Anybody out there ever had experience with a canine acupucturist or Chiropractor? I have a 10 year old golden retreiver that has a sudden weakening of the back legs. I would swear it is a pinched nerve or the like. We have had her on Rimidyl (doggie advil) and glucos/chondr for 2 years for general arthritis. Just recently she has gotten much, much weaker in the hips.
I’m desperate for some help. Our vet can’t offer us much in the way of hope.
Being University trained, she never thinks along the lines of unconventional treatments. I’m willing to try anything.
I have heard of chiropracty and acupunture for animals, but I have never talked to anyone who has gone this route.
That’s a tough call without knowing the extent of your dog’s arthritus. My girl is 9 and has two different hip displaysia operations under her belt. Her problems were progressing far beyond what alternative medicines could have done; your dog might have the same issues. Unfortunately, there is a limit to what alternative medicines can do to fix the pain of bone deformities that arthritus and dysplaysia can cause. To put it into perspective, I don’t think you’ll find too many stories of people that needed hip replacements finding full relief from acupuncture instead…
Supplements: Is your dog getting a FULL dose of glucosamine/chond? Meaning 1500/1200mg daily, not the trivial amount usually found in animal supplements. Have you added MSM powder to the supplement regiment? Start at 1g per day and work up to 10g (for a bigger dog). Are you feeding your dog EFA’s? Flax & fish oils work wonders, but only in decent dosages (think on a human scale) Is your dog overwight? A fifty pound dog being just ten pounds overwieght puts a lot of unecessary stress on the joints. Have you considered the newer anti-inflamatory drug Deramaxx? Super pricey, but it works wonders on my dog.
Everyone and their freaking mother has a Golden Retreiver. And you know what that causes ?? Unreliable breeding… If your dog has bad hips, it could be genetic… well… I’d put a bill on it…
Find you a G.R. forum and ask them. there are plenty of breed related forums on the internet. They will be more than happy to help advise you. I have 4 dogs myself.
I know this sucks and breaks your heart, but a Bodybuilding forum ain’t gonna help you on this one.
My dog is almost 13 & had been doing REALLY well, but about the start of the yr. he was getting up very slowly & not too active like in the past. So I started him on some Iams dog food with all the joint supps in it & now he great!
Also, my mom use to work with a Chiropracter who did adjustments on dogs & all the people SWORE by it!!
Thank you all for the help. I’m getting referals right now for doggie chiro and acupuncture. Flaxseed oil is an excellent idea. I’ll give her some of mine. Works good for me.
I disagree with Podge that this forum is not the place to look for help. I’ve found that the folks on this site have a better idea of nutrition and health than many doctors I’ve dealt with. A lot of that information can apply to animal health also. I highly value anecdotal information, especially from the folks on this site.