcox there are additional pain medications she could be started on. Adjunctively to medications, laser treatments, hydrotherapy (underwater treadmill), and acupuncture are all options you could look into to help her as well. Good luck!

Poor girl! So you have a few options. If she is just holding it up but not crying out, you may just consider medical management and not euthanize her as long as she is playing eating and drinking normally. I would make sure she is on a high quality joint supplement like flexadin or dasuquin. I would also have a vet prescribe her an anti-inflammatory like rimadyl or galliprant. You could give that on days she is really painful. If she is only having pain in one leg and the other leg is normal, you could consider having that leg amputated. Dogs do amazing with 3 legs as long as the other is normal. There is also a surgery called an FHO with gets rods of the hip joint of that is the problem area. You could also look into that as an option. Another option would be to look for an alternative or integrative vet who practices acupuncture and herbal therapy. These can be wonderful for pain relief and mobility. I would only decide to euthanize her when you feel she has more bad days than good days. When these other options are no longer helping or if she stops eating or doesn’t want to play, then I would start to consider her quality of life is poor. I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Nidge! There is no surgical management for arthritis sadly. It is managed with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, joint supplements (Dasuquin, Adequan), keeping the dog lean and fit, other pain modalities (tramadol, gabapentin), alternative treatments like accupuncture, chiropractics and laser, physical therapy. I hope this helps and I wish Nidge the best!

Hi and thank you for your question on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Laser therapy is a great 'topical' treatment that using light waves to penetrate into tissues and helps increase ATP in degenerating cells which aides in pain relief and healing. I use laser therapy quite a bit on my arthritis patients. Creams or other topicals humans use for arthritis are not as effective in dogs due to their fur blocking the absorption of the drugs. I hope this helps and I hope you look into laser therapy!

Hello. I agree, surgery at this age would not be ideal given her age. You do not indicate what meds she is already on, but she should be receiving an NSAID such as meloxicam, carprofen, or any one of several excellent drugs in this classification. I would also have her on gabapentin, possibly tramadol, & maybe even Adequan injections, just in case some of her joints are painful. An alternative for the NSAIDs would be steroids as they are very good at reducing inflammation, but that does put her at some risk for side effects. Hopefully, these can keep him comfortable for some time to come. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

You can talk to your vet about therapy laser treatments if it is available in your area as these can help with pain and inflammation. You can also see about starting Adequan injections to help with the joints or further pain medication such as gabapentin or Tylenol 3 or 4 in extreme cases.