Quote: Wendy Lefebvre

Yeah! Swimming!!!
I think that will help immensely.
But remember (pre sledgehammer my Canadian Friend!!!)
slow & steady!!!!!!

don't get ahead of yourself!

but so happy to hear this news!

Me too!!!!! XOXOXOXO

Yeah, finally. Just a little freedom to start extending his boundaries (authorized).

Our walk was just a little longer tonight (about a 1/2 hour) but I was feeling so good about every step (not that continual overriding worry that we were extending our 10 minutes) and there seemed to be more of a spring in his steps too. And not that he's not engaged but he seemed really into me tonight. I was getting some little nose bumps along the way and it was just really fun.

Despite my faux pas, it is hard and I have been working really hard, staying within the limits of his restrictions. The immediate verbal corrections solidified it even more, removing any wayward thoughts I may have had of repeating the behavior.

So yeah, this was incredibly welcome news.

We didn't do the ladder tonight. I thought I'd wait till tomorrow when time wasn't as limited and we have all day to put it together.

Joyce, great site!! I got lost in there for a while. I'm going to read up a bit more on that licorice. Very interesting anti inflammatory properties. Might be a really good time to introduce it now that he will be off the prednisone after tomorrow. I want to look at that Yucca again too.

And again, thanks guys, really appreciate the support.

Great news CJ, sounds like it's all going in the right direction finally!

Encouraging to hear your vet isn't dismissing the benefits of the supplements, some are more receptive than others, and in my experience of them, they can really help along side conventional meds.

Don't know what the weather is like with you now, but spring is here in the UK, the primroses are out on the ditches, and the hawthorn is budding - new life, new season, hopefully Vince will be enjoying some sun on his face soon, so pleased he is continuing his recovery

Thanks Tracey, March is often a crazy month here, weather wise amongst other things. And this year is no different. The snow was off the ground, the spring smells were starting to waft about and all looked good with the world, had great plans for this weekend.

Woke up this morning and it's SNOWING.

Harder than it has all winter. It’s a wall of white out there. Not super cold, only a few degrees below zero but heavy, thick, blowing snow.

Vince's fate, and ours, is sealed in restrictions again, but it's the weather dictating the terms today. All good though, plans are easily changed.

And yes, I think "open" to supplements was about the extent of it though. We had a really good talk, was a bit like old friends that hadn't talked in a while, with a lot in common. When it came to the supplement part, she actually dazzled me with her knowledge about them. I wasn't really expecting that, shows you should never assume.

Because I had asked about the two specifically, she took the time to calculate what the dosage should be and made sure we got off on a good start, if that’s what "I" wanted to do. No real benefit as far as she was concerned, but no harm either from what she saying.

She did offer up her Salmon Oil knowledge though and said tremendous benefits.

We usually recommend 2.5g per 10kg of body weight a day for ten days, then drop down to a maintenance of half to one 2.5g scoop a day, was that what she advised??

Just curious, as we got that from a vet before we put it on the dosage instructions

Hey Tracey, she gave me the dosage for the 3.

You're obviously not talking about the Salmon Oil but Vince is 109 lbs and she said the dosage of glucosamine and chondroitin were 2500 mg and 1500 mg daily.

She didn't talk about any decrease, those were simply the daily amounts I should be giving him based on his weight.

"She said ..... the salmon oil he gets is definite plus. She went on about the Omega 3s and actually sounded just like Connie at that point. Actually quite knowledgeable. She said she would increase him to 10,000 mg's which she didn't know he was already getting. "

Good for her! A gram of fish oil per ten pounds of dog is a pretty good rough rule of thumb, IMO. I give more to my OA dog as well as my allergy dog, but I'd recommend discussing an increase with the vet.

Don't forget the Vitamin E to protect the PUFAs in the oil supplement! (D-alpha, not dl-alpha, with mixed tocopherols, would be what I'd look for.)

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I'd recommend discussing an increase with the vet.

Hee hee...something tells me I don't need to call the vet to talk about an increase with the expertise we have here.

So Dr. Connie: If you were going to increase the Salmon Oil in a recovering herniated disc dog diet, can I ask what would you recommend?

Dog is 109 lbs and gets fed twice a day. Currently gets about 2 and half pumps (from a 32 oz Grizzly bottle) over each meal. They do get the odd meal of Salmon so on those days I don't worry about adding it with that meal.

I've used the gel caps on the odd occasion that I've run out, but 10 is a ridiculous amount to try and get down him, he doesn't really care for them just dropped in his bowl. So much easier just to squirt it over their meals.

And you really need to talk to me in pumps because I'm not a 100 percent sure what the actually mgs and ratios are. I have to trust the experts there. The vet said this sounded perfect.

And yes, they get a vitamin E capsule everyday too. Kirkland natural source brand, d-alpha. Funny, it's always gone.

Yes sorry, should have said the Gluc/Msm/Chon!

 Quote: CJ Barrett

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I'd recommend discussing an increase with the vet.

Hee hee...something tells me I don't need to call the vet to talk about an increase with the expertise we have here.

So Dr. Connie: If you were going to increase the Salmon Oil in a recovering herniated disc dog diet, can I ask what would you recommend?

Dog is 109 lbs and gets fed twice a day. Currently gets about 2 and half pumps (from a 32 oz Grizzly bottle) over each meal. They do get the odd meal of Salmon so on those days I don't worry about adding it with that meal.

I've used the gel caps on the odd occasion that I've run out, but 10 is a ridiculous amount to try and get down him, he doesn't really care for them just dropped in his bowl. So much easier just to squirt it over their meals.

And you really need to talk to me in pumps because I'm not a 100 percent sure what the actually mgs and ratios are. I have to trust the experts there. The vet said this sounded perfect.

And yes, they get a vitamin E capsule everyday too. Kirkland natural source brand, d-alpha. Funny, it's always gone.

I can't make broad recommendations for the amounts of fish oil I myself use and give to my allergic and OA dogs, because I worked it out pretty laboriously based on the Omega 6s in the diet (remember that 3s are supplemented to improve the 6s to 3s ratio, rather than to provide an absolute amount of 3s per poundage). The one gram per ten pounds of dog recommendation is broadly used because unless the dog is on an extremely unusual diet (basically, an almost-unheard-of diet) or cancer meds, it's a generally accepted safe across-the-board dosage. You'll find it recommended widely (although you will also find half that amount, or one gram per twenty pounds of dog, recommended by other health professionals).

Also, when you get into much higher dosages, it matters a lot what fish oil you're using (the EPA and DHA content). For example, the combined EPA/DHA of the one I usually buy is much higher than, say, Grizzly (which I also buy because the dogs just love it).

I'm just saying that beyond the one gram per ten pounds dosage, there are factors to consider that would make it irresponsible to give a simple recommendation (one that doesn't specify Omega 6s in the diet as well as what the long-chain 3 content of the oil being used is). I really meant it about asking the vet, and your vet sounds unusually knowledgeable about therapeutic dosages.

BTW, is that the dosage on the Grizzly bottle? I thought the dosage for a dog in the 100-pound range was a lot higher. (Again, Grizzly is not particularly high in DHA/EPA compared to some other brands, and the dosage is correspondingly higher than what those other brands might be. DHA and EPA are what you are giving or taking fish oil for.)