Hi - I've been reading all the info I could find on this board re: glucosamine and other joint treatments and I've got a couple of questions just to help clarify some things -

1) My dog is an almost-3 year old lab mix. 75 lbs. He doesn't seem to have any joint issues but I was thinking about giving him glucosamine as a preventative. From what I've read on here, it sounds like there's no studies that have proven that it works like that; BUT that Ester-C is good thing to give him as a preventative. I got a bottle of 500 mg capsules today at the health food store so I'm thinking about giving him 1 twice a day (so 1,000 mg/day). Does that sound about right? I also give him 3 pumps of salmon oil per day and 400 IU of vitamin E. I feed him mostly raw food - mostly honest kitchen - with some raw meat, and occasionally Evo red meat kibble.

2) I have an older foster dog right now who is probably between 8-10 years old. We don't know much re: her history, but she's a 58 lb chow mix and she has some sore hips, a sore knee from an old injury, and occasionally it seems like she has a sore shoulder as well. I want to make her feel as good as possible, so I've started giving her 2 capsules of meriva-sr each day (250 mg of curcumin per tablet) and that seems to be helping. I also feed her the same foods as my dog, and I give her 2 pumps of salmon oil and 400 IU of Vit E per day as well. I suppose I should now add in the 1000 mg of Ester-C, just like my dog, right? The next thing should probably be glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM? If so, which product is best? Leerburg sells 3 kinds: Synflex, Grand Flex, and Joint Oats... Any suggestions? OR, today I saw that there are several kinds of glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM liquids and capsules at the health food store and the prices weren't bad. Would one of those work as well or better? I'm not really sure what exactly to look for in trying to find the best supplement, nor am I exactly sure about the correct dosage (if I get it from the health food store).

Any advise is greatly appreciated!

Hello, my Chow had horrible hip problems, so I did a lot of research on this same subject. I'm guessing Ester-C has Vitamin C in it?? Just be careful not to give high doses of Vitamin C, because it can cause diarrhea. The liquid Glucosomine tends to be absorbed better than the tablets. The formula we got from our vet had Glucosomine and Chondroitin in it. My dog had no side effects from this. These did tend to help my dog a bit in the beginning, but once it got severe, it didn't seem to do much anymore. Good luck! This is just my experience. You might want to check with your vet to be safe.

Hi Matt,

As far as I know, both the Grand Flex and SynFlex sold here at Leerburg are excellent products. I have not used them myself, but know a few who do with good results.

I would say that your foster dog, could definitely benefit from using one of them(not sure which one, but someone here, I am sure will step in to advise)
However, I have also read that there is no indication, that it helps for "preventative" measures.
Also, if you are feeding a raw diet, and your dog consumes raw chicken parts, it is loaded with natural glucosamine and chondroitin, in the cartilage they consume.
Nothing better than the actual food being consumed for the best benefits of those two.

I do use Ester-C on both of my dogs. I have read that it can help with allergies in combination with the salmon oil. But there was a study done also about the it's use for hip dysplasia, and pain control.

It is best to start slowly, and maintain dosage. You can slowly increase dosage until you have bowel tolerance.
For my two, I give 1500 mgs daily.
I have read that for dysplastic dogs, the higher dosages of Ester C are needed. (2000 mgs)

MSM has excellent anti-inflammatory properties, but not much data out there for use in dogs, however, is used widely in the horse arena. So, I don't know about dosage for that.

Thanks for the info you guys -

I discovered today that my vet sells a glucosamine product called glyco flex. I think it comes in 3 varieties. So now I've got that one to consider too. The thing I don't understand is that neither the glyco flex nor the grand flex have chondroitin in them (though the synflex and joint oats do), and the joint oats is the only one with msm in it. On the other hand, the human-grade joint formulas at the health food store tend to have all these things in them. I'm just wondering if there's any good reason why I shouldn't feed the human-grade joint product to a dog. If so, then I think I'll go with the synflex, since it also contains chondroitin, and I won't worry about the msm for now since I'm giving her the curcumin.

In the meantime, I've decided to increase Zora's salmon oil to 3 pumps per day, and I've got both of them on 500 mg of ester-c for now... will double that to 1000 in a couple of days, and then up again to 1500.

Onward and upward!

My vet suggested using regular human supplements. I've also used canine versions and human supplement with my dog I can't tell the difference in her. If you go with the basic human supplements all they have in them are the basic glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM.

I think you're okay going with just glucosamine/MSM as I've heard mixed reviews on the effectiveness of chondroitin - it's certainly not going to hurt your dog, but the other two are the ones that help joint issues the best from everything I've read.

ETA - Right now my 40# dog gets 1000 mg of glucosamine and 500 mg MSM daily along with her fish oil

I use Zuke's Hip Action, I know it has some things, such as grain in it, that I try to avoid, but I have found the dogs love it and compared to human supplements, they are competitively priced. I feed a couple a day to get higher levels of glucosamine and chondritin. Here are the ingredients and info:

Beef, Ground Rice, Ground Oats, Malted Barley, Gelatin, Maple Syrup, Vegetable Glycerin, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Fresh Apples, Fresh Carrots, Canola Oil, Ground Flax Seed, Fresh Blueberries, Lecithin, Salt, Phosphoric Acid (a natural acidifier), Garlic Powder, Sorbic Acid (a preservative), Chondroitin Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Sodium Selenite.
Guaranteed Analysis – Beef
Protein not less than 10%
Fat not less than 8%
Fiber not more than 3%
Moisture not more than 29%
Glucosamine HCl* not less than 300mg
Chondroitin Sulfate* not less than 50mg
Calories Approximately 22 per piece

I use a supplement that has chondroitin, (marine source), MSM, glucosamine and Hylaronic acid, I use it on my young large breed dogs as an investment for the future, and on my older gun dog for a slightly arthritic shoulder that was the result of running her out too early as a pup, my fault, didn't get a grip on the exhuberance or her need to chase birds/hares, but have had great results with this product.
Tracey

Keith,

Is there a therapeutic dose in the Zuke's treats? I have no idea how much they need, or what a "serving" is.

I give them between 2 and 4 per day. Therapeutic in Humans is ~1500 mg Glucosamine. For a hundred pound dog with Zuke's, 3 = 1200 mg and 4 = 1500 mg.

Thanks guys. The Ester-C seems to be helping - we're up to 1,000 mg now and will go to 1,500 in the next day or so. I'll probably start a glucosamine supplement later this week