Joint supplements

[Yogibear]

Just wondering if there is any type of joint supplement epi dogs can handle. If so what brand and would I mix with the with food and enzymes of can it be given by itself. And yogi was diagnosed with epi at the end of last year his weight was 71 lbs when diagnosed and last time he went to the vet witch was at least 1 1/2 months ago he was 85lbs. When should I start to back off on the amount of food he gets. His highest weight was 83lbs before being diagnosed but he was only about 1 or 1/2years old so I don't know if that's a good weight to go by. I do know every time I put food down he eats it pretty much right away. And also ive been using enzymes from enzyme diane and the last bag said it was slightly stronger than normal and I might be able to reduce the amount of enzymes by 30%. Do you guys suggest reducing or keeping 1tsp per cup.

[Shirl D.]

Hi! It sounds like Yogi is doing well! You can give joint supplements. I give my Pixie (14 and has arthritis) Dasuquin with MSM, which comes as a chewable pill. She just eats it before I put her food bowl down. She also gets CBD oil for her arthritis. I put a few drops on her food and mix it in right before I feed her. She takes a prescription med from the vet for it, gabapentin, which is a capsule that she eats with a little peanut butter on it, again right before her meal.
As for reducing the amount of food you're giving him, it depends on his weight. Once he is at his ideal weight, you can start reducing the amount of food. You don't want him to be too heavy, as it's not good for his joints. Keep a close eye on his weight, though. Some dogs are fine and maintain their weight when you reduce the amount of food, but sometimes an EPI dog will start to lose weight again. If you notice that, you can increase the food again. If you're not sure what your dog's ideal weight is, you can talk to your vet about it. There are also some general guidelines you can use to try to determine this yourself. Here's a link to one discussion of how: https://www.thepetexpress.co.uk/blog/do ... hy-weight/
Since Enzyme Diane knows that her last batch of enzymes was stronger, it makes sense that you should be able to use less enzymes. You can try her suggestion of cutting back by 30% and watch his poops closely for any signs that you've cut back too much. If you're uncomfortable with that, you could try reducing the enzymes more slowly, cutting back maybe 10% at a time and monitor it. If the first cutback went smoothly for 7-10 days, try another. Unfortunately, everything is trial and error with our EPI dogs!

[Olesia711]

Hi!

This is what worked for us:

My non-EPI dog had arthritis, and i used to give him System Saver http://caninesystemsaver.com/ . System Saver's main ingredient is Bosweilla and Curcumin.

Prior to this, my vet and i stopped the Rimadyl that we were giving him and i gave an over the counter product called TRAUMEEL that contained Arnica in it.... and this actually worked better than Rimadyl.... BUT THEN... the company changed the composition and called the new product T-Relief..... IMHO, the TRAUMEEL worked better....
It appears that you can now get TRAUMEEL once again... just be careful and if you do decide to buy it... buy the real product, not the knock offs. You can purchase it on Amazon.

The good ting about TRAUMEEL or Systems Saver is that you do not have to constantly re-check liver values in the dog like you do with a lot of prescription drugs to reduce the inflammation/pain in Arthritis, like Rimadyl .

[Ehellriegel]

Hello!

I use TriActa for joint supplementation! It is a powder that I put directly on my dog's food once a day, and have been doing so since she was about 3 months old! I have a GSD, and it is widely known that they have join issues as they get older so I followed my breeder's recommendation to supplement with TriActa. I use the stronger dose (blue label) with a growing large-breed dog, but the red label should be fine for maintenance in most breeds https://integricare.ca/product/tri-acta-pet/

Let me know if you have any questions!

[Olesia711]

Thanks for sharing that about TriActa. I looked up the ingredients and was impressed that it included a good amount of MSM. I was told a long time ago by a vet that these joint products really don't work well unless there is a fair amount of MSM in them, like this one has. And it is nice that there are no fillers either:.

Each 1 gram (1000mg) serving contains:
Glucosamine (Glucosamine Sulfate 250 mg, Glucosamine HCL 250 mg) 500 mg
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) 375 mg
Chondroitin Sulfate 125 mg

ALL ACTIVE INGREDIENT – NO FILLER!

[Madelon]

Hi! I've been giving my EPI boy Cosequin DS - I just give him the tablet right before feeding his enzyme meal. My non-EPI dog has horrible arthritis - she was on Rimadyl - I was able to get her off of it using Dr. Baker's Canine System Saver and GlycoFlex3.