Arthritis Front Legs

[tattie]

Can anyone advise myself,what’s the best I can do to help my 10year old cocker.
Was at vets yesterday,advised to cut excerise to 10 min walks with a dose of painkiller subscribed.
Any help would be grateful.
This is my first dog,so not very experienced or very little knowledge.
Gutted as we walked everyday ,but  his mobility began to struggle since turn of year .

[elaine.e]

Many, perhaps most, older dogs end up with varying degrees of arthritis, so you are not alone.

My personal experience at the moment is that I have an almost 15 year old, William, with fairly mild arthritis. I make sure he stays very slim. Any excess weight will make life more difficult for a dog with arthritis. By slim I mean that when viewed from above he has a noticeable, but not exaggerated, waistline behind the ribs and in front of the hindquarters.

I'm a raw feeder and personally I believe that his raw diet also helps, but I know there's only anecdotal evidence to support that. Nobody has done any scientific studies as yet. He isn't on any medication because he doesn't need it at the moment. He has a very strong glucosamine and chondroitin supplement called Riaflex with his breakfast every morning. He still enjoys about 40 minutes off lead in the New Forest every morning, mainly at a steady trot or walk nowadays, although he can still break into a run if he smells a nice horse poo snack somewhere nearby

My friend's Golden Retriever, Ruby, was much the same as William is now by about 10 years old but became worse and eventually needed daily meds to help her. I know she was on Metacam for a long time, and other meds such as Pardale (a paracetamol based pain reliever at other times). Metacam and other meds. can do damage to internal organs eventually, but if they're needed, as they were with Ruby and probably will be with William, then I wouldn't hesitate to use them along with keeping the dog slim and adjusting exercise as needed.

Lovely Ruby lived until she was 15. She could only do short walks in her last couple of years but they were mainly off lead, because she self regulated and didn't overdo things, so she was still walking and sniffing around and just being a dog and enjoying herself, just at a much slower pace and for short periods. Her owner also used to take her to garden centres and dog friendly coffee shops to give her a bit of variety in life and keep her mentally stimulated. So although I'm sure that not being able to do long walks is disappointing for both of you, there's no reason why you can't still go out and about and do a variety of things 

[fionad]

My daughter runs a canine hydrotherapy centre. Many of her clients have suffered arthritis but the gentle non weight bearing exercise they get in the clean, warm water has only positive effects with many cutting down or stopping  medication, and improving mobility.

I have seen it with my own eyes. It's amazing.

Hope your little friend can get some relief soon. Perhaps he will be better when the warmer weather comes too.

[vixen]

Marley was diagnosed with arthritis when only 5. The vet prescribed medication but after reading about the side effects, I thought I would try a more natural approach. We are insured and the insurance did cover hydrotherapy sessions. I feel they helped her a lot but we had to stop as she hated the sessions so much. This reaction is very unusual as most dogs love it but it was causing her distress and I felt the positives didn’t balance the negative. I started to give her turmeric paste, restricted her exercise ( both the duration and the terrain) and made sure she wasn’t left cold or damp. This regime has worked for Marley. She is now 11 and people are surprised when I say she has arthritis as she doesn’t show any obvious signs.  I also suffer from arthritis and know from experience it comes and goes. Sometimes it’s really bad, sometimes I forget I have it. When Marley does show signs of limping I do resort to the strong pain killers prescribed by the vet but this happens very very rarely nowadays.
I feel I made the right decision for her but everyone has different approaches to the health care of their pets and your dog may have a more severe case of arthritis than Marley.
Good luck with whatever you do decide to do.

[tattie]

Thank you,ever so much for the advise received.Going to restrict walking times to 3/4 a day possibly 10minute walks,rather than the usual long hour walk for starters.
Got painkiller but going only to use when necessary.
Purchased yu move tablets,got to try something.
Some days he is fine,next he can barely move.
But at least I have the information from you people now,
Thanks.