The two dogs that started me on my journey in Weims are now getting old. Both live healthy and active lifestyles, but recently I’ve been seeing some changes in their activity levels…. slowing down as we all do as we age. Not necessarily a bad thing; just ask Riley why being old rules.
As she turns 10, I have recently noticed Indy limping after intense activity which may move from leg to leg and resolves itself. A vet visit is scheduled to confirm my suspicion that she has arthritis, but in the mean time, here are some things I’m doing to help keep my dogs mobile and comfortable as they live their senior years.
The things I’m starting with are the least invasive or have the least chances of unwanted side effects. I decided to try these first:
- Continue glucosamine supplementation – All our older dogs are on glucosamine and it has been proven to protect joints. Some brands may work better than others, although I have had good success with Dasuquin
which I have used with Riley for arthritis that was beginning to develop in a toe that he broke a few years ago.
- Regularly supplement with quality fish oil – Fish oil has been proven to decrease inflammation. I have not had my dogs consistently on fish oil, but this will now be a regular addition to their meals. I have always supplemented with Carlson’s Fish Oil
due to the quality of their products. Fish oils can get rancid easily, and I prefer oils that are in dark bottles and require refrigeration.
- Decrease hard exercise and increase moderate exercise – In many ways this is the hardest. My dogs still go out into the fields and full-tilt run as if they were half their age. While I love to see their enthusiasm, they usually “over do it.” They can still do more than just walking, but we keep our older dogs at a slower pace in their exercise now to protect their joints.
- (My dogs are happy about this one) Memory foam beds – Memory foam beds
will help to distribute their weight more evenly as they sleep, keeping excess pressure off of specific joints.
- Weight control – Keeping extra weight off your Weim will help immensely in keeping excess pressure off the joints. Osteoarthritis is caused by wear and tear and dogs that are overweight will accelerate this wear and tear.
I will be waiting to see if these measures alone will help with her comfort. If not, we’ll try some alternative therapies before trying more traditional pain relief.
What do you do to help your senior Weims’ old creaking joints?
About justweims
DGP – Dog Gone Pain.
Interestingly my nearly 13 year old is still tanking around and apart from a few turning corner issues she has no arthritis or anything like that
To fill in a bit more: when my old guy reached about 10 years old, I noticed he was starting to be a touch stiff the day after a play-day at the park. My young guy (3-1/2 years younger) has a bad back end, and was also getting stiff after hard activity. Both were already on glucosamine and fish oil. The ‘morning creakies’ were almost entirely gone within a week of starting them on DGP. My old guy’s gone now, but my young one (9 years last month) would be in real discomfort without his DGP.
Neither my 8 year old (he is the one in the photo), or the nearly 13 year old have any supplements. Both do not have any stiffness. I am so lucky with both my weims. I am glad you have found something that is helping.
We use NU-Vet
Metacam and joint tabs from vet. He will be 9 next week.
when my late tripod girl got older I found that swimming was a great form of exercise that seemed to help the arthritis also. Even at age 12 swim therapy in a pool just once a week seemed to put a spring in her step (really, her hop). we did all of the above too, except for the glucosamine which bothered her digestion for some strange reason.
The winters here are so harsh – that is when my 13-year old weim really has trouble. She gets glucosomane Chondrotin 2 times / day and 1/2 vetprofen 2 times per day. It has really helped her. She frolics around and smiles now.
My rigley was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis at age 4. We alternate daily aspirin and tramadol (rx) and it works wonders! I also supplement with cosequin ds everyday