Natural Supplements for Dog's Arthritis?

[thespiritinme]

I'd love some advice for natural supplements to aid in my dog's arthritis. He's already on a liquid glucosamine/chondroitin supplement (K-9 Liquid Health, one of the best) and gets fish oil (Nordic Naturals Omega-3 compound) on his food. He was on arthritis medicine (Deramaxx and, previously, Metacam), but the meds caused pretty serious stomach ulcers. Now I want to find someway to naturally combat inflammation. I'd love some advice! My little guy is a 12 year old Jack Russell.

 

[mesta831]

@thespiritinme

glucosamine/chondroitin supplement

From Is Recommending Glucosamine for Arthritis Evidence-Based Medicine, or Wishful Thinking?:

[T]here was insufficient evidence to support a recommendation of glucosamine and chondroitin as an alternative to NSAID medication for treatment of clinical signs attributed to osteoarthritis in dogs

The same veterinarian has a few other articles talking about glucosamine and chondroitin here: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/?s=glucosamine

fish oil

Some fish oil information that might be interesting (from the same vet): http://skeptvet.com/Blog/?s=fish+oil

He was on arthritis medicine (Deramaxx and, previously, Metacam), but the meds caused pretty serious stomach ulcers. Now I want to find someway to naturally combat inflammation.

You need to talk to your vet (or a different vet) and find a better alternative to the two things you've tried so far. If there was a way to "naturally" treat the inflammation and pain caused by arthritis, vets (at least the good ones that practice evidence-based medicine) would be using it.

And, I know you're trying to do what's best for your dog, but if you try to fix your dog's inflammation and pain using supplements or other "natural" things that haven't been proven to help, you're hurting your dog. Even if it seems like what you're trying is working, there is a really good chance that it is just something called the caregiver placebo effect:

From Caregiver Placebo Effects: New Study Shows that Owners and Vets Often Believe an Ineffective Therapy is Working When it Isn’t:

This sort of result indicates pretty clearly that even if people report feeling better, it is not a good idea to rely on placebo effects alone because they don’t actually improve the condition being treated.

...

These placebo effects, seen in dogs not actually receiving any therapy for their arthritis, were highly significant and easily large enough to make an ineffective therapy appear effective without an objective measure of response. This illustrates quite clearly how important it is that we not accept only subjective assessments of arthritis treatments as proof that they work. We have to remember that the caregiver placebo effect means that the owner or veterinarian judge the patient to be improved, but actually the patient is likely in as much or more pain as they were without the treatment. Trusting in our uncontrolled observations to judge the value of treatments for arthritis pain very likely guarantees uncontrolled suffering for our pets and our patients.

And, from Pets and the Placebo Effect: Part 2:

The problem with the caregiver placebo effect (in addition to complicating the evaluation of scientific research) is that it results in pets receiving inadequate relief from their symptoms.

 

[kbupdike]

@thespiritinme One thing to remember about supplements is they aren't regulated by the FDA and sadly many are fake or don't contain the right amount. Ensure any supplement you give is verified by a third party lab. I have seen a lot of joint supplements that turned out to have zero active ingredients. Always consult your vet before giving any supplement, very few have been tested in dogs.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/science/herbal-supplements-are-often-not-what-they-seem.html)

 

[mool]

@thespiritinme Have you tried turmeric? http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/turmeric-dogs/

 

[thespiritinme]

@mool I heard that turmeric really helps, but so far the only kind I can find is large capsules (too big to conceal in a bite of cheese; and with too much powder, so it overtakes the flavor of his food if I open it and sprinkle on food). I'll have to see what other forms I can find. Any recs? Thanks!

 

[haroldrhode]

@thespiritinme I read somewhere that cooking curcumin makes it more bioavailable. Perhaps making some strongly spiced turmeric and liver treats?

 

[thespiritinme]

@haroldrhode This is a good idea. They sometimes get something extra in their food, like rice or chicken, so maybe throwing the turmeric in then makes sense. Great to know!

 

[haroldrhode]

@thespiritinme You could look into cissus quadrangularis and spirulina.