[Dori]

Hi Akari. Sorry, I don’t know how I missed this entire thread other than to say life gets crazy around the holidays.

You mentioned that Ginger weighs 11.2 lbs. Has you vet told you what her optimum weight should be? It is very very important to keep dogs that have musculoskeletal problems on the thin and trim side. Every added ounce overweight adds to their pain and discomfort.

But this is really what I wanted to tell you. You say that you are dumping the glucosamine/chondroitin in her food. Glucosamine/Chondroitin should never be given with food. It most definitely needs to be given either one hour before food or two hours after. Otherwise it WILL NOT WORK! That is one of the main reasons why foods that are marketed as being good for dogs with arthritis and contain glucosamine/chondroitin don’t work. They also don’t put enough in to be beneficial but even if they did, the supplement must be given one hour before meals or two hours after twice a day or more often if indicated. That could very well be the reason you are not seeing any improvement with Ginger even though you are giving her the supplement.

Just trying to help.

If you do decide to go with the Purina JM you still need to give the supplement one hour before her meals or two hours after. I don’t have an opinion on the food. Obviously you know it’s not a great food by anyone’s definition but you have financial constraints and are doing the best your pocket book will allow. She’s a senior dog that you don’t have a lot of history about. If you can find one single food that she does well on, give her the supplement the way it is suppose to be given, then I would do that for the remainder of her life. The object is to find some quality to her life. It’s not about how many years you can add to her life, the concern is how well she gets to live the time she has left in her life. She obviously has musculoskeletal issues, she’s had them since you got her and since there’s no way to really know what happened to her before you got her to know what exactly is wrong with her or to do expensive CT scans, X-rays, MRI’s, surgeries, if they are indeed called for, you do the best you can through a food that doesn’t upset her digestive system and give her supplements. My advice to you would be, for right now, to keep her on the Wellness that you are feeding her before you switch her food since her tummy seems to be doing better and start the supplement as it’s suppose to be given and see it it makes a difference. I think it will. Another supplement that you can give her, if money allows you to, is Sam-e. Though it’s marketed as a liver support supplement it is a great anti-inflammatory. You would still need to give her the glucosamin/chondroitin. Sorry my post is so long I was just upset with myself for not noticing your thread on this issue and just happened to catch the sentence where you mention putting the supplement in her food bow.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Dori.