Magnus, as I know I've said, is getting to be an old dog. He recently passed his tenth birthday (we had cake) and while that doesn't seem all that old the unfortunate truth is that big Labs don't always last much longer than that. After a recent examination a vet told us he's amazingly healthy for his age, but he does have arthritis and there's no question his joints were really starting to hurt him.
Fritz is a German Shepherd, and although substantially younger than Magnus he has shown signs of hip displaxia, a condition which I'm told is very common in Shepherds.
Neither condition is curable, and I have no doubt that if it were, the cure would be impossibly expensive. But the vet, (back last May, as I recall) suggested an inexpensive treatment. Every evening, at Snacky Time, I grind up four tablets of glucosamine chondroitin and two of aspirin in a mortar and sprinkle it on the big dogs' food.
I had my doubts about the usefulness of giving them patent medicine, but there's no question that, if the medicine isn't helping them, they're doing better spontaneously. Fritz, in particular, wasn't quite dragging his hind legs but he was certainly headed in that direction fast and in a lot of pain. I hated the waste of euthanizing an otherwise perfectly healthy animal, to say nothing of the fact that, fool that he is, he's my buddy and I don't want to lose him. So I gave them the meds very faithfully, and definitely noticed an improvement in both of them.
I'm not the only one: Yesterday we went for a nice walk to our farthest neighbors, and L mentioned that Fritz didn't seem in any discomfort at all. I watched out the window, and yes indeed: He was trotting around their yard like a show horse, happy as can be.
Just a thought, if anyone is having the same issue.
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4 comments:
Glucosamine works! My chiropractor is a big advocate of the stuff. I'm so glad the pooches are feeling friskier.
You might also try a teaspoonful or so of powdered wheatgrass (or "green superfood" supplement) per dog per day. Maybe your landlady can pick it up at a city health food store?
Wheatgrass is very alkalizing and, along with plenty of water daily, can help buffer the uric acid crystals that cause arthritis pain in joints. I've recommended it to several clients after I found it was helping my lower back pain. One lady with fibromyalgia swears by her wheatgrass now, she's feeling so much better.
Good luck out there in the cold and wild. There are many of us with you in spirit.
--Lightning
We finally put our Lab down after much angst, She was almost 16, had epilepsy and was totally unable to do the stairs anymore.
We had to carry her hind end while she took those stairs up, not a pretty site holding a 70 lbs dog behind up while it's walking, but she was insistent as she had always slept on the floor right beside the bed since a puppy.
She would lie there and watch us getting ready for a hike or a trip to the water, I could read her want to join us, but it tore that she could no longer go with out paying with pain for days after.
I'm happy that you have a working pain management for your dogs, I hope it continues to work for many years to come.
Sad really how dogs become members of the family but have such a relatively short life spans compared to us, maybe not so much sad, but kind of one of those cruel twists in life.
Thanks, Lightning, I'll see if I can find some of that. There's a health food store in the nearby little town; I've never darkened its door, but next time I'm there I'll try to remember to check it out.
CM, if I can get another six years out of Magnus I'll be delighted. But you're right: They become family, and family is supposed to live a lot longer. It's just something you have to harden yourself to; part of life.
Glucosamine should be found in most pharmacies and supermarkets nowadays. Granted, if you're in BFE, it may be difficult to find. Worth a shot if'n you're ever in town.
Thanks for the blog! Been great reading your insights, wisdom and quips.
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