# My dogs in pain with arthitis, anything better than Rimifin?



## Sugar (Aug 21, 2008)

Hello,
My Cocker Spaniel who is almost 10 yrs. has had arthitis for a number of years now brought on when he strained his knee/cruciate. He has had half a rimifin a day for a couple of years but recently has been very stiff and very grumpy more or less constantly growling. 
He has had his dose increased to 1 tablet a day but my mum suggested having him put to sleep due to him being unhappy and us having a little one at home but I don't want to give up like this  Ilove him to bit's and want him to be happy again, so will get him to the vets for advice but hoped someone had success with some meds etc so I have some hope.


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2010)

Cartrophen injections will work wonders for about 80% of dogs

Cartrophen and Osteoarthritis


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## JohnM (Mar 26, 2010)

My dog finished his course of Cartrophen last week. As yet I have seen no improvement. Unfortunately he maybe one of the 20% that Cartrophen doesn't seem to help. Alternatively it could still be early days.....other posters on this forum report that it could take 4 - 6 weeks before any noticeable improvement is seen. Whizzer is a 6 year old Westie, and he has a heavy limp from his right front paw.
I am also waiting delivery of a Glucosamine & Chondroitin supplement that could help.
Cartrophen does seem to be the most popular treatment offered by vets, and is certainly worth a try, so I hope all goes well.

John.


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## Guest (Apr 1, 2010)

JohnM said:


> My dog finished his course of Cartrophen last week. As yet I have seen no improvement. Unfortunately he maybe one of the 20% that Cartrophen doesn't seem to help. Alternatively it could still be early days.....other posters on this forum report that it could take 4 - 6 weeks before any noticeable improvement is seen. Whizzer is a 6 year old Westie, and he has a heavy limp from his right front paw.
> I am also waiting delivery of a Glucosamine & Chondroitin supplement that could help.
> Cartrophen does seem to be the most popular treatment offered by vets, and is certainly worth a try, so I hope all goes well.
> 
> John.


I was hoping there would have been improvement by now 
How disappointing for you


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## JohnM (Mar 26, 2010)

Mee too Rona......I'm still hoping to see some improvement within the next couple of weeks, but as each day passes, I'm getting more concerned that they are not going to work.......

Here's hoping.

John


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## dinks (Apr 10, 2009)

Sugar said:


> Hello,
> My Cocker Spaniel who is almost 10 yrs. has had arthitis for a number of years now brought on when he strained his knee/cruciate. He has had half a rimifin a day for a couple of years but recently has been very stiff and very grumpy more or less constantly growling.
> He has had his dose increased to 1 tablet a day but my mum suggested having him put to sleep due to him being unhappy and us having a little one at home but I don't want to give up like this  Ilove him to bit's and want him to be happy again, so will get him to the vets for advice but hoped someone had success with some meds etc so I have some hope.


Hiya Sugar
Please have a chat to your vet with the type of painrelief your dog is getting.There are many on the market and if your dog is not doing well on one type its important to try another.Please dont feel that you are stuck in a rut and theres nothing more you can do.Im not familiar with rimifin - suspect it is a Non steriodal of some sort but other drugs that are in this same group are Metacam, Rimadyl, zubrin,Previcox,there is also a new one that has just come out called Onsior as well.Also many dogs that are also still uncomfortable and that this is not quite enough the vet will also prescribe Tramadol tther things to consider are hydrotherapy and joint supplements in the form of glucosamine.Please have a good chat to your vet - but it does need a good vet that will listen and not set in their ways!


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## Sugar (Aug 21, 2008)

hello,
Thank you for your help, I have had a good cry to day and seem to be thinking a bit more clearly. He is booked in at the vets for next thursday as I want to see the owner who is very good.
The worst thing about it all is that he can get out of the way of my 15 month old like my other dogs do so he is growling and barking at her when he approaches so he is separated from her behind a baby gate when she is walking around. 
As my mums husband had my little girl and the dogs for an hour when we went to the gym for an hour he apparantly was snappy at her and around her face when she was knelt near him.
My mum thinks I should have him put down as he is so grumpy he must be in a lot of pain and he may go for my little girl one day. I don't feel comfortable with this as he has always been gentle and at home he is never left with her at the moment as we know he needs some peace until I can find something to help his arthritis.
I did take him to hydrotherapy once a week when he hurt his knee though there arn't any nearby now.
I am trying him on some scullcap and valerian to help him relax while he is feeling stressed he has had glucosamine and condroitin supps, before. 
I also had him neutered at few months ago to help take away any stress from him but no change.


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

Sorry to have to say this I truly am but you need to think about the quality of life of the animal and not your own personal needs to prolong the animal's life.

It's hard and I have had to make the same decision with my rescue and he's only just coming up to one year old (real bad hipdis through poor breeding). They aren;t able to say "Enough is enough now. No more medication or surgery etc" but they still want to please us and not go against us. Sometimes this means they are abl in mind but no tin body and that can lead to anger through frustration and not just the physical continual pain they are in.

I hope your vet can administer a medication to bring your dog back to how they were I really do but you have to consider it from the more gloomy side of things also.

I wish all of you the very best with this horrible time of things.


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## Sugar (Aug 21, 2008)

This may sound odd but I have just been emptying my dogs anal glands, noticed he was licking and when i checked ha was urm mucusy sorry! I emptyed them (was a groomer so know how) and there was a fair amount of blood and a mix of yellow and green discharge. I think this may be why he is in extra pain and very grumpy at the moment, we did notice blood on the floor a number of days ago and could't work out where it was from;:frown:
Looks like he is infected so will have to ring vet again.


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## nikkix5 (Feb 24, 2010)

Hi Sugar, I'm going through exactly the same thing with my collie x who is 12yrs old.
I noticed over the last 6mths he seemed a little stiff when getting up and also walking a lot slower than normal i took him for his annual booster in Jan and was told by the vet he was in a lot of pain due to arthritis anyway to cut along story short he went in for x-rays last week and it turns out he has a break in his right hip and very bad hips displahsia in both hips, he has had his second injection of cartrophen this week and i can't believe the change in him he was ctually jumping about like a spring lamb the other day playing with another collie and i felt awful spoiling his fun by putting him back on the lead but was worried incase he over done it.

Please have a chat with your vet about alternative meds and also have a look at my thread headed x-ray it tells you all the supplements i am giving him at the moment.

I also noticed last night when i took him to bed he walked up a couple of stairs 1 leg at a time something he hasn't done in a long while, he then bunny hopped the rest lol. I was also advised by my vet to take him out upto 10 times aday for 10min walks to build his muscles back up instead of the normal 2 or 3 walks a day.

Here is the link for you. http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/93764-x-rays.html


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## Sugar (Aug 21, 2008)

nikkix5 said:


> Hi Sugar, I'm going through exactly the same thing with my collie x who is 12yrs old.
> I noticed over the last 6mths he seemed a little stiff when getting up and also walking a lot slower than normal i took him for his annual booster in Jan and was told by the vet he was in a lot of pain due to arthritis anyway to cut along story short he went in for x-rays last week and it turns out he has a break in his right hip and very bad hips displahsia in both hips, he has had his second injection of cartrophen this week and i can't believe the change in him he was ctually jumping about like a spring lamb the other day playing with another collie and i felt awful spoiling his fun by putting him back on the lead but was worried incase he over done it.
> 
> Please have a chat with your vet about alternative meds and also have a look at my thread headed x-ray it tells you all the supplements i am giving him at the moment.
> ...


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## bevstretton (Jan 12, 2010)

Sorry to hear about Suger, by the way love the photo too

I have made a herbal pad treatment just for this and yesterday had Simpsons of Langley ask that l supply them the stock for the grooming parlours, its worth a go and has been on the market for just 9 months, take a look at my web, if l help in any way, l will Relaxing Thyme - Holistic treatments for dogs


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## dinks (Apr 10, 2009)

Sugar said:


> nikkix5 said:
> 
> 
> > Hi Sugar, I'm going through exactly the same thing with my collie x who is 12yrs old.
> ...


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## RebeccaArmstrong (May 23, 2008)

Hi 
Have you looked at a magnetic collar, they can work wonders for arthritis and the thing i noticed the biggest change with

Also, Devil's Claw is a good supplement - it is natures anti inflammatory and can really help naturally... I work alot with arthritic dogs and see good impact with these two things

drop me an email if you have any questions [email protected]
becky


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## Sugar (Aug 21, 2008)

Hi, My poor boy is feeling a little better I think, less growling though it's early days and he is back at the vets thursday. I feel terrible I didn't notice sooner and my little girl always smacked him on his rump when he went passed.He must associate her with pain now.
It has made me realise though that he is getting old and I keep getting horrible butterflies just thinking of it. I will look at the collars and devils claw, there are so many different things that it's nice to hear from people who have used things with success. I did read that the zylkene takes about a month to work and if after 2 months It doesn't work then to stop using. I am hoping the zylkene works to help him get used to my little one again as he was great with her he has never been a nasty dog.
The vet said about a DAP diffuser but they have had the collars for about 5 months and they haven't made a difference so don't think they will work.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

Floss has metacam and is good on it. Very lame without it.


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## Sugar (Aug 21, 2008)

bevstretton said:


> Sorry to hear about Suger, by the way love the photo too
> 
> I have made a herbal pad treatment just for this and yesterday had Simpsons of Langley ask that l supply them the stock for the grooming parlours, its worth a go and has been on the market for just 9 months, take a look at my web, if l help in any way, l will Relaxing Thyme - Holistic treatments for dogs


Thank you that's my Siamese Luna she is a lot bigger now!
These look great, love how they can be applied to the pads, can they be used on cats too?


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## bevstretton (Jan 12, 2010)

Sorry sugar for not coming back any sooner

No to cats using the pad treatments, due to the essential olis, they can be very toxic to cats, as their skins are very different and thinner than dogs

Thank you also for your comments.

The wholesalers for dog groomers will be supplying my products from May, very exciting as l only launched these 7 months ago and they are so popular

Take care Bev


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## lovaspringer (Feb 18, 2010)

hi my old girl bella 13 has athritis in all her legs,only this morning i was talking to my vet,the tabs she is on are predno leucotropin, 2 daily,and according to him their one of the best tabs going for the condition she is doing ok on them, however her right paw joint is realy swollen,has been for months,i asked about injections and will ask about the one here mentioned when i take her tomorrow,i give her omega 3 fish oil caps as well,but being old she wont get any better,but anything that will help im willing to try for her.xx


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## Sugar (Aug 21, 2008)

My boy Reuben just had his first Cartrophen injection last night so fingers crossed, vet said he may notice a difference after the 2nd or 3rd jab so he is still on his rimifin for now too. Oh and his glands are now all cleared up.


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## nikkix5 (Feb 24, 2010)

Sugar said:


> My boy Reuben just had his first Cartrophen injection last night so fingers crossed, vet said he may notice a difference after the 2nd or 3rd jab so he is still on his rimifin for now too. Oh and his glands are now all cleared up.


Awww that's good, our Oscar goes for his last jab on Tuesday and i have really seen a difference in him he's like a spring lamb when i take him up the field lol. 
Also have a look at joint aid for dogs (google it ) it's new and i've read on one site it's one of the best supplements on the market atm. 
I've just ordered some more i found it cheapest in eday £17.99 for 500g free del but you only use a very small amount each day in their food so it lasts a long time. It does take a couple of weeks to get in there system tho.
Good luck
Regards Nikki


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## ploddingon (Jun 15, 2010)

I don't have personal experience but a relative of mine had an old cross breed who had really bad arthritis.

She was on pain relief (sorry I don't know which one) but that didn't seem to control things that well so my friend introduced some more natural remedies - glucosamine, cod liver oil, green lipped muscle tablets (just a bit because it made her a bit hyper! ), and devils claw.

It all seemed to work well because her dog ended up living till she was 19, and went on walks to the park every day.

I hope you manage to find something that will help your dog too.


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