Glucosamine-Chondroitin Combinations for Dog Arthritis
As previously stated, glucosamine has not been associated with any significant side effects, which makes it a superior choice over standard NSAID drug treatments when you are pursuing a holistic option.
Commercial companies offer all sorts of glucosamine supplements, with all sorts of other ingredients. Just type the word “dog arthritis” into Google, the world’s largest Internet search engine, and you’ll see advertisements for all sorts of glucosamine supplements displayed in a column on the right side of the display page, each from a different company arguing that their form of glucosamine is best.
The question comes down to which supplement to choose.
This is a difficult question, and we refuse to choose brands because frankly, you have to test to know. Every dog is different. Some dogs refuse to ingest certain brands you try to feed them, and so they might be the best in the world but if your dog won’t eat them then they’re worthless.
Choosing the right glucosamine product can be very confusing because everyone is making scientific sounding claims, and yet it’s difficult to determine which supplement will work best from all the marketing literature being bandied about.
Furthermore, most glucosamine supplements come mixed with a combination of other ingredients like methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), green mussel extract (Pernacanaliculus), boswella, bromelain or vitamin C – which are all known to help counteract inflammation or treat arthritis, so you never know which combo will work best for you pet because of these extra ingredients.
What it comes down to is trying a few different types to see which one does the most for your pet. In trying to determine what to buy, here are a few factors that you should consider:
Amount of glucosamine per daily dose
- Type of glucosamine (sulfate or hydrochloride)
- Quality of ingredients
- Delivery system (liquid or other)
- Synergistic ingredients (green lipped mussels, manganese, etc.)
- Price per day
The evidence currently suggests that if you give a dog glucosamine HCl, it should be combined with chondroitin sulfate for better uptake whereas glucosamine sulfate can be given to a pet just by itself.
Most vets, we believe, prefer a glucosamine/chondroitin combination rather than glucosamine alone.
A good glucosamine supplement should also include the mineral manganese, which can help increase its absorption. Manganese enhances the effectiveness of both glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate to synthesize the production of healthy cartilage.
Remember when choosing a glucosamine/chondroitin brand to compare the price you will pay per day for treating your dog and not the price you will pay per product. In other words, you should compare costs based on the recommended daily dosage, and there are actually a variety of websites out there that do that for you.
When giving your pet glucosamine and chondroitin, you should also follow the recommended dosages for the product you purchase. In general, you should start out at giving high doses to see if the product has a positive effect on your dog, and if you see an improvement, you should gradually lower the daily dosage to a smaller amount.
The recommended dosage for dogs is 1,000 mg of glucosamine and 800 mg of chondroitin per 50 pounds of body weight. Usually you’ll see recommendations to provide a small dog with at least 500 mg glucosamine plus 400 mg chondroitin, whereas a medium sized dog might get 1000/800 of a glucosamine/chondroitin combo, and a large dog might get 1500/1200 mg or more to start with. For instance a large dog would get between 1,000 and 2,000 mg of glucosamine sulfate per day, divided into morning and evening doses. Large dogs should be started on glucosamine supplements well before they even start to show symptoms of arthritis.
Some dogs will do well on less than these recommended amounts (remember to follow your brand’s instructions) whereas some will need a higher amount to get relief. Every dog is an individual, so every one will react differently. The big thing is the fact that despite its proven effectiveness, it might not work for every animal.
Here’s the catch: if you don't see any improvement in four weeks time, try a different brand since different dogs seem to do better with different brands or different types of glucosamine/chondroitin delivery (such as the liquid form found in Syn-flex). The variety of glucosamine brands out there is always increasing and you can readily find formulations such as Cosequin, Promotion, Osteocare and Glycoflex.
You can give glucosamine/chondroitin along with food if you prefer to, but they may be more effective if you give them at least one hour before or two hours after feeding. Once again, these supplements may also work better when they include a small amount of manganese, which helps with their uptake.
You also always have the option of feeding your dog a source of dietary cartilage, from cooked and "de-boned" chicken wings or cooked spare ribs, instead of paying for cartilage products. For dogs with arthritis, there’s no harm in adding 1-2 grams of dietary cartilage to each meal. Another popular alternative is giving your dog bovine gelatin (Knox gelatin or Knox Nutrajoint) since it can easily be added to the food (1-2 packages per feeding), and is a wonderful way to provide variety in glucosamine/chondroitin supplementation.
Glucosamine, nonetheless, is usually the first choice a vet will recommend as treatment for your dog due to several reasons:
(1) It’s readily available,
(2) It’s not that expensive (you can even feed your dog the human brands if you find they are cheaper),
(3) There don't seem to be any significant side effects, and
(4) Dogs often show obvious improvement within just a couple of weeks of treatment.
Best of all, (5) it doesn't just “cover up pain” but actually works to slowly repair damaged cartilage and restore the synovial fluid between the joints. Since it’s working to repair the joints, it’s treating the actual problem rather than just the symptoms of the problem, which is the hallmark of a good holistic or complementary approach.
That’s what you want for your animal!
There’s no reason to think that a glucosamine/chondroitin combination product works any differently for dogs than for humans, for whom we have lots of studies, and we often get the same effect of happy running animals again after they’ve been on it for just a short while.
Frankly, if a pharmaceutical drug could do what glucosamine sulfate does, the drug companies would be shouting out the news from the roof tops but like we said, they can’t make big money with it so they best they can do is ignore it or attack it.
The amount of improvement you can expect with glucosamine for your pet depends on quite a few factors, and seems to be individualistic with the animal. In general we’d say you have about a 40-60% chance to at least see a modest or moderate improvement in their condition, and a 20-30% chance to see a great improvement in the way your pet feels and moves with the supplementation.
Furthermore, remember that glucosamine works slooooooowly, so that improvement is going to take time.
There are also the injectible glycosaminoglycans, Adequan and Cartrophen (Adequan is used in the US, Cartrophen is used elsewhere), when oral glucosamine and chondroitin don’t seem to work, so you shouldn’t just discount them when a knowledgeable vet wants to try them. Adequan was developed to treat race horses and its success “on the track” prompted the first experimentation with dogs.
All in all, a glucosamine/chondroitin combo is your first good holistic therapy to try when your dog suffers from arthritis or dysplasia. However, there are a number of adjunctive therapies that support GAGs and which fight inflammation, too, which we’ll go over next. These are therapies you can use to bolster a dog’s diet or use in rotation for their anti-inflammatory properties.
|
