which dog joint supplement to use?

October 2, 2019 7:11 AM

If you give your elderly dog with joint problems a supplement - which one do you give (and why that one)?

Twelve year old Miko is suffering from shoulder pain. I see claims that supplements help, and I'd like to try one. BUT there are SO MANY of them, I'm drowning in data.

I so could use cliff notes (which ingredients are important? which manufacturers reliable? which form most digestible? anything else important?) and/or personal recommendations!

Many thanks from me and Miko!!!

(BTW have switched him to a good diet and am temporarily giving him NSAIDS - PREVICOX )

posted by mirileh to Pets & Animals (12 answers total)

Glucosamine and chondroitin (usually packaged together) have actual veterinary studies and plenty of evidence behind them.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:26 AM on October 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

We used to give one of the glucosamine supplements from Costco, which was supposed to be good. I apologize I don't remember the specific brand.

I could never tell if the glucosamine was doing anything. The best results came from adequan injections. After a course of these, we were able to take the dog off NSAIDS (metacam.)
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 7:32 AM on October 2, 2019

Our vet recommended Synovi G4 and that's what we use. I am somewhat skeptical of the quality and standards of the supplement industry but Synovi is made by Bayer and has the National Animal Supplement Council quality seal.
posted by muddgirl at 8:04 AM on October 2, 2019

Our vet (who also gives it to her horses) was not too stressed about where we sourced it, and when I said I'd switched to a senior food that had it (Wellness Complete Health Senior) she said that was fine, if they were all eating well.

We combined this with Galliprant/gapiprant daily for pain, which has a low risk of liver/kidney issues.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:36 AM on October 2, 2019

I should listen better but biscotti is smart so I don't actually *have* to but anyhoo she gives all the canids and primates in the house Cosamin ASU from nutramax because it has meow meow science meow that other supplements don't which has been shown to really science the... things that need sciencing?

offtopic: if you've switched foods recently you might stop to check whether the new one is on the... bad heart-too-big thingy... shit list.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:46 AM on October 2, 2019

When our beagle was getting older, we lived in a side split, which required her to go up 4 steps to be in the main part of the house from the entrance. When this got to be too much for her hips, I built a ramp that she took to pretty well, and we started her on Dasuquin. About 2 month after stopping the Dasuquin we mostly stopped using the ramp and was visibly more mobile with her bag legs. For a few months. Then she additionally got some gabapentin (she had a near fatal incident from NSAIDs) for the pain and was good for walks, but still mostly preferred the ramp.

Our current dog has been a bit limpy a few times after running and is 9.5 - we're using cosequin that we get from costco for much cheaper than the dasuquin. We're 2 months now into the cosequin and he hasn't been limpy after any runs, but in part due to weather (he can't run far/long in the heat, and at 10C I've had to limit him a bit). The only difference between the two is dasuquin additionally has ASU (avocado/soybean unsaponifiables) (and more recently it looks like green tea extracts are added?).

If you have the money, I'd go with dasuquin just because I visibly quickly saw a difference in the 1-3 months time frame that a difference was predicted.

I'd go with cosequin before using normal human supplements, if for no other reason that the cosequin is an edible tablet that my dog takes readily and considers to be a low-value treat. Human pills are large, and even when using peanut butter, it's possibly just a matter of time until your dog realizes he's being dosed and starts licking the pb off of the pill delivery food.
posted by nobeagle at 10:03 AM on October 2, 2019

As per DarlingBri's comment, dasuquin and cosequin both are primarily glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM (methylsulfonylmethane). I've only used them in the edible hard tablet form, and I've never had a dog turn them down (and even had a cat viscously attack and eat one I dropped).
posted by nobeagle at 10:09 AM on October 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Our rescue dog was apparently hit by a car while he was a stray and his whole right hip was shattered. And as a stray the injury didn’t get any attention. He uses his muscles to compensate and he amazingly quite mobile.

We give him Dr Kruger Healthy Joint formula.

Good luck.
posted by terrapin at 10:57 AM on October 2, 2019

We started out using dasuquin, which wasn't super clear on helping. We had a dog with spine issues, so we were using other supplements too. I found this on Amazon and gave it a try as it seemed to have all the stuff from dasuquin and the supplements we used and some more stuff. The difference was quite noticeable for our dogs.
posted by disaster77 at 10:57 AM on October 2, 2019

My pup has early onset arthritis and his vet just recommended green lipped mussel supplements for him. He and several of his patients have used it for years and swear by it, so I ordered some to try it.

I used to give him glucosamine / chondroitin but I never saw any improvement after several years, so...I really hope this new supplement works.

He's also just started 3x a week NSAIDs (deramaxx) and that has really helped a lot with his mobility.

Not a supplement, but...Swimming frequently also helps, as it keeps his muscle tone even and his legs strong to support his joints, but I get that not everyone has access to dog friendly swim spots.
posted by ananci at 11:30 AM on October 2, 2019

My vet recommended a combination approach of two supplements. One is chondroitin, glucosamine, MSM, and green-lipped mussel and the other uses anti-inflammatory herbs. Both together gave my aging, 65-lb pup years of relief in his older years and he was far more comfortable and active as a result.

Miko looks very sweet!
posted by quince at 1:03 PM on October 2, 2019

I've had success in arthritic dogs with glucosamine and chondroitin in powder form, just sprinkled on food with some warm water. We also had an elderly dog with nerve-related pain, and gabapentin was very effective at treating that up to a point. (That would be a thing to see the vet about.)

We got our supplements through Greyhound Gang, who are lovely and ship very quickly.
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 1:27 PM on October 2, 2019