Page 5 - Arthritis in Dogs - Comprehensive by Dr Erik Johnson

I’d say this about Glucosamine: First, it doesn’t hurt a thing. Second, it’s not THAT expensive.
Thirdly, when it works, it works BIG TIME.

Steroids Work on Arthritis and Pinched Nerves

Why not jump straight to steroids?
They work the best, but they have multiple side effects, including weight gain which is
EXACTLY the opposite of what mobility dogs need. Every extra ounce on the body of a mobility-
dog is just another cinderblock in the bed of a truck with a broken axel.
All dogs with arthritis will, and should end up on steroids, eventually. However that should be at
the trailing end of the battle. Your final fallback. Your last resort.

What Are the Best Medications for Mobility Issues in Dogs?

A discussion of the arthritis triad. There are three medications that I’ve been putting together in
cases which intercept the three most common causes of mobility issues as itemized in the
previous paragraphs.

1. Deramax or other Cox II inhibitor intercepts inflammation. The redness and swelling in
affected joints is reduced by this medication. And it has none of the steroid side effects
of thirst and weight gain.
2. Methocarbamol is a muscle relaxer and it’s under-estimated in it’s value. When a nerve
is pinched, the muscle it feeds may spasm. Other times we’ll see muscle spasm as the
body tries to stabilize a “bad” joint. In any event, after a while the spasmed muscle
burns. Methocarbamol releases the spasm of the muscle.
3. Gabapentin is important for “nerve pain” such as ‘pinched nerves’ and “bone on bone”
crepitus. It works by chopping up the painful nerve signals into a staccato wave instead
of a deep, constant current. Even if I’m dead-wrong about how it works, I’m correct in
recommending it as a crucial part of the triad.

Why the triad is comprehensive

Because it intercepts muscle spasm, bone-on-bone and inflammation, it doesn’t leave out many
of the most painful causes of mobility issues.

How to interpret the results of the triad.

Before I was using the triad with deliberate intent, I’d put some dogs on the combination “just
because” I couldn’t guess if they were suffering with muscle spasm or just inflammation. I’d use
all three meds and then something like this would happen:

Dog comes in walking around pretty well.

ME: “Wow, look at him go! What are you doing to keep him going?”
THEM: “I’m using that medicine you sent home.”

ME: “But you’re out of the Deramax and Gabapentin.”