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glucosamine and chondroitin
- Thread starter PamH
- Start date
Crittercall
Well-known member
I'm a broken record - talk to your vet!
I put my daughter's Golden on shark cartilege as she got older and was having obvious trouble getting about and it helped a lot. That seemed to be the forerunner of glucosamine and chondroitin.
My vet did advise the G&C for my older dog, but she is having some arthritis-related problems.
I put my daughter's Golden on shark cartilege as she got older and was having obvious trouble getting about and it helped a lot. That seemed to be the forerunner of glucosamine and chondroitin.
My vet did advise the G&C for my older dog, but she is having some arthritis-related problems.
judy
Well-known member
I started giving it to my 14 year old cat about 3 weeks ago, she has stiff front legs but otherwise appears to be in good health, perfect weight (since she reduced), nice coat, great appetite, happy demeanor. I decided to try glucosamine and condroitin and got something at the pet supply store called Biologic Vet Joint. That company makes several different formulas for different things and they have one for joints which i've seen before. The ingredients are here
http://www.biologicnr.com/biologicvetnx/products/biojoint.htm
Fluffy did not like the taste or smell of it. I don't think the smell is so good. It smells like a vitamin. It's powder that you sprinkle on their food. I followed the instructions which goes by the weight of the animal, and you start off with a smaller amount and work your way up over a week or so. So, i started off really small. She gets very small food portions anyway. She's about a 9 pound cat.
She is a cat who will eat anything and will accept anything, but she clearly didn't like this stuff. She would be hungry and start to eat and then she'd stop. But because she was hungry she would eventually eat it.
I gradually increased it for about 4 days, and was still giving way less than the regular dose for her weight, when i stopped giving it to her because she disliked it so much, i thought i would find it in another form that she would like, maybe some kind of treats if i can find them. But i must say, even before i stopped giving it to her, the stiffness in her walking noticeably improved. I didn't expect that. I thought it would take a while, after getting to the regular dose. She has not been getting it for a couple of weeks now and the stiffness is still better. So i still want to give it to her.
In addition to glucosamine and condroitin, it has anti-inflamatory stuff in it, that's the largest ingredient, so maybe it's that rather than the glucosamine/condroitin that explains the improvement. Also, it could just be a coincidence and have nothing to do with the stuff, but i have to say, her symptoms were continuous, they never got this much better for this long of a time. I got some for my mom. But again, i don't know if it's the glucosamine/condroitin or if it's anti-inflamatory mainly. The anti-inflamatory part is not the conventional NSAID or aspirin kind. You can see the ingredients at the link.
While i was searching for the Biologic Vet site, i found something about internal digestive tract bleeding being associated with glucosamine and condroitin. millions of people and a lot of animals take it without bleeding so it should be ok, but there should be awareness of this and caution. It sounds like you would not want to use it if taking aspirin.
click
Just now, i was looking for a human version of this on the web, to get for my mom, something that would have the same anti-inflamatory formula, and i saw some place where it says glucosamine and condroitin can take months to show results, so if that's true, it must've been the anti-inflamatory part that helped fluffy, or something else.
I also just read, in an ad for another product, that there has been research showing that glucosamine and condroitin don't work. but my mom's regular doctor did recommend it. here's the link
http://www.naturaljoint.com
here's the quote
here's a link to an abstract of the New England Journal of Medicine article
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/354/8/795
The researchers concluded that it might help people in a certain subgroup. It was restricted to people with knee pain.
http://www.biologicnr.com/biologicvetnx/products/biojoint.htm
Fluffy did not like the taste or smell of it. I don't think the smell is so good. It smells like a vitamin. It's powder that you sprinkle on their food. I followed the instructions which goes by the weight of the animal, and you start off with a smaller amount and work your way up over a week or so. So, i started off really small. She gets very small food portions anyway. She's about a 9 pound cat.
She is a cat who will eat anything and will accept anything, but she clearly didn't like this stuff. She would be hungry and start to eat and then she'd stop. But because she was hungry she would eventually eat it.
I gradually increased it for about 4 days, and was still giving way less than the regular dose for her weight, when i stopped giving it to her because she disliked it so much, i thought i would find it in another form that she would like, maybe some kind of treats if i can find them. But i must say, even before i stopped giving it to her, the stiffness in her walking noticeably improved. I didn't expect that. I thought it would take a while, after getting to the regular dose. She has not been getting it for a couple of weeks now and the stiffness is still better. So i still want to give it to her.
In addition to glucosamine and condroitin, it has anti-inflamatory stuff in it, that's the largest ingredient, so maybe it's that rather than the glucosamine/condroitin that explains the improvement. Also, it could just be a coincidence and have nothing to do with the stuff, but i have to say, her symptoms were continuous, they never got this much better for this long of a time. I got some for my mom. But again, i don't know if it's the glucosamine/condroitin or if it's anti-inflamatory mainly. The anti-inflamatory part is not the conventional NSAID or aspirin kind. You can see the ingredients at the link.
While i was searching for the Biologic Vet site, i found something about internal digestive tract bleeding being associated with glucosamine and condroitin. millions of people and a lot of animals take it without bleeding so it should be ok, but there should be awareness of this and caution. It sounds like you would not want to use it if taking aspirin.
click
Just now, i was looking for a human version of this on the web, to get for my mom, something that would have the same anti-inflamatory formula, and i saw some place where it says glucosamine and condroitin can take months to show results, so if that's true, it must've been the anti-inflamatory part that helped fluffy, or something else.
I also just read, in an ad for another product, that there has been research showing that glucosamine and condroitin don't work. but my mom's regular doctor did recommend it. here's the link
http://www.naturaljoint.com
here's the quote
here's a link to an abstract of the New England Journal of Medicine article
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/354/8/795
The researchers concluded that it might help people in a certain subgroup. It was restricted to people with knee pain.
Crittercall
Well-known member
Is your cat on a strictly dry diet? If so, you might be able to mix the powder with a bit of canned and see if that isn't more edible. Or maybe some cream cheese?
We bought an additive (don't remember the name) that was supposed to help with skin problems, coat, etc. We gave it to the dogs and they turned their noses up at it. I don't blame them - it stinks!! (But knowing how they love a stinky smell outside that just doesn't make sense!)
Good luck with Fluffy. Sounds like something in the mix was working.
We bought an additive (don't remember the name) that was supposed to help with skin problems, coat, etc. We gave it to the dogs and they turned their noses up at it. I don't blame them - it stinks!! (But knowing how they love a stinky smell outside that just doesn't make sense!)
Good luck with Fluffy. Sounds like something in the mix was working.
judy
Well-known member
Crittercall said:
:lol:
Yes, she's on a purely dry diet, Maxi Cat Senior. I would be willing to put her on a premium brand like i do with Zack, including EVO, but at her age, i hesitate to change things because if she starts having symptoms, it might get confusing. i did try getting Organix and she did not seem as eager to eat it as the MaxiCat, probably because of the flavorings added to the commercial brand.
She gets canned once in a while as a treat. I am nervous about changing a diet that seems to be working, she's had MaxiCat of one kind or another for years. But maybe the arthritis is related to the commercial cat food? anyway, i know she would eat the Joint formula if it was mixed with canned food but am wary of changing her diet. I think i will try just giving it every three or four days at first with canned food, and gradually increasing the amount i'm putting on the food, up to the recommended amount, and see how she does. thanks!
Cathy Moon
Well-known member
Several years ago (before my cavaliers) my old dog had arthritis in her hind legs. Her vet prescribed something with greenlipped mussels in it. It really helped her mobility. People thought she was a puppy at age 12! I think the effect of it was similar to glucosamine and chondroitin.
Crittercall
Well-known member
Judy - I definately understand about changing the cat's diet. I had 7 cats at one time, down to 1 now but they all had to eat CMN/UR or they would get cystitis. My vet stopped carrying it for a while and we had all sorts of problems. I had them order some and all is okay now.
Green-lipped mussels, huh? Oh, I know they exist - it just sounds funny!
Between this and trying to get more iron into Wallis's diet I'm getting quite the education! She also needs help with mobility.
Green-lipped mussels, huh? Oh, I know they exist - it just sounds funny!
Between this and trying to get more iron into Wallis's diet I'm getting quite the education! She also needs help with mobility.
laurenlyn1
Well-known member
there is an article about this in this issue of whole dog journal. i haven't really read it yet but i just thought i would let you know.