Glucosamine And Fish Oil

[Houndmommy03]

The vet recommended glucosamine for my 10 year old greyhound - does anyone give their grey this? Do you give the human kind or buy from the vet (very expensive!). Also, does anyone give fish oil and if so, how much.

 

Thanks!

Kim and Silver

[Guest sirsmom]

I have an older non-grey girl who gets a full glucosamine pill fromm Costco and I don't add fish oil as it's already in her food.

[Jimbuck]

Freddy receives 2 glucosamine chewables and 2 fish oil tablets everyday. We just started doing this the past month so I can't comment much on it's effectiveness. We switched to Iams (Green Bag) recently so I wanted to make up for the less than ideal ingredients in other ways. I found decent prices on Amazon for his supplements and it definitely pays off to buy in bulk. Good luck!

[TINMANPDX]

I give salmon oil to both of mine - it makes their coats feel like silk and I have read it is good for their joints. I started with the pump kind, but it was kind of stinky and expensive - now I buy human grade norwegian salmon oil from vitacost.com in soft gel form and give them 2 per day. I just mix the soft gel in their food and they have never left it behind in their bowls.

[carronstar]

Aquitaine has been getting Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM and fish oil since coming to me 5 years ago. Recently I added COQ10 to the mix. I immediately noticed a change with that. She now jumps up to my bed to say hi -- it is 4.5 feet above the floor and she only ever once jumped ON it -- now I get a nose in the face every morning while she stands with her paws on there. Her morning zoomies and toy toss is far more rambunctious now, too!

[greysmom]

Gluco/Chond/MSM from Greyhound Gang website and Grizzly fish oil for us. Note that the effectiveness of G/C/M for joint issues are largely unproven scientifically. Unless you give much higher doses of fish oil (my vet said 3000mg I think, whic is A LOT) it's also not effective as an anti-inflammatory. The fish oil does help their coats and skin at lower doses.

[Houndmommy03]

So is human glucosamine okay or do I need to buy it from the vet (a 2 month supply is over $70!) I was going to buy it at Costco.

Edited June 1, 2012 by Houndmommy03

[Saharasmom]

I buy glucosamine from Costco for Coltrane. I just give him one pill in his food in the AM. He did get a bit more active once I started him on it last year.

[tbhounds]

Dasaquin w/MSM soft chews and Welactin. Both standardized and made by Nutramax.

[BatterseaBrindl]

I give Nixon an equine joint supplement...'Recovery EQ'.

Most equine joint supplements are fine for dogs and less expensive.

 

The Recovery people market a canine supplement that has the exact same ingredients as the euqine version, but is chicken flavoured...and it is more expensive.

 

My gang also get salmon oil capsules that I buy at Costco.

[JaneW]

Mine gets it (not from the vet!), plus "Comfort Tabs"--forget what's in those offhand, plus fish oil. I don't think she would be at all mobile anymore without them.

[Guest ndgrey]

Our grey is only 4 years old but our vet recommended glucosamine just for basic maintenance since he'd had such an athletic lifestyle on the track. The concensus seems to be that any glucosamine is fine, it can be cheaper to find equine stuff at a farm supply store, but often people willl use human dose tablets for convenience of being able to purchase at any pharmacy.

 

We found dog chewables to be overpriced and didn't want to try to get him to swallow a human tablet each day, so we buy it in powder form that can just be sprinkled over his food from the greyhound gang. It seems to be a good price, shipping is fast and reasonable, and the proceeds support greyhounds so we're sold: http://www.greyhoundgang.org/shop/index.php We've ordered several times from them now.

[GeorgeofNE]

I never buy any of those things from the vet--they charge way too much.

 

I used glucosamine for over a year on my last dog and found it was useless. I'm an arthritis sufferer myself, and my doctors do not believe it offers any benefit. I don't think it does any HARM, but it can be expensive, and while some people swear by the stuff, there is little scientific evidence it really works.

 

Omega fatty acids (in the form of fish oil), on the other hand, are good for us and for our dogs! They've helped George's skin a lot. I use Grizzly Salmon oil that I get on Amazon.com

[tbhounds]

Actually there is a lot of scientic data regarding joint supplements--- go to Nutramax's website.

Edited June 3, 2012 by tbhounds

[JaneW]

I use glucosmine myself, and yes it work on specific problems. For me, it stops my right knee from grating and "catching" painfully when I straighten it while bearing weight on it. The glucsamine does not do anything for any of my other various joints with issues, but it improves that knee function substantially. If I stop taking it, the knee gradually gets bad again. When I first started my dog on it, the difference was dramatic! She acted years younger and clearly felt better. Now she is much older and it does not compensate as much for the joint problems.

[Batmom]

Little evidence of benefit for glucosamine, chondroitin, etc.

 

If you're seeing a dramatic, rapid benefit, that isn't the glucosamine -- it's something else. Oral glucosamine supplements aren't capable of acting in that manner. Matter of biology.

 

Fish oil might get you a shinier coat and, in moderation (NOT huge doses), a very small reduction in generalized inflammation.

[tbhounds]

Little evidence of benefit for glucosamine, chondroitin, etc.

 

If you're seeing a dramatic, rapid benefit, that isn't the glucosamine -- it's something else. Oral glucosamine supplements aren't capable of acting in that manner. Matter of biology.

 

Fish oil might get you a shinier coat and, in moderation (NOT huge doses), a very small reduction in generalized inflammation.

Actually, thats not the first time I have heard of such a rapid response- biologically possible or not.

[Batmom]

If the response is that rapid, it isn't a response to oral glucosamine. Biologically not feasible. It's a response to something else -- most likely either natural improvement in whatever was causing the problem or placebo effect on the part of the observer.

 

I'm not doubting that people *attribute* rapid changes to glucosamine, but our scientific understanding of how glucosamine is used in cells tells us that it won't have any short-term beneficial effect.

Edited June 3, 2012 by Batmom

[JaneW]

It wasn't rapid! It was dramatic! It took about a week for my dog's behavior to change, but once it did, it was sustained change until I ran out of the stuff, then she got stiff again, so I got more for her.

[tbhounds]

It wasn't rapid! It was dramatic! It took about a week for my dog's behavior to change, but once it did, it was sustained change until I ran out of the stuff, then she got stiff again, so I got more for her.

I don't doubt you saw improvement- I have seen it time after time. Glad you found something that works. FYI- our orthopedic surgeon sends home Dasaquin with all of her ortho surgical patients. She does a ton of cruciate repairs and Dasaquin is included with the pets to go home meds.

 

[MaryJane]

I hate to be a broken record (I mentioned this many times whenever I see a thread about fish oil) but, be careful about how much fish oil you give and make sure that you stop it at least 10 days before any surgical procedure. Fish oil can increase bleeding times and with greyhounds with their "funny platelets" it could cause complications like bleeding . Most vets won't even check to see if your dog is on fish oil and most don't know about the connection between bleeding and fish oil so you have to make sure that you take precautions.

 

The following link is to the Heart association's page and quite a ways down you will see them talk about the correlation between increased bleeding times and fish oil.

 

http://circ.ahajourn.../94/9/2337.full

 

I do give my dogs fish oil but, I dropped down to only one pill a day. I also stop the fish oil if the dogs are scheduled for any procedures like dentals. I also have a few Amicar pills that I keep in the house just in case an emergency comes up and the e-vet doesn't carry it.

Edited June 3, 2012 by MaryJane

[Guest BrianRke]

I like the GNC Pets Hip and Joint Care for seniors (3). My 10yo acts like a 4yo

[greyhoundgang]

Oh my, so many opinions. Here's mine, from having hundreds of hounds pass thru my doors these past 25 years.

Joint supplements work. When it's arhritis, when it's caught in time, when the dose is correct, when it's given daily. Don't take my word - here's Unsolicited testimonials. I get daily. Just got back from my When I am Older talk at Grapehounds in VA. When I Am Older Booklet available.

 

However, they need to be high quality, tested and you need to give enough for a hound, which is same as human dose. Human and dog glucosamine are the same thing. There are not different manufacturing plants, just different marketing. It's all human products, just marketed to pets.

 

Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM - each need to be 1500 mg a day. Vitamin C to bowel tolerance. Do read the labels, as this usually means 3 - 6 pills. Treats and Food don't have the correct dose. Plus it's baked in and loses efficacy. The products are not expensive, just the Chondroitin component of it.

 

There are good products out there - of course i'm biased and know Get Up & Go from Greyhound Gang is one of the best and least expensive, and proceeds help greyhounds - but do your research and make sure you are getting a good product, and giving enough. I have a vet who buys Get Up & Go. I was told it is sold at that office for $36. I sell it for $14.95. Same stuff.

 

Lots of info on Greyhound Gang's website.

 

Here's an Overview on the pure powder - Get Up & Go products - Certificates of Analysis on the site also.

 

Re Fish Oil - some good products, and some bad products. I like Grizzly Salmon Oil. Three pumps (3000 mgs) a day. easy peasy.

 

Happy to answer individual questions at any time.

Email me at - claudia@greyhoundgang.org

[NeylasMom]

All of my dogs get fish oil because I feed raw and want to make sure they get the correct balance of omega oils in their diet, but I highly recommend it for any dog (or cat) having arthritic or joint issues. I put my cat on it when he started getting creaky and it seems to have really helped him. We use Icelandic salmon or sardine/anchovy oil. They purify their oil and then test and post the results to certify there are no toxins (like mercury) left in the oil. You can buy it off of Amazon or Entirely Pets - best price seems to vary.

 

My older dogs also all automatically go on joint supplement. We use K9 Acti-flex here.