early arthritis care?

Is there any way to help prevent arthritis when dogs are young? Hannah is one and I was wondering there was some sort of vitamin or something I could give to her to maybe help prevent arthritis when she is older?

I don't know if there's any way to prevent arthritis, but all of my dogs get glucosamine chrondroitin. One of them has arthritis and she gets more than the other two.

Same here...I give my two young dogs glucosamine on a daily basis.

While glucosamine supplements do help with arthritis and other joint problems, it's not likely that they prevent them. It's good to start giving it early and in sufficiently high doses where problems start to show up, but giving them for prevention is something I'm very skeptical about.

Well, at minimum, wouldn't the supplements help to promote strong joints?

Mordy, I wondered about that. Chip is getting older but shows no aches or pains... I do give him one of my fish oil tabs and occasionally throw him my calcium...that OK ??

Glucosamine

Hi Folks

There is no cure for arthritis however it has been proven that glucosamine can rebuild damaged cartilage. It also lubricates the joints adding some cushioning. Arthritis can occur in a damaged area, even in younger dogs. I use liquid glucosamine syn flex for both my girls. One gets it because she has knee stifle and the older one gets it to help lubricate and cushion her joints and cartilage.

Thanks! I'm not looking for a cure but just something that I can give her to maybe help prevent or lessen the arthritis. Like I said she is only one years old though, where can I find the liquid glucosamine? A pet store or a human health store or something.

I know Mordy is the specialist here... but I just know what has worked on my dogs....
Missing Link Joint Plus Formula, 500 mg of vit. c, a cap. of 3 omega fish oil and good kibble.
I am sure Mordy can put more input into this, but I gave my boxer, who had arthritis, Missing Link and the above and within a week, HE NEVER LIMPED AGAIN. Now, again, this was just my dog, not saying it will work on every dog.
But it can't hurt to try. Again, I believe Mordy is the specialist here on this type of subject.
Amy

Grammy - fish oil is always great, it helps so many parts of the body, from immune system to skin. The calcium isn't likely to do much (kibbles have good calcium content), but in small amounts it's harmless.

Glucosamine can certainly make a huge difference where problems are present, my friend has had some amazing results with Adequan injections in two dogs, both of which had surgery for elbow dysplasia and the older of the two has arthritis as well.

so unless she starts showing signs of arthritis (which she hasn't) there is nothing that I can give her to slow it down?

Yes and no - just because your dog doesn't show signs doesn't mean it's not present. Some dogs have a very high pain tolerance and will not let on that something is wrong until it's very wrong already.

Since your dog is still very young and there are no signs of discomfort to that end (correct?), your best bet of keeping arthritis and other joint issues at bay is keeping her lean. A good quality fish oil product (e.g. from seapet.com) and some vitamin C can't hurt and have other beneficial effects, but to be honest, I don't believe in giving specific joint supplements (e.g. glucosamine, MSM etc.) as a preventive.

she is always been lean, even now. No she has no discomfort, that I can tell. The fish oil from seapet which formula do you buy, there's so many. Would she have to use a lot of fish oil or no (for a 55 lb dog)? I gotta sort of watch my spending but would like to use that for her. I got her human vitamin c (from walmart) and it sort of seems like it upsets her stomach whenever she used it. I also tried brewer's yeast from walmart (a little off topic) and she got sick from that as well she can only use the pet formula brewer's yeast.