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Need some advice on Metacam and elder husky health on back legs


easywolf32

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Hi all,

I have a Husky/Labrador mix (looks way more like a husky) and he's turned 14 years old last month. Have had him since he was 4 months old. I would like some advice or opinions if possible.

He's been eating 3 things for the majority of his life, Origen regular adult dog food, as well as beef and chicken breasts from the grocery store that I give him twice a day. Also Pedigree dog biscuits. He was  80lbs, than 72, than 52 last month.

Last year his back legs cramped up and could barely walk so I brought him to the vet and they gave me Metacam to give him and suggested I walk him 2-3 times a day and not too far. He recovered very well but he's not like a young dog. Everything went ok for a year and just last month he had the same problem. It might have been also because I neglected him a bit and sometimes would walk him only once which I've stopped doing since. So I brought him to the vet and checked both his blood and urine and they turned out fine however the vet does not think he has much time left in him and was surprised he's lived for 14 years. 

So I bought Metacam again and gave him 1 week's worth instead of the usual 2 weeks and he's again recovered and walking well and is eating his Orijen food as well as the beef and chicken. He had stopped eating Orijen for a week..

Now is there anything else I can do to possibly avoid this back leg cramping? He does not have arthritis but not 100% sure and he also had Lyme Disease caused by a tick in 2013 which i cured, but I know some lyme always remains..

Should I run another SNAP 4Dx Plus Test maybe? What about dog vitamins? What else can I do, he's such a great dog I want to do as much as possible for him. I'd like to see him live as long as possible. One of those wheel chair thingies maybe? I've also bought him a nice memory foam bed for only 85$ on Amazon which he LOVES sleeping on, as well as on the cold tiles in the washroom lol. Thanks for reading this any advice and opinions are appreciated!

PS> That Metacam anti-inflammatory has been a god send I find, would recommend it to anyone with an elder dog with back leg issues.

This is him 5 years ago :)

 

 

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I have a girl with arthritis and she's on metacam long term ( has been for a year now) I also give her lintbells yumove tablets which are herbal for joints and you can't tell she has any leg problems at all

 

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17 minutes ago, BingBlaze n Skyla said:

I have a girl with arthritis and she's on metacam long term ( has been for a year now) I also give her lintbells yumove tablets which are herbal for joints and you can't tell she has any lab problems at all

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Hi there, BingBlaze n Skyla! Do you use metacam on a daily or weekly basis? I noticed he gets a bit paranoid when on it LOL, it's kinda hilarious actually. Can you recommend me a schedule to keep him on it or something? I will look for the linbells yumove tablets also!! Thanks so much.

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Hi there, BingBlaze n Skyla! Do you use metacam on a daily or weekly basis? I noticed he gets a bit paranoid when on it LOL, it's kinda hilarious actually. Can you recommend me a schedule to keep him on it or something? I will look for the linbells yumove tablets also!! Thanks so much.
My girl has it daily right after her dinner , i wouldn't like to recommend too much but if he is on it daily then he will need annual blood tests to monitor him so definitely something to talk to your vet about

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I would add a "senior" dog multivitamin once in the morning & once at night. The senior vitamins should have 5mg of Zinc in them, which equals 10mg of zinc twice daily. That's very important to have especially in senior dogs. (My Dad's Samoyed is 18.2yrs old & 52lbs and gets "2" senior dog multivitamins a day.)
Also, give a very short walk in the morning and a very short walk in the evening, which is good to keep his muscles & joints moving.
What a gorgeous, sweet baby!!
[emoji191][emoji252][emoji171][emoji295]️

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22 minutes ago, ARMANI & ALINAH said:

I would add a "senior" dog multivitamin once in the morning & once at night. The senior vitamins should have 5mg of Zinc in them, which equals 10mg of zinc twice daily. That's very important to have especially in senior dogs. (My Dad's Samoyed is 18.2yrs old & 52lbs and gets "2" senior dog multivitamins a day.)
Also, give a very short walk in the morning and a very short walk in the evening, which is good to keep his muscles & joints moving.
What a gorgeous, sweet baby!!
emoji191.pngemoji252.pngemoji171.pngemoji295.png

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Husky Owners mobile app
 

Awesome thanks a million! 

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We don't have experience with metacam (other than after surgerys) but as mine are getting older (7, 9 & 10) I've started adding suppliments to their food to keep them as active as possible.

 

We use a couple of different ones, all the dogs get a bit of powder once a day, the older 2 get the sauce aswell (keyu doesn't like it so I don't bother putting it on hers). Both from pets at home :)

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We have a 12 year old Husky and a 10 year old German - looked into all the possibilities for dogs in their later years and went with Green Lipped Mussel as, of all the alternative compounds, it's the only one I've seen with positive clinical trial outcomes (it's one of the ingredients in Yumove). Neither are bad at the moment but they've both slightly slowed, hence the supplement. Metacam's great for short term results but not a great solution longer term due to the side effects. I'll add that, in the past, I've used Devil's Claw (a product called No Bute) which seemed to be beneficial for the Spaniel to whom it was administered (but it too can have long term side effects).

 

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For 13 year old Lunar I use the following:

https://www.riaflex.co.uk/products/canine-joint-plus/

https://www.riaflex.co.uk/products/devils-alternative/

https://www.riaflex.co.uk/products/devils-alternative-equine/

The third one is the same as the second  -  and the manufacturer have confirmed it is identical  (i.e. exactly the same product)  -  however it is cheaper and you get more of it.

In addition he gets Beef trachea  (chondroitin & glucosamine )  

I make my own Devil's claw tinctures,  and cat's claw tinctures - both of which are good for arthritis.   I know that Lunar has arthritis in his paws

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Hi again guys, and girls, I ordered lintbells yumove tablets because it was the only one I can find shipped to my area. It also has a lot of the stuff you guys talked about Glucosamin, green lipped mussel, etc. Should I add some vitamins also? Can you please recommend me a product that also has 5mg of Zinc in them like Armani and Alinah suggested? Or any other product you think I should order, thank you so much, I should have done this 5 years ago!

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15 hours ago, easywolf32 said:

Hi again guys, and girls, I ordered lintbells yumove tablets because it was the only one I can find shipped to my area. It also has a lot of the stuff you guys talked about Glucosamin, green lipped mussel, etc. Should I add some vitamins also? Can you please recommend me a product that also has 5mg of Zinc in them like Armani and Alinah suggested? Or any other product you think I should order, thank you so much, I should have done this 5 years ago!

For zinc rather than buying supplements why not try food?

 a contributing factor in Zinc Deficiency is that Zinc is not considered to be highly absorbable by the body and studies show that only 15% to 40% of the ingested zinc  
 in the mammalian diet is actually well absorbed.   
   
  zinc
most meats,  100 grams of meat yields 100mg of zinc mg
beef 100
chicken 100
duck 100
pork 100
salmon 100
Turkey 120
lamb 150
liver 130
tuna in oil 120
eggs 70
apples, blackberries, strawberries 100
plain yogurt 200
carrots (raw) 50
potato (baked) 120
peanuts (raw)    5 25

Because of the way I feed (raw) my boys get around 250mg - 300mg of zinc a day  -  which even at 40% absorption  only gives 100mg - 110mg of zinc. 

The other added advantage is that you KNOW the type of zinc they are getting is the most easily absorbable by the body  -  many supplements use a cheaper, less absorbable form of zinc - a few of which can cause inflammation and gastrointestinal distress.

(Sorry  -  I am a nutritional nerd)  

 

 

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Great info thanks. I feed him cooked beef or chicken twice a day plus his Orijen food. Ordered the tinker bells hips and joints supplement as well. If you guys think I should order at least obe more thing let me know :))

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 5/16/2018 at 1:42 PM, BingBlaze n Skyla said:

I have a girl with arthritis and she's on metacam long term ( has been for a year now) I also give her lintbells yumove tablets which are herbal for joints and you can't tell she has any leg problems at all

 

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Husky Owners mobile app

 

 

 

 

Quick update, I've been giving Wolf lintbells yumove tablets once or twice a day and I believe they're working great! He gets up walks around, up and down stairs, even eats them on his own! Usually he's picky. Thank you so much for the recommendation. Also crunch up a multivitamin once every 2-3 days and place it on his food. :)

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Quick update, I've been giving Wolf lintbells yumove tablets once or twice a day and I believe they're working great! He gets up walks around, up and down stairs, even eats them on his own! Usually he's picky. Thank you so much for the recommendation. Also crunch up a multivitamin once every 2-3 days and place it on his food. [emoji4]
I've just looked this up n I've been giving skyla hers all at the same time :o oops might have to start spreading them out over the course of the day

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2 hours ago, BingBlaze n Skyla said:

I've just looked this up n I've been giving skyla hers all at the same time :o oops might have to start spreading them out over the course of the day

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Wait maybe you're doing it right or maybe it doesn't really matter. I just did it to go slow and see what happens. :)

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Wait maybe you're doing it right or maybe it doesn't really matter. I just did it to go slow and see what happens. [emoji4]
It probably doesn't matter too much but on Amazon it says to spread them out , I'll look on the box tomorrow just incase

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@easywolf32 ~ I'm so happy to hear your beautiful baby WOLF is doing better!![emoji4]
I'm glad you're giving him the Yumove morning & night and a Dog MultiVitamin every 2-3 days. I didn't know if the MultiVit makes a "Senior" MultiVitamin because those usually have more Zinc and vitamins needed specifically for senior dogs. Also, the zinc in MultiVitamins will absorb because it is supported by other vitamins. *But keep doing what you're doing and don't change a thing because it's working.[emoji4]
You could check with your Vet to see if you could give the MultiVitamin every "day" like in the afternoons to space everything out.
I think you're doing awesome!! Definitely keep us posted!!
[emoji847][emoji191][emoji252][emoji171][emoji93]


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34 minutes ago, ARMANI & ALINAH said:

@easywolf32 ~ I'm so happy to hear your beautiful baby WOLF is doing better!!emoji4.png
I'm glad you're giving him the Yumove morning & night and a Dog MultiVitamin every 2-3 days. I didn't know if the MultiVit makes a "Senior" MultiVitamin because those usually have more Zinc and vitamins needed specifically for senior dogs. Also, the zinc in MultiVitamins will absorb because it is supported by other vitamins. *But keep doing what you're doing and don't change a thing because it's working.emoji4.png
You could check with your Vet to see if you could give the MultiVitamin every "day" like in the afternoons to space everything out.
I think you're doing awesome!! Definitely keep us posted!!
emoji847.pngemoji191.pngemoji252.pngemoji171.pngemoji93.png


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He says thanks lol :)

just came from outside he got a 6 foot twig stuck on his harness, was so hilarious. He's looking great for an 85 or so year old :)

 

 

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  • 2 years later...

You can find a lot of high-quality medications online, if you are ok with these kinds of practises. However, I don’t have a lot of experience with this issue. I hope everything will turn out fine in the end for you and your dog. You can definitely find support here. Though, I might have one recommendation for you. This online platform bulldogpapa.com is great for any kind of question you have regarding dogs, health, eating, etc. They write pretty informative and comprehensive information, so you might find your answer on that website. Please let us know how everything will go. Best of luck and take care!

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