My old dog struggles to stand and seems in pain. What's wrong?

Poor Luna! Because she is 8 or 9, my first thought is that she may be suffering from arthritis. That would cause her pain, and from your description, it sounds like she is painful. It could also be that she injured herself. Arthritis is common in older dogs. I would take her into the vet for an exam. The vet can diagnose if she is suffering from arthritis, and can give her some pain meds for it. Rimadyl (an NSAID) is a good drug to give to help with the symptoms of arthritis. I also recommend giving her glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate supplements. They provide the necessary nutrients for cartilage repair and function. Use of them helps relieve some of the symptoms of arthritis, and you can use it in conjunction with Rimadyl to help maximize relief from her symptoms. Give her vet a call today to make an appointment. Best of luck!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Pepper. Poor girl. It could be she has arthritis, hip dysplasia, or a problem with her back causing her difficulty getting up. Arthritis is common in middle aged to older dogs. I would take her into the vet for an exam. The vet can diagnose if she is suffering from arthritis, and can give her some pain meds for it. Rimadyl (an NSAID) is a good drug to give to help with the symptoms of arthritis. I also recommend giving her glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate supplements. They provide the necessary nutrients for cartilage repair and function. Use of them helps relieve some of the symptoms of arthritis, and you can use it in conjunction with Rimadyl to help maximize relief from her symptoms. I hope this helps!

Hi there! Your dog may be getting sore and arthritic, which would make it harder for her to get up when she's laying down. There are many possible treatments for arthritis in dogs, including pain medication, physical therapy, acupuncture, Adequan injections, laser treatments, specially-formulated foods, and a variety of supplements. It would be a great idea to have your dog examined by a veterinarian to determine if treatment is needed at this time and, if so, which treatment would be more appropriate. Please remember there are no safe over the counter pain medications for dogs, so you will need to have these prescribed by a veterinarian. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and best of luck to you and your dog!

Oh my. Poor guy. : ( Arthritis can progress fairly quickly in pets, even when they are on the proper medication. The only thing you really can do at this point is to have Roscoe re-examined by your vet for a full evaluation. Repeat or initial radiographs of his back legs and hips should be considered and then if arthritis is indeed the only problem here, your vet can prescribe additional medication to hopefully help stabilize Roscoe and properly manage his pain. However, I suspect that he may have a back injury if he is crying out in pain, which may not be so easily treated. I do hope that there is something that can be done here. Some additional medications to consider are Gabapentin (for pain) and an injectable osteoarthritis medication called Adequan. Best of luck moving forward with your pet Roscoe and I hope that he regains his mobility soon. Take care.

Sounds like your dog is having quite a few mobility issues. I'm not sure your how old your dog is, but with these symptoms I would suspect an older dog. There are things you can do to help (to a point) like adding a ramp or pet stairs to make going up and down easier, a good memory foam bed to soothe achy bones, glucosamine will help lubricate her joints so she moves a little easier, your vet may be able to offer some pain meds for the bad days but these are all temporary solutions. If she is an older pet this is where considering quality of life becomes important. She may be an older pet where these conditions get worse until she can't get outside to the bathroom and get to the food bowl. Simply getting to the necessities becomes a chore, that is not a life. It would be best to let her have her dignity and let her go if that is the case. Enjoy the time you have left together.

Hello, while I am glad you have been using a good joint supplement, it sounds like your girl needs some more serious pain medication for her osteoarthritis. There are many to choose from, and they can literally give an aging pet a new lease on life. I have literally seen crippled dogs that owners wanted to euthanize become happy, active pets. The first thing to do is see your veterinarian for a thorough exam, blood work & possible x-rays & hopefully start your pet on a medication to ease her pain. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

There can be a number of diseases that cause weakness and/or pain. The first thing that should be done is to figure out whether he is truly in so much pain that he can't stand, or if he has a neurologic problem (i.e., paralysis) that's making it difficult for him to move his legs, or if he has a disease (like something caused by a tick bite) that is making him anemic (low numbers of red blood cells) and making him weak. Your dog needs to be examined by a vet who is capable of differentiating all of these problems, and figuring out what the appropriate therapy is, because the treatment depends on determining exactly what the problem is.