[mojocafa]

Like myself.....

...... My 12 year old german Shepard is getting very stiff in the morning,

What do you give your stiffies?

Cod liver oil?
Salmon oil?
Something prescribed from vet?
Or a wee gentle rub!

[Kitchen Cottage]

My oldie has now gone but he had

evening primrose oil
sardines in oil
eventually metacam, which helped a lot but seemed to lead to loss of continence

[clydesdaleclopper]

You can get collars with magnets in that seem to help

[SallyintNorth]

My old boy, a GSD x, became rather stiff in his latter years.  The vet diagnosed arthritis and prescribed two things.  Glucosamine daily - she told me to buy the human stuff, as the vet-authorised version was very pricey - and Rimadyl to use when I knew he had a big day coming up, for a day or two before, the day itself and a day or two after, and any other time if he seemed particularly sore.

And gentle, regular exercise; several short gentle walks a day, not the big all-day hikes.  And keep the amount of running and jumping to a minimum; walking and trotting better than flat out.  Definitely make sure he's had 10-15 minutes warming up before doing anything more strenuous.

We still did the big all-day hikes for a good few more years, but I bracketed them with Rimadyl, and I helped him over stiles.  And he accompanied me on my thrice-weekly 3-mile jogs for a few more years also, but towards the end they were too much for him.

I also started to give him a hot water bottle on cold nights, and a second duvet to cover him (he slept on a folded duvet.)  And made sure he got dried off and warmed up quickly after getting wet.

[pgkevet]

Or for a radical answer you could go find a vet able to fully evaluate the dog instead of leaping to statistical assumptions.

For the GSD indeed the most common problems will be degnerative joint issues BUT a very late onset CDRM is not impssible, elements of HD, specific joints affected or (perhaps most likely) discospondylopathies. Even then important considerations of oxygeneation and cardiac output matter hugely for cognitive function as do any toxic elements of deteriorating kidney or liver function or imbalances in electrolytes (since the central nervous system conduction depends on that). Very important also is weight control, sense of balance and eyesight as well as checking for the rarities such as prostate enlargements and inflammations affecting the low spine or other masses.

It's why some of us spent years at college and decades in practice. I have seen a 19yr old GSD so age to me is just a number.

Most of the evidence for neutraceuticals has been debunked.. at least they're generally harmless and sticking a few ounces of magnets around the dog will just make it weight more...

The arthritic process is both an inflammatory reaction and an attempt to stabilise sloppy joints and a reaction to chroinc trauma from being pulled by tendons and ligmanents. It's often self stabilising in younger patients and settles after some months..commonly medications can be reduced or removed.. hence the apparent improvments from neglect or whatever 'alternative' therapy a witch doctor comes up with.

I went to a lecture on human arthritis back in the mid 80's and the wise speaker pointed out that at that time after a hundred years of records the best answer he had was to keep the joints gently moving without weight loading ..so lying on your back in a tropical swimming pool, gently moving about (and for people popping regular aspirin) kept the joints functional for longest. But that doesn't fit with a dog's lifestyle.

Or you can just pop down the pub for believable opinion.

[Floyd]

Whilst at the Scottish game Fair, I came across a product called Joint Aid for Dogs. They certainly believed in their product and said I would see results in 10 days.  Noting how dubious I was they gave me a months free sample.

Floyd is 9 years old Border Collie and after 3 weeks there is a noticable difference in the way he is sprinting, and also not so creeky after a sleep.

www.gwfnutrition.com/#!joint-aid-dogs/ci8g

[Kimbo]

Yumove

[Jukes Mum]

I am not a vet, and obviously the vets will know best, but I have been hearing really good results for stiff dogs being fed curcumin (turmeric powder) with piperine (ground black pepper) and lipids (coconut oil). The latter ingredients to increase the bioavailability of the curcumin.
There are some interesting studies on t' web. Obviously more studies would be needed, but I know a few people who have had good results.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535097/

[AnnS]

I have a 15 year old bearded collie with arthritis. He gets onsior daily along with nutraquin plus. Also has tramadol at night if needed but that's not often. He was on Trocoxil for a couple of years but that was a monthly tablet and I felt he needed a daily med. He potters around, is as bright as a button mentally. He also has a back on track coat he wears at night.

[Old Shep]

I've never seen any improvement with glucosamine, and turmeric just stains your kitchen and hands bright yellow! 

[doganjo]

I'd trust my vet every time

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Here's a story my dog got injured in his leg I took him to the vet and the vet said it may never heal,but to keep his exercise to a minimum. I followed all the vets instructions and I put turmeric in his food with olive oil and he healed within 6 months or less. He was walking absolutely fine, he wasn't on any meds at all and it healed perfectly and he was 9! Since then I give them turmeric and olive oil and they're not very stiff at all, so it must work mustn't it? However just to make sure it is arthritis, and not something else, do consult your vet. By the way how old is your dog?

[Womble]

I've never seen any improvement with glucosamine

I think I did (with me), but it also made me really depressed. Then again, I'm not a dog.

[pgkevet]

If you really an to get into this stuff then read up on cytokines and the scavenging of free radicals. Frankly I can't get my head around all the currently known cytokines and sadly tere's a lot of mumbo-jumbo about every snake oil that can affect them. Some do have genuine free radical scavenging effects (cucumarin is one) and soem have evidencve from known metabolic pathways that they might have a biasing effect on the mix of inflammatory and antiinflammatory pathways.
But I'll reiterate that many of these patients will stabalise over time (not cure) and no longer need the same level of meds..sometimes just because they've adjusted their lifestyle and got 'used' to it. Of curse anything shoved down them during that period gets the credit. At least with dogs there's rarely a placebo effect.. BUT (again) there is a known placebo affect on the owners observation of their dog's response.

The frist place i ever worked routinely used gold injections as a treatment for lameness. It is stil used for specific subtypes of rheumatoid arthritis in people but this practic used it on every lame dog and claimed excellent resuts. It was a 13 week course of weekly injections. reality is that indiscriminately used on everything from a  wrench and strain to a real problem and you're bound to get 90%+ response.

A gentle reminder re other factors that affect abulation and balance ..and add to my previous list such things as diabetic or hyothyroid neuropathies whic can be subtle.

I actually had to take my own dog into the vets today (sigh, sometimes regret having sold my place and retired). he wasn;t settling from his lameness problems and it was time to examine him under G/A and get soem rads done... and he turned out not to have what I'd thought it was going to be. Naturally I played the vet to vet professional card and got to palpate him under g/a and see the rads as they came off the computer. It doesn't look like his favourite game of chasing the quadbike will ever be as much fun.

[SallyintNorth]

I've never seen any improvement with glucosamine

I'd never have tried it except the vet prescribed it.  She said it would take 6 weeks to have any effect, but Horace did seem to be much improved much more quickly than that, and I think I had pretty much been regulating his exercise as she directed before that in any case, as he wasn't my first aging, stiffening dog.

So when I started to exhibit similar symptoms myself some years ago (and the doctors don't seem to investigate anywhere near as carefully as the vets do  - or perhaps with overweight dogs the vet's opening gambit is also, "Get some weight off and come back if it's still a problem"  ).  I asked the doc about glucosamine and he said yes, it does help some people, but take a big dose, 1500mg/day.  So I started on it myself.  I've never been sure if it helps but didn't dare stop in case it was... Same with evening primrose oil... Vitamins... Starting to rattle, I decided to stop the lot and see what happened.  Got more stiff, is what happened, and needing a good course of NSAIDs to get me to loosen up again.