Rimadyl or Syn-Flex,Need Help With hip displayisa.

[Guest Anonymous]

My husband's golden Retriver Fetch Has been diganosed with H.D.I am not sure I trust the vets treatment plan,he didn't find it nessary to do A raidograph.He said he needs Ramadyl that was the only treatment he could offer. We insited on the X-ray.I looked it up on the net [ Ramadyl]and found out it only stops the pain.I found another drug that claims to help called Syn-Flex.I calims to rebuild cartlige and stop the pain.Fetch has been living with us for five years and was a rcscue dog,we don't know how old he is.I went through this once before with my beloved english springer spaniel Micha.He was much older than Fetch[ atleast 16yrs at his death,another rescue.]the same vet treated him I didn't know he even had H.D. untill after I had him put down The vet said it was just his age.It haunts me still after 6 years ,I didn't know,I could have helped him atleast with his pain.We don't have the money for an expensive sugery,but he cannot live in pain.After losing my dog that shared 16 of my 22 years of life{ my age at the time of his death}to H.D. and my own stupidty .I can't let it happen again.Please let me know if you have any experince with either of the two drugs mentioned PLEASE I would love any info you can share and your oppinon on treatment Thank You All for your time. Jenny[list][/list]

[Guest Anonymous]

First off I am not a vet all I know is what I have seen...My father has a bloodhound that was diagnosed with HD at a young age and was in alot of pain...The do not touch me I do not want to get up and move type pain... Their vet put her on Glucosamine.. She is doing great.. She runs and plays and hips have greatly improved... I am not saying this will happen with your dog but I am not saying it will not either it is worth a shot... If it was me I would give Glucosamine.



LOOK
Rimadyl (Carprofen): An NSAID developed especially for dogs. Produced by Pfizer. Often effective at reducing pain and inflammation, however ineffective at treating disease or rehabilitating cartilage. Less side effects than other NSAIDs, however death is a possible occurrence with a bad reaction.
Pros: Often reduce pain quite quickly

Cons: Have adverse side effects from ulcers to stomach upset to death. Do nothing to rehabilitate cartilage or treat disease.

Suggested Usage: Use only when your pet is experiencing severe pain. Use during the first few days of beginning a glucosamine regimen, as it can take 1-4 weeks for even a high quality glucosamine formula to begin to alleviate pain. Try to avoid long term use of NSAIDs and do be cautious when using Rimadyl as severe side effects such as bleeding ulcers, liver problems, kidney problems, or in some cases death.

GLUCOSAMINE:::
Glucosamine is a charged sugar molecule that is a key component of the extracellular matrix of cartilage. It absorbs and releases water with each step, thereby acting as a shock absorber for the joints. It is the essential and principal ingredient that determines the quantity of proteoglycan (water-holding) molecules that are formed in the body. Glucosamine also stimulates the production of glycosaminoglycans (GAG's) which are important proteins found in cartilage. They serve to "bind" the water within the cartilage matrix, halting the deterioration of your joints, and stopping your pain.


Chondroitin Sulfate serves to attract fluids into proteoglycan molecules which assists you in two ways. First, it draws nutrients into your cartilage. Secondly, it increases the flow of fluid into your cartilage to add resiliency. It also serves to protect existing cartilage from premature degeneration by blocking "bad" enzymes that destroy cartilage and as well, prevent nutrient replenishment. A naturally occurring component of cartilage aids in the lubrication and cushioning of joints. Chondroitin also provides structure and flexibility to your joints.


Here is a GREAT link on it all!!!! Great for everyone on this site!!
http://www.arthritis-glucosamine.net/pet-arthritis-chronicle/mar02.html

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi Jenny. I wanted to post because I have some experience with what you are going through. I am going to apologize right now for this being long (because I am sure it will be)

I have a 9.5 month old Choc Lab named Angle. I got him in March at 7 weeks of age from a breeder. I asked the breeder about hip dysplasia and he said that he has never had it in his dogs and that he did not believe in it. he felt that it was a way for doc's to make money.

Angle is my heart and soul. I carried him everywhere until he got too heavy! He is my baby. I put him through tons of training and he already has his Canine Good Citizen certification. He is on his way to becoming a wonderful animal assisted therapy dog.

At 7 months of age I started training him for agility. We started with small jumps and weave polls. When he turned 8 months old he came limping in the house one day. I was concerned but I thought he might have just twisted something while outside playing with my other dogs. After a week it seemed to get worse. Took him to the vet. Said it could be a ligament and they put him on asprin. Got worse. Took him back to the vet and they diagnosed him with hip dysplasia...big blow for me. I took it really hard. So I got a second opinion and an x-ray and it was confirmed. He had severe hip dysplasia on the right and a poor hip on the left.

So the second opinion vet put him on Rimadyl. Absolutely nothing happened. It was a waste of my money. Every day he got worse. There was no pain releif.

As a responsible mommy would do I started researching. Surgery, alternative medicine, anything that could help my baby. I stumbled on SynFlex. My trainer had mentioned earlier to try glucosamine as well. So I bought SynFlex and started him on it (large doses at first to get it into his system) I also swiched his food to Nutro becuase they pack their food full of glucosamine. So he was getting a double dose.

In the mean time my husband and I could no longer watch him in pain at that young of age so I called 15-20 local vets and found one who could do an FHO (femoral head osteotomy). He is a great vet who knows what he is doing, has excellent success rates, and had confidence in Angle's recovery. He aslo gave me a really good price on the surgery for his expertice level so I took the opportunity. We had surgery on his right hip on Nov 4th.

Right before the surgery I did start to notice that Angle would have really good days. Days he seemed to be without or with minimal pain. I think the glucosamine was working.

He is now 2 weeks post op and doing great. He is in no pain and is running and jumping. He still doesnt use the leg to walk but that will come with physical therapy. I definetely feel that the glucosamine is helping him heal quicker too.

I am sorry for rambling. I have had success with SynFlex and I hope you do too. Good Luck in your quest.

[Guest Anonymous]

Dog Lady have you ever been to the link I posted... I just found it today and it is very interesting..

[Guest Anonymous]

My beloved 11 1/2 yr. old white boxer was on Rimadyl after having ACL repair several yrs. ago. She was not on it very long and only on a small dosage. 2 yrs. ago, she developed Degenerative Myelopathy and she was put back on the Rimadyl even though she wasn't in pain. It was not really known if it helped her mobility or not, but I didn't take her off of it because I was afraid if it was helping, I'd mess things up, but I took her in every 4 wks. for bloodwork, as Rimadyl can cause problems w/kidney and/or liver function. Hers was fine, but my daughter's lab was on it for a short while and she developed kidney problems, but returned to normal after removing her from the Rimadyl. That vet in Durango should have told about the liver/kidney problems and did regular testing. I can't knock Rimadyl, buy as with any other drug, follow-ups should be done.

[Guest Anonymous]

Thank you all for your help.After collecting all this info as well as from other sites we think we know what we need to do. We bought some Syn-Flex off the net.We will use that daily and add Rimadyl when the painis to bad.I am still concrend about the side effects.Thank you Dr.Richards for letting me know it was safe to use Rimadyl with glucoasmine.Our family vet has recomened a specialist ,we see him next Monday,for surgical options.Our vet also said Fetch was to far addvanced for Syn Flex to work,but he dosn,t know anything about it.{Syn-Flex}Don't get me wrong I love our vet.I feel bad that I don't agree with him.{this time}He has and will be our vet for a long time[.20years ,even my grandma 's dog sees him.}He has saved most of our pets lives Including My dal Domino who was shot by a 22 riffel through the stomach at the tender age of six months.We are going to build Fetch a ramp,and I am putting in carpet so he won't slip.Not that James is letting him walk.Fetch is still in alot fo pain ,He want's to play ball but he can't anymore and it kills us to tell him he can't.He loves his ball so much he sleeps with it in his mouth.If you know anything I can do to help him around the house or anything else I need to know about living with H.D.It will be welcome,I will be here.Once angain I thank you all.You have been very helpful. Best Wishes Jenny

[Ickle]

This is I believe an anti-inflammtory pill
and should only be used for short periods of time.I have a dog who chipped a bone in his leg and was on 2 tablets a day for 4 weeks & is now on one tablet a day for two more weeks (I heard about the kidnyes & interal bleeding.etc if over used) Scares me.
He is on Coequin which Iam told contains Chondroitin & glucosamine and it does appear to be helping.
Have you tried homepathic tablets like Rhus Tox have talked to friends who swear by them
Ickle

[bk_blue]

Celery seed tablets (available from any health food shop, or health food section in your supermarket) are excellent for canine arthritis sufferers. Rinny was on some mainstream medication for his arthritis which wasn't doing much good to alleviate his pain, we put him on celery seed and the improvement was amazing... unfortunately he's too far gone now for anything to be of any good but the celery seed was great when he wasn't so old and sick. Bonnie my aunt's Beagle also takes celery seed for her arthritis (she's 14) and she bounces around like a puppy now. Don't know if it would work for hip dysplasia though...?

[Guest Anonymous]

Dog Lady have you ever been to the link I posted... I just found it today and it is very interesting..

Yes that is where I found out about synflex. Thanks for asking.