Supplement Regime

Liz’s Supplement Regime for Arthritically Challenged Dogs – Updated October 2004 (updates in green)


L-R Annie, Jaz & Belle	Toby (January 2004)

And Introducing New Friends

(R-L) Maggie, Roxie & Gemma

The following is something I wrote in 2001 when asked what supplements I gave to my dogs. I still use the same ingredients today (October 2004), although the players have changed somewhat. Annie, Belle and Jaz crossed The Bridge in 2001 & 2002 respectively and have been replaced by Maggie the Newf (3 at the end of October); Roxie (4 in December) & Gemma (2 at the beginning of this month).

Toby, 8 on October 10^th, is doing great, his elbow dysplasia has caused some arthritic swelling, but he still doesn’t get any pain meds except when there’s a flare-up, and he keeps up pretty well with the girls when they’re out rabbit chasing. He gets all the supplements below except for the Aloe Vera Joint Complex including MSM (http://www.nutriteam.com/msm.htm gives some background on its nutritional importance) as it helps the Glucosamine and Chondroitin to work.

Maggie is unfortunately allergic to fish – so I give her a vegetarian supplement of Omega 3 & 6 oils instead of the fish oils. She also gets Starflower oil, cider vinegar, Bio yoghurt and because she hurt her hip on the ice last winter, I’ve been giving her Aloe Vera Joint Complex & MSM ever since and so far, so good, no more limp.

Gemma and Roxie get the Omega 3& 6 as well as Starflower oil, cider vinegar and Bio yoghurt.

Annie (Update, Annie crossed the Bridge in October 2002, aged 11 years 9 months. She was euthanased after collapsing with congestive heart failure)

is our oldest Bernese at 10½ (average Bernese life span is about 7years), and pack leader. She weighs about 48 kilos, and has been riddled with arthritis for much of her life – in fact, arthritic growths on her knee were blamed for her crutiate rupture when she was 5.

Her X-rays suggest that she should not be mobile at all, but to every-one’s amazement, she manages to keep up with us all on walks and gets great satisfaction from chasing rabbits with the others. She also works hard to keep Toby in his place, sometimes I think she is a better disciplinarian than I am – she certainly manages to make him listen first time, which is more than I can do!

We put her mobility and good health down to the supplements she has been getting for the past few years, I very rarely have to give her Rimadyl (a non steroidal anti-inflammatory) which is a relief… I like to keep my dogs off any drugs unless absolutely necessary, and then when they really need, say a painkiller, I know it will be all the more effective.

Keeping her weight down is also a prime factor in her mobility; she weighed about 55 kgs. when her crutiate was mended – six months with very limited mobility (before diagnosis) is enough to increase anyone’s weight unless they are fanatical about calorie counting! I monitored her food intake very carefully while she was recuperating and between us all, she regained the sylph-like figure of her youth!

Jaz (Update: Jaz crossed the Bridge in November 2001, aged 7 years 1 month. She was euthanased 4 days after collapsing and was found to have a primary lung cancer)

is 7 in September. She came to us 5 years ago with her full litter sister, Belle

(who died in February 01 from a rare Apocrine anal gland cancer) after being liberated from a puppy farm where they were being used as brood bitches.

Jaz has some degree of hip dysplasia but so far is not showing much, if any, arthritic changes in her joints. She also damaged her crutiate ligament in January 1998, but with judicious exercise and the help of natural supplements, she was lucky enough to avoid an operation to repair the rupture and is now walking and running without a limp.

She enjoys running over the fields and although she maybe a little stiff at night, after a good night’s rest, she’s raring to go again!

is a 4½-year-old Newfoundland, weighing in at 68kilos and diagnosed with elbow dysplasia when he was a year old. This was a real body blow to us - we had decided on a Newfy as our next dog, in the hope of being able to raise a dog without joint problems and one who lived to a ripe old age (our previous Bernese had died at 1½ and 3 respectively.) I researched the breed as much as I could, picked a breeder who we knew (I thought) well, and still our pup had problems (most, if not all, hip and elbow dysplasia is deemed to be inherited). Moreover, I had not insured Toby… More out of a sense of not tempting fate than anything else. So there we were, faced with the fact of visits to Dick Vet (Edinburgh University Veterinary Hospital), operations and humungous bills.

I persuaded my vet to put off referring us until the New Year a month away and started Toby on supplements (not Chondroitin - it shouldn’t be given to growing dogs because it restricts the growth of blood vessels) and limited exercise. At least, limited was the plan, but Toby had other ideas and after he had jumped a fence (the only time in his life) to follow us on walks I took him with us and let him limit his own exercise, as I had done with the girls. It worked! Toby’s limp disappeared, the swelling went down and he was back to his normal rambunctious self. The elbow still swells occasionally, but there has been no more talk of operations – and yes, he is now insured, though naturally elbow problems are excluded.

I still can’t quite come to terms with the fact that “Someone” sees fit to send us only dogs with joint problems, but if that’s the way it is, then I shall do my best to cope… And the following is my recipe for helping them stay pain free and mobile for as long as possible.

1 tab. a day. (N.B. Shark’s Cartilage is one source of Chondroitin, as is Bovine cartilage; unless it specifically mentions Shark, then the Chondroitin is taken from other sources.

Just a wee sprinkle twice a day. Dosage says 1gram/100kg of body weight, but my scales don’t read that low! Annie is even more ‘kittenish’ (I know, she’s a dog, but that describes her better than puppyish!) since I’ve started using it.

1 tab. a day. This is the supplement I would chose if I could only give one! I think I saw most improvement in Annie when I started her on this. All the ingredients** are said to help in joint maintenance and possibly can help in the repair of damaged cartilage.

** Ingredients: Glucosamine Sulphate 750mg. Cellulose. Chondroitin Sulphate 150mg. Vitamin C 50mg. Aloe Vera Barbadensis powder (200:1 concentration). Calcium Carbonate. Silica. Magnesium Stearate. Selenium Amino Acid Chelate 50 mcg.

Omega 3 pure fish oils (high-strength). * For heart, circulation and joints.
1 capsule a day.

2 teaspoons a day just mixed with a little water and added to their food. I have also added it to their drinking water, the dogs had no problem with it, but the cats complained loud and long!

Bio Low Fat Yoghurt *Helps digestion by maintaining beneficial flora in the gut.

1 or 2 teaspoonfuls on each meal.
MSM *Helps Glucosamine & Chondroitin to work amongst its many properties.

In addition, I feed a whole food, which has chicken as its base meat (less likely to provoke stomach trouble) and also has 200mg of Green Lipped Mussel extract added per kg. of food.

They also get raw veggies put through a juicer two or three times a week, diced bananas and raw marrowbones twice a week.

Belle and Jaz have always had sub-clinical allergies, nothing desperate, but certain foods, cod liver oil, grass seeds etc. all have the ability to make them itch or have loose stools. I am convinced that the cider vinegar has really helped this - in fact Toby also started with some nasty looking red itchy patches on his tummy a month ago; Beth (vet) said to bathe it in Hibiscrub (an antibacterial wash) and keep up with the cider vinegar. I did the latter, but instead of bathing in Hibiscrub, I used the cider vinegar as a wash. The rash cleared up within the week.

The following is a link to an interesting article on the Internet; it gives a background into the use of Glucosamine & Chondroitin and how they work. It is written with humans in mind, but the same applies to dogs.

The following articles are produced by the company I buy all my supplements from (except the Aloe Vera Joint Complex which comes from an independent health shop), and although they relate to human conditions, the information is relevant to canines as well.

If you have any questions or want to raise any points on the above, please feel free to email me at the following dis-assembled email address (I'm trying to cut down spam!) Re-assemble by removing 'then' from around 'at', ignore any spaces and replace the 'at' with the symbol @: