# Diagnosed with osteoarthritis in hips



## Midnight351 (Sep 9, 2012)

Hello,

I am new to this forum, but found it through my searches in helping my dog. My dog, Midnight, is a Shepherd/ husky mix and has been the best and healthiest dog I've ever had. He is slowing down at 12 and a half years old though. In the last few months, he's gone from fairly active for his age, to barely being able to walk around the block. we noticed he wasn't jumping on our bed anymore, he was having some difficulty with the four stairs down to our apartment, and he needs assistance jumping up into my 4 door sedan.
we had bloodwork done 6 months ago and everything was excellent, I took him in last week because of his issues and we did some radiographs. We found that he has very little cartilage in his hips and there is the bony developments that come with arthritis. His left hip is worse than his right. The doctor wanted to do an NSAID panel which we did, to make sure he is ok for NSAIDS. These of course are going to be used cautiously if at all as I am aware of the dangers. I worked as a registered tech for several years before a career change, but I still stay current on the latest and greatest. 
Anyways, he was sent home with Tramadol till we get the bloods back and he does the NSAID flush as i gave a buffered aspirin the night before as he was in lots of pain. The bloods came back again perfect and we are good to start treatments.
The doctor wants to do adequan injections which I'm going to do at home. She also wants to do Previcox for the NSAID as needed. I have had him on glucosamine for years. I've used various brands and switched to a human brand 2 years ago. Well I don't think it was absorbed properly as apparently the tablets are coated and he wasn't absorbing them properly. I bought some dasuquin with MSM to switch to. He also gets salmon oil, Vit E, ester C (which I may stop) and he's on a grain free diet.
I'm really hoping the adequan works. The doctor I worked for never used it so I haven't got to have first hand experience with it, but I've read good things about it, especially for dogs that have their arthritis in their hips. I am also going to look into acupuncture as my aunt is an acupuncturist. It is sad because this dog is so healthy in every other respect. He is a smaller dog at only 58.4 pounds so not as big as my previous shepherd who weighed in at 104 pounds. That poor guy was a rescue, and had spondylosis, hip dysplasia and arthritis. He eventually went down in the back end. 
We never considered Midnight old as up until the last two months, he's been going on 2 mile walks, chases cat(which he still does), and just a happy dog. Now it is finally hitting us that yes even though he's a super dog, he's not immortal and I have yet to find the cure to aging. we aren't ready to give up yet so here's to hoping that our treatments work.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I've used Previcox on my aussie worked great, didn't work so well on one of my gsd's.

I have also done adequan injections on another dog, and did work well but after awhile we just seemed to hit a plateau.

I like the dasaquin with MSM, and I'm all for acupuncture (works WONDERS!)..

If you were a tech/nurse, ask your vet for a scrip for the adequan and give the injections yourself, soooooo much cheaper (which I did) ..

I 've also used tramadol at different times, again, worked ok for one dog, not so great for another..Meloxicalm (human form of metacam) worked well and was very inexpensive also. 

As with anything, you probably have to just try and see what works best for your boy. 

Good luck and I hope he gets some relief and gets back on those walks


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## Midnight351 (Sep 9, 2012)

It's promising that there is so many different things out there. If one doesn't work, try another. That's what we did at work. There were dogs that did great with rimadyl, others metacam worked better. I'm excited about the adequan as if it works, I won't be just masking pain but actually helping. When I had my old shepherd, rimadyl was the only thing available and he had a bad reaction too it. Now there is so much more and for him to get this far without NSAIDs, I'm hoping we can help. On the plus the tramadol seems to help, though it wears off pretty quickly.


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

I have an almost 10 year old that has issues too. Our vet does not want to use NSAIDs as she reacted to Rimadyl when she had a hip replaced 4 years ago. 

So we do high doeses of Glucosamine, Get Up and Go, Adequan injection about every 3 weeks. We recently added a new product called Pet Thrive Petthrive - Resveratrol Therapy for Dogs. Jury is out on this one yet.

Last month we opted to have her joints injected with Hyaluronic Acid. The loading dose is 3 injections 1 week apart and them 1 every 6 months or so. I have seen improvement but I think she will not go 6 months between injections. 

We use Tramadol as needed. 

I feel like if I can get her to 11 or so before having to turn to NSAIDs at a low dose I will be happy.

Just some more ideas for you.

I think it fabulous that Midnight is 12.5 and has been doing so well for his age to this point. Hopefully you can get some relief for him so he happily motors on for several more years.


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## jaggirl47 (Jul 18, 2009)

I used adequan injections on my old man. It worked wonders for his pain. I also had him on a double dose of Springtime Longevity (learned about it here). We also did vit e, fish oil, vit c mix as well. With all of the above, he was in minimal pain. The adequan really did help though and I am so glad he was on it.


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## Midnight351 (Sep 9, 2012)

Hi all, 
I just wanted to give an update so far. We just started the adequan injections on Tuesday. The next one is Saturday. I'm giving them myself im which I have no problem doing as I was a vet tech for a long time. Anyways, he is also getting a half of a 227mg previcox once a day in the am, and tramadol as needed am and pm. He seems a little more energetic and enthusiastic to go on his walks, which we've kept fairly short, but still by the end of the walk it seems like he is weak in his rear end. We are going to give the injections more time as it is only the first one. I'm also giving dasaquin and we are still on the loading dose of that. He gets salmon oil I the am and pm at meals. I'm just hoping something will work. He's happy and healthy in all other respects, and he lives for his walks, so I am hoping to be able to get back some of the length in walks that we used to have.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I have a 10 year old who was slowing down dramatically due to arthritis. I have a thread about him that has many good suggestions you should read here:
http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...-available-alternatives-work-your-senior.html

Adequan worked _wonders_ for him, but it took about 3 weeks into the loading dose (2X per week for four weeks) to see an improvement. Then we scaled back to 1X per week for a 2 weeks, then down to every other week, which is where we are now. I wish I had known about it long ago. 

He also gets supplements that are similar to what you are giving, plus a few more you might want to consider: 
1. natural eggshell membrane supplement (FastJoint+ brand, available at Drugstore.com)--see the thread linked above for the recommendation about this, 
2. Type II cartilage supplement (available at Whole Foods, or online)--again, see the prior thread about this, as you can potentially make this yourself with chicken bone broth
3. Ester-C (there is some research on it is that is promising)
4. B-complex
5. 4000 mg of fish oil (natural anti-inflammatory)---I think the key is to give a big enough dose, so that it's a therapeutic dose, instead of just nutritional support. We worked our way up from 2000 mg. to 3000 and now 4000 (too much too fast can upset the stomach).
6. vitamin e (mixed tocopherol), due to the large fish oil dose
7. Prozyme (digestive enzyme, with Bromelain, a natural anti-inflammatory)

We've been so successful that we've faded the Carprofen/Rimadyl nearly away (though he does still get some Gabipentin, as the vet wants to avoid a pain-recurrence syndrome, and Gabipentin is much safer than the NSAIDs). I also keep the Carprofen on hand in case my guy has a bad day, but he's doing very, very well. 

After a couple of months of this, he is asking to jog again when we go on our walks. His gait is so much faster than it was, it's almost unbelievable. He no longer moves like an old guy. At the socialization field, he is playing "chase" again with the other dogs. Last week, he ranpretty hard with the other dogs, and it made my heart smile to see him doing that again. He wasn't doing any of this 6 months ago--he was slowly walking around the field, staying very close to me and not running at all. He's feeling _good_!

I hope you see the same Adequan results. I can't say how much of my results are Adequan, and how much are supplements. My vet thinks it's all intertwined. All I know is it's working, and it's totally worth the expense.


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## Midnight351 (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks! This does give me hope! I will definitely look into those other supplements. As of now, Midnight is getting a grain free dry food with grain free canned. He gets about 3000 mg of Salmon oil split between am and pm. I am also giving 1000mg of ester c, 800IU of Vit E, 100 mg Coenzyme Q 10, 100mg of hyaluronic acid, the loading dose for dasaquin, 1000mg of pure msm powder, a half a previcox in the am so walks will be easier and tranadol in the am and pm. We give our number 2 injection on adequan tomorrow. 

He does seem much more energetic at the beginning of his walks, but by the middle he doesn't have his tail up as much and it looks like much more of an effort to move the back end. His range of motion is pretty bad on both hips, so he kinda shuffles along . At first I was worried about DM but the doctor says his reflexes and proprioception are still good. He also steps up curbs normally and dosen't high step it like my old shepherd did. I honestly think that it may still hurt to move his legs too much so he is kinda sloppy on his gate. DM is still in my mind as a possability so we will see at his recheck if he is improving at all. He is getting up a little faster, and I can totally tell when he has the tramadol and not. Tramadol definitely puts a spring back in his step but it doesn't last long. The previcox we are only on our third day and I read that it takes about a week to get to theraputic levels in their system. Not sure on that. I would like to phase that one out if the other stuff works. It's funny though because he can still chase the cat throughout the house and you'd never know he has arthritis. It's just those walks that he runs out of gas on. He wants to keep going, but I have to turn him around because I am afraid he would get too tired before getting home.
I have also started taking him to our water front beach walk as I know how far he could go a few years ago, and I know how far he could go before the meds. we are going to take that walk once a week to see if there is any improvement. I figure it will be easier to gauge a difference on the same route week by week. He will go to other fun places at other times during the week though. Here's to hoping!


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I give my old guys Dasuquin and Tramadol. In the past I've also used the Adequan injections on some of them and they also seemed to help and will do it again if/when necessary.


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## Midnight351 (Sep 9, 2012)

Hi all,
I just felt like updating on how Midnight is doing since being diagnosed with arthritis. Well to put it simply, he is doing 100 percent better. He isn't 2 years old again, but it is like taking him back 3 or 4 years in age. He has been on the dasuquin with msm for almost a month. We have just done the 5th injection of adequan in the loading dose period. Ive reduced the amount of tramadol he is getting and the previcox I'm doing every other day. He still gets ester c, vit e, salmon oil, extra pure msm powder, a super b complex and co enzyme q 10. 
He is doing much better on walks. we are going almost our normal distance again and he is trotting with his tail up and happy instead of down. He moves with more range of motion in his hips and therefore doesn't scrape his nails anymore. I was slightly worried about DM because he was scraping his nails on his walks before all these treatments. The doctor says he wasn't lifting his feet enough because his hips were so stiff and sore that he would scrape his nails. We didn't rule out DM but she said if it was DM these treatments wouldn't improve and we would start noticing more neurological signs, which we haven't. The scraping no longer occurs and he is walking great. He jumps up from a lying down position super quick, chases the cat at dinner, he can actually sit without pain and is starting to jump up in the car again. Alot of the improvement we started noticing after the 3rd injection of adequan and he is improving more every week. He goes back for a recheck after the 8th injection and then the doctor will tell us what our maintenence doses are on everything. It's hard to to pinpoint what is actually working or if it is a combo of everything working together, whatever it is it's a miracle!


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

thats so great !! I love reading improved updates Keep on truckin Midnight


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Yay! 

Week 3 of the loading dose was about when my guy started getting measurable improvement too. I think that third week must be the "magic week" for Adequan. My vet's theory is that you can't separate the supplements, exercise and Adequan from the success--they all support one another, and he sees the best results from arthritis treatment when all three are working together.

Congrats on the great result. I'm so glad your dog is feeling great!


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## WVGSD (Nov 28, 2006)

Another suggestion is Duralactin Canine or the Duralactin Equine Joint Plus. I give the Duralactin Equine Joint Plus to my four senior dogs because it is more cost effective and I like the extra ingredients in the "plus" formula. This is an anti-inflammatory supplement that can be used with NSAIDS and supplements as well. It has worked well for my four dogs (the oldest is fourteen years) and also for my friend's mule. She was afraid that she was going to have to put him down last year and, after the Duralactin supplement was added, he is now galloping around his pasture like a younger mule. People can also take the supplement under the name Microlactin as it is sold in health food stores and by vitamin stores.


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## Midnight351 (Sep 9, 2012)

Well we finished our last adequan injection of the loading dose on Tuesday. Midnight has been doing amazing! He is like a new dog on walks. He is staying in front and not lagging anymore. He has his tail up and wagging and he is generally more alert to his surroundings again. Today we went a route that has more hills and is a little tougher. We haven't done it in months because he simply couldn't make it. Well today he tackled all the hills fine and even ran a little at the end when normally he would have been super tired and barely could make it home. He actually looked like he could go farther, but I didn't want to push it. He still scrapes his nails occasionally but not nearly as much as he used to. I think he only scraped once today and it was on uneven ground. We saw the doctor yesterday for a recheck and she said he looks like he is doing great. We did a neurological exam on him just to be safe, and his reflexes are pretty much all normal except on one spot on his back that she pinched that didn't respond as quickly. She said it is relatively normal for some diminished reflex response in older dogs, but we could either pursue it or watch it. I opted to watch it since the signs haven't gotten worse and the signs are really mild. I've had dogs as they got older get a little slower in reflexes and it was a normal aging process. He has no ataxia or anything so since the doctor is comfortable with me watching it since I know what signs to look for, we will recheck in a month.

That brings me to my last question on the adequan. We technically finished the loading dose and the vet said that any other protocol we want to do is basically off label use. We opted to do another month of just once week or maybe every other week to see how he does on that. We are going to do the loading dose twice a year so he isn't going to get that till next april, but in the mean time, I want to do a maintenance kinda thing. Any suggestions to interval time that works for you guys? I don't want to wait till I start seeing signs, but want them out farther apart if possible.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Midnight351 said:


> I want to do a maintenance kinda thing. Any suggestions to interval time that works for you guys? I don't want to wait till I start seeing signs, but want them out farther apart if possible.


That's fantastic that Midnight is doing so well! It's the same kind of result I experienced with Simon. I really think Adequan is amazing stuff, and I wish it were the first course of treatment for arthritis for more canine seniors. The loading dose is not inexpensive, but a few hundred bucks weighed against a few more years of pain-free mobility is a great bargain!

Your vet is giving you different advice than mine did about maintenance. The advice I got was that after loading, we step it down to a maintenance dose (which is pretty much what you have opted to do on your own). We went to once a week (2 weeks in a row), then every other week. Some of my vet's clients stay at every other week, some go down to once a month if the dog can maintain at that dose. It depends on the dog whether once a month will work. We're staying at ever other week for now, as the results are so amazing (Simon's wanting to jog with my DH, and it's fabulous to see him feeling so good). The long-term cost of two shots a month is manageable for us, so we're happy to stay on a maintenance does that's working, esp. given how safe Adequan is.


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## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

My 11 year old male, after the loading stage, is now on Adequan 1 time per week. _We do those ourselves at home and it is a big difference in cost_. We tried spacing it out further but the once a week does best for him. This is also the one with EPI so we also have that to work with.

He also takes Tramadol and is getting ready to begin Meloxicam. We also do the joint supplements (liquid/human type).


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