Question on supplements

Question
Hi Patti,

I have a 10 year old German Shepherd mix named Freddie. Freddie has multiple health issues including, diabetes, epilepsy, and IBD/SIBO (plus more). Recently Freddie has been crying and whining. His Doctors feel that he has severe back pain from arthritis in his spine. He is currently on Tramadol. I was researching alternative things to give to him to help with his back pain and someone (that I do not personally know) recommeded two products. One is duralactin (duralactin.com) or a product called Choloflex (cholo.com) which has Hyaluronic Acid. Freddie's one Doctor is aware of Hyaluronic Acid usage in horses. But that is about all of her knowledge on either of these products.

My question is, are you aware of these products and any success with there usage? Or, if you have any other products that I could look into for pain relief and/or anti-inflammatory.

The Tramadol is not totally helping Freddie and I need to add something. His Doctor does not feel that glucosamine would help that much with his back.

Any input is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

Thanks,
Ricki and Freddie Jones

Answer
Hi Ricki,

Many people who use these natural supplements have good results, I'm afraid you need to try them to know if your individual dog will respond or not. It's worth a try, since they usually have a low incidence of side effects. A drawback is that most of the time you need to give the supplement daily, it can take a month or longer before you see any improvement. If you stop giving it the joint degeneration will resume.

Hyaluronic Acid is in a group called glycosaminoglycans, Glucosamine is in that group.
Glucosamine is responsible for the synthesis of hyaluronic acid that you spoke about, so that's something you may want to try it, even though your vet didn't think it would work.

Chondroitin Sulfate appears to work well for joint conditions. It's said to help inhibit the degradative enzymes that promote the breakdown of cartilage. It's actually included in many Glucosamine supplements, but you can get it as a stand-alone supplement.

Cosamin DS is a glucosamine/Chondroitin Sulfate product you may want to look into.

Adequan is an injectable substance known as "polysulfated glycosaminoglycan," is very similar to the more familiar oral supplement Glucosamine. It's said to actually help rebuild cartilage in the damaged joints. You can read about it here:

http://www.adequancanine.us/

It is expensive and the injections sting, but those are the only drawbacks that I know of. You can ask your vet if using glucosamine orally might extend the time between injections.

Vitamin E is thought to be helpful for arthritis. The most consistently recommended anti-inflammatory dosage I have seen is 2000 IU/day/dog for large dogs. It is usually necessary to build up to this dose over a few weeks to avoid inducing diarrhea or other side effects. Since this is a fat soluble vitamin excessive dosing could lead to problems so it would be best to discuss this with your vet before trying it.

Acupuncture is another option that appears to help some dogs. If your vet can't refer you to a veterinary acupuncturist, you can search for one here:

http://www.aava.org/pub/location.html
http://www.ivas.org/member_search.cfm

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti