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One of my dogs had leg surgery years back, and at the advice of my vet I've been giving her Glucosamine with MSM supplements ever since. It does seem to help her.
Recently, a friend's dog was diagnosed as being arthritic and was also prescribed Glucosamine, BUT my friend's vet said the prescribed dog glucosamine was better than the human supplement kind.
My friend thinks highly of her vet and does not think her vet is fleecing her by convincing her to buy the prescription each month. I am equally happy with my vet, and though I purchase other prescriptions from my vet, he did not prescribe the glucosamine, but told me to just go buy it myself.
So now I'm wondering what the real deal is??
Could there be something about the prescription variety that is more bioavailable to dogs? Or is glucosamine the same no matter where it is sourced?
Nutramax Labs makes a glucosamine/chondroitin for horses, dogs, cats, and people. They make the big, brand name that people recognize. Guess what? The only difference is the size of the dose. Unless there is an actual medication added to whatever the vet is selling there is no reason to pay the premium for a prescription. Your friend's vet is either a good salesman or ..........
My vet said that, oddly enough, human supplements are not regulated as to content, because they are "dietary supplements," not medications. He said that dog supplements are more heavily tested and vetted for content and ingredients.
I haven't heard of needing a prescription, though.
I buy joint supplements from Best Friends in Utah. They are very good.
I'm with the others, I never heard of a Rx for that particular med. I do know that dietary supplements are not as tested or controlled for humans, so I can't imagine the pharmaceutical companies would put a lot of extra testing into something for canines. I had a vet, though, who told me if it wasn't the Nutramax brand, don't bother giving it. Go figure - he wasn't selling the stuff, so I could only assume he truly believed in it for his GSDs.
One thing I've heard of is using the Nutramax Dosaquin with something called Welactin, which is an omega-3 based liquid supplement to help the chondroitin metabolize well. I don't know all the ins and outs of that, although it seems anything with omega-3 would be good for them. The Rottie friends I have that use Welactin say the only drawback is you may have to fiddle with the dosage a little bit because it causes a noticeable burst of energy. Five Rottweilers with extra energy is akin to having a convoy of Sherman tanks in your house. Ummmm....maybe when they are a little older????
For severe cases of hip or joint degeneration there's also injections of__________(sorry, drew a blank there - Aquelan? something like that, they give it to horses, too).
I have another friend who swears by Joint Max - it just has more stuff in it than the Nutramax. I think she gets these online, no Rx required.
Friends and family use both the people and the pet kind. I don't give my dog a supplement but I do put organic coconut oil in her food every 3 days about 1/2 cup. She's only 3 but I want to get the oil in her body before she gets older. She's a lab mix so very active.
Be carefull with MSM, not all dogs can tolerate the ingridient.
I buy stuff from "Puritan's Pride"
It doesn't have MSM, it has Glyc and Shark Cartlage. It actually smells like fish.
I sprinkle in their food and we're done!
I use a product called chondro flex that we sell at our clinic, but it is very expensive. One of our vets tells clients to buy the human Osteo Biflex with MSM...he says this one specifically, I don't know why, but when I no longer work for a vet and stop getting my super-discount, I know what I will be buying.
I don't know why the dog formulas are soooooo expensive! I take a liquid glucosamine/chondroitin supplement and I am going to take the bottle in and have my vets look at it and see if it would be ok to just put on their food.
If vets are like human docs, they get paid premiums from the drug companies for prescribing their meds to patients.
This subject interests me too, as our new rescue Rottie has HD and an ACL tear. Other Rottie owners have told me they use the human Glucosamine/Chondroiton (sp) supplements that they buy at Wal-Mart. Im just wondering about the dosage and frequency for him. (Hes 98Lbs)
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