Arthritis in my dog

Question
Our dog is 14 years old and has arthritis really bad in all four of her legs, but the front legs are the worst. She has licked her right front leg open on several occasions and I put a sock on it with medical tape, but she always manages to get it off one way or another. I sometimes spray that Bitter Apple on her legs to keep her from licking so much. She's probably doing this because of the pain she's feeling in her legs from the arthritis. Our vet wants to put her on the medicine called Rimodyl, however, I just saw a report on our news about this medicine and how it's killing the dogs and not helping them. In turn, it makes their condition much worse and not better. So I've been giving her a half of an aspirin in the morning and another half in the evening. At first this seemed to help a bit, but in the evenings she's really bad. I was wondering if there's anything else we can do for her, because it's just heart breaking to see her limping around so bad that she can hardly get over to her food and water bowls. I have to carry her down the steps to get her outside to go to the bathroom. If you could give me any other information to another medicine or treatment that could help I'd really appreciate it. Thanks a lot!

Answer
There are other prescription pain medications available other than Rimadyl.  And for the record, there are MANY, MANY dogs on Rimadyl who do NOT have any problems and it DOES benefit them. Sometimes the news doesn't get the whole story.  Aspirin can cause just as many problems with stomach ulcers or affect organs if used improperly.

With any prescription NSAID we recommend blood work PRIOR to starting the medication to check kidney and liver function as well as WHILE on the medication to monitor any potential side effects.  

I would recommend either MELOXICAM or ETOGESIC.

In addition, getting her on a GLucosamine--MSM joint supplement is also very important in treating arthritis.  We use SYNOVI G3 Soft Chews with great success.  However, there are many products out there...another good one is Arthrisoothe that contains Boswellia and Yucca, which are natural anti-inflammatories.

Consider Acupuncture or chiropractic care as well.

And Lastly, you may want to consider ADEQUAN, an injectable joint supplement for arthritis.