So my husky has recently begun limping, I took him to the vet- we did x-rays and it turns out he has arthritis in his left elbow. It originally started after hiking, and when I first consulted my vet we thought he may have just pulled a muscle. I waited 3-4 weeks (with no walks and me pulling my hair out,) giving it time to heal, and when the limping continued, we did the x-rays. Since finding out he has arthritis he is on Fish oil twice a day and Dasuquin. He is admittedly about ten pounds over weight from the lack of exercise due to the limping- but we've recently begun walking again in an effort to keep him active and get his weight back down. Even with the fish oil and dasuquin he is still limping after resting for awhile.. my question is; Is there anything I can do for him aside from these two medications? Heat packs maybe? Will anything like that help? And has anyone ever tried aqua therapy for arthritis with their dog? There is a place about an hour from here with an indoor pool and underwater treadmills for dogs with issues. He loves the water, but I don't know if it will benefit him enough based on cost- its pretty pricey.. Just looking for thoughts/ideas/suggestions

Short answer is yes, there are other supplements you can use. My boy has arthritis and you would never know it after being on the supplement regimen we have him on. He used to limp all the time and now I cannot even remember the last time I saw him limp.

You can find our supplement regimen in this thread:
Dakota's having trouble standing - Arthritis

My senior dog has arthritis extremely bad and I took him to the vet for it the other week. The vet suggested we put him on Rimadyl. I give it to him twice a day and it has worked amazing for him! He run's around and shows no sign of pain. However, there are some side effects to it, which are kidney disease and I believe liver disease as well as other stuff, so make sure you get blood work done before using it to make sure your dog is a good candidate for Rimadyl. There are a lot of people who really don't like this medication and had bad experiences while using it, however I've not had any and have had only positive outcomes.

If you would like to stick with something a little more natural, maybe try water therapy or acupuncture. I highly recommend using Nupro joint supplement also. It's amazing and all natural and is a great added vitamin to you're dog's diet. A lady was also telling me to try Cosequin, it's suppose to work very well.

I found this article maybe you would like to read as well. http://www.handicappedpets.com/canine-arthritis.html

Snickers is 13 and has arthritis issues as well. He's a GSD mix, old, and was overweight for most of his life - basically its a wonder that his hips haven't just exploded. He's doing very well though! I use a ton of different supplements for both pups and I'm happy with my results so far. Snickers is 70lbs, if that gives you a frame of reference for dosing.

Glycoflex III daily (Ava gets a Glycoflex I as a preventative measure too). I saw a huge difference in him when we switched to glycoflex! Definitely a keeper.

Turmeric is an amazing supplement. I'm convinced that it can fix just about anything if you use enough of it lol You can buy turmeric supplements, but they're pricey and you can just buy the powder for a lot less. I spend about $11.99 for a pound of organ, non-irradiated turmeric powder on amazon and it lasts forever. Snickers get 1.5 tsps daily. Add a pinch of black pepper and it significantly ups the bioavailability of the turmeric (makes it work better). Google it up - turmeric does great things without side effects and it has so many health benefits beyond arthritis!! Ava gets some too, every day.

How much fish oil are you giving per day? Ava gets 2000-3000 as a preventative/maintenance thing, but since Snickers has inflammatory issues, he gets 5000mg per day. I've read that you can do up to 1000mg per 10lbs, but he seems good at 5000mg for now (also, more won't fit into his daily pill box....)

Other supplements we use are SeaMeal, k9 immunity mushrooms, chia seeds, coconut oil, and Dr Harvey's multivitamin mix.

What do you feed him? Arthritis is inflammation and inflammation loves sugar! Diet is a huge component. At the very least, go to a grain free food. Bonus points if you can eliminate carbs altogether, but unless you feed raw that's hard to do. Even if the kibble/dehydrated food is grain-free, potatoes and peas still have a ton of carbs that most people don't take into account. I'm a big fan of Sojos, but it definitely has a lot of veggies in it (read: fillers). That actually worked well for us because Snickers needed to trim up a little bit and he dropped weight pretty quickly when on Sojos.

Laser therapy is awesome, if any of the vets around you have that. I've seen it do wonders. Acupuncture too, but thats harder to find. And of course, if you have a doggy rehab place nearby, that's an awesome alternative! I'm very jealous.

I keep Tramadol on hand for pain. We use it very rarely if he's having a bad day. Tramadol is not an anti-inflammatory drug, but does help with pain. I'm very very wary of the NSAIDS on the market and wouldn't touch rimadyl with a 10 foot pole if you paid me to. If I had to do something on the nsaid route, I would probably use Deramaxx, but that would be a last resort. We're doing well on all his supplements and the occasional tramadol. When we get to the point that he's using tramadol all the time and that isn't cutting it, I plan on adding in gabapentin. When we get to the point that none of that is working, then I might try deramaxx. But not before I've exhausted every other option.

Zeel is a great option. It's homeopathic and I would say that it works just as well as the tramadol does. I have to dissolve it in about 1/4cup of broth to get Snickers to take it properly (where its a homeopathic, its supposed to dissolve under the tongue. Snickers objects to this idea.). It really does work though - better than I thought it would. On bad days, I give him two in the morning and two in the evening, completely dissolved and given about an hour separate of any meals or treats.

If I think of anything else, I'll add it later =]