Great Pyranees medical info needed

Hi. I have a Great Pyr male and female. I was referred to this web site because of great support. Both are experiencing weakness or numbness at times in their hind legs. I am not sure what to think of this or diagnose without expensive vet bills. I provide them with a home cooked meal of rice and chicken, mostly rice. I am thinking of adding an additive or supplement such as glucosamine to help with their joints and hope that will solve the problem. any thoughts or advice about that matter would be appreciated. any idea where I can buy this product in bulk cheaper form? I was told also to include want to include chondroitin and MSM in the dosage. any help in finding these supplements in the cheapest form possible would be appreciated. I am Don in upstate NY at catskilldbg1@tds.net :D
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So many questions

Have you had them tested for tick borne diseases? Or other diseases? There are two types of "arthritis" One is the degenerative, bone wearing, the one most of us think about. The second in inflammatory disease caused by disease such as Lyme diease, lupus, fungal infection, etc. There are some pretty serious diseases...Erlichia (spelling...hard to concentrate, I'm being barked at) is particularly bad...not that any of them are "good."

Numbness and pain makes me think spinal problems......disc related. Are they continent.....that is can they hold their urine and poop until approriate times. If not......then nerve problems for sure.

Do their rear feet angle out instead of facing forward? That's a structure problem. Only cure for that is TPLO surgery and to do both dogs would take winning the lottery. This turn-out also leads to repeated torn ACL or other ligaments in the leg hence the TPLO instead of ligament repair.

If for sure this is "just" bone degenerating arthritis yeah pills can help. Glucosamine and MSM, Chondroitan I've read yes and no. Also going on a pain med. Aspirin helps but also eats hole in gut. Animal pain meds such as Rimadyl, et al work better.....but oh the controversy re: Rimadyl or other meds. (mine have been on Rimadyl for years and no problem...except to my pocket book).

For more natural pain killers: try yucca powder available thru various dog supply houses. Didn't work for my guys but might for yours. Also alfalfa tea made by taking up to 3 Tablespoons fresh or dried alfalfa brewed in warm water and served with meals.

To other "herbs" to make into tea is comfrey and stinging nettles.

Also try upping B vitamins by adding green veggies to their meal. Yeah, you gotta do this gradually or else it won't go down at all. Start with fresh parsley and maybe finely chopped cabbage (like for cole slaw).

Another supplement is greenlip mussels sold as GlycoFlex. Worked for some of my guys, not others. None of my current crew will go near the stuff.

The numbness really worries me......knowing about pinched nerves, etc from personal experience. Then I'd be looking at acupuncture for the gentle giants.

I'd get a good vet work up on them. Too often a lazy vet will say, "yeah arthritis" just to take your money and get you out because they don't want to take the time or you show no interest in getting down to the root of the problem. If money is an issue, then you can attempt to make them comfortable with pills and potions, but 'tis better to attack the root problem if at all possible, because eventually the pills are useless.
How old are they?

I had really good results with our last dog on a daily dose of glucosamine chondroitin. We used Flexicose in the liquid form. You can buy it straight from the web site or buy it off eBay for a few bucks less.
Hey Don! Told you this forum has helpful and knowledgeable folks that love Pyr's too.

Don adopted his male Pyr from us in 2001. The Pyr wanted to be the boss and so did our Sheepie. It was not a match made in heaven.

If I remember correctly Doogie, the male Pyr, is 9 years old.
I use Glyco-Flex 3. It has glucosamine, MSM, and green lipped mussel. I bought it online, 3 bottles of 120 chews were about $125 and included shipping. I'll check my paypal to see where I got it.
www.entirelypets.com
bestdogs wrote:
I use Glyco-Flex 3. It has glucosamine, MSM, and green lipped mussel. I bought it online, 3 bottles of 120 chews were about $125 and included shipping. I'll check my paypal to see where I got it.

We use this too.....has worked wonders for ours!!!
Love it just started Murph on it!
Chauncey has been on Glyco-FlexIII for about 5 mos now because of licking his wrist's ( fore-legs ). It has worked wonders. We did notice after decreasing the dose the licking started to increase again. So our vet recommended keeping him at loading dose.
We also got our new supply from Entirely Pets, much cheaper than vet.
what was chauncy's dose (loaded) which gave him the best result and which type of gfIII did you use tablet or chewies. thanks for the reply
Chauncey was on 2 chewables as a loading dose. We decreased to 1 after 6 weeks or so. It took about a week for the licking to start increasing, but not to the level it had been. We are back at 2 and all is well.
We will not reorder the chewables again as he won't chew them. I have to open his mouth and put them far enough back that he can't spit them out. He is a picky eater...even treats or table food.
The good thing is he's pretty cheerful about it, but I will order the tablets next time.
BTW: Chauncey is about 90lbs.
I noticed the chewables you need to give more of...
The tablets are more potent I guess.
Good Luck with the Pyrs
One wiff and mine head for the hills, they really don't like them so I quit fighting it.
I just tell Rosco it's a treat and not to tell the other boys he got it :D
in entirely pets I see there is a new and improved GFIII. the new improved has double the amt of glucosamine and takes less quantity (tabs or chewies) to medicate with. I have an message into them to verify this before purchasing and which way to go. if I can incorporate the chewies into a rice ball treat and it is the most efficient and least expensive I will give it a try.

I am also trying to sell my house in upstate NY and move to a larger acreage so I can adopt or rescue more pets. anyone knowing of or having acreage in your area for sale please let me know. a warmer climate would be nice also.

thanks
entirely pets is pushing Joint max. slightly cheaper. has anybody had any experience with this drug or it could be the company is making a better offer to entirely (forgive my cynicism but wouldn't be the first time that money talked and product and purchaser suffered)
I haven't tried either, but I looked on the web sites (slow day at work) and they have different ingredients. So not a direct comparison ingredient-wise....

Joint max - http://www.jointmax.com/products.html#JM

Glyco -Flex - http://www.glycoflex.com/glyco-flex-canine.php
Love your sofa cushions, nice matching pair. Rather like my floor cushions of years past

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Pretty similar but more vitamin c in joint max, less msm in joint but more manganese. I will wait to see if anyone here has tried joint and has anything bad to say about it.

Glyco-Flex® III
(ORIGINAL) Glyco-Flex® III
(NEW)
Perna canaliculus 600 mg 600 mg
Methylsulfonylmethane 1,000 mg 1,000 mg
Glucosamine HCl 500 mg 1,000 mg
Dimethylglycine None 100 mg
Manganese (elemental) 10 mg 10 mg

Vitamin C (as Calcium Ascorbate) 25 mg 25 mg
Grape Seed Extract None 5 mg
Glutathione None 2 mg
Selenium None 2 mg
Vitamine E None 50 IU


Each dose contains:
(All values are minimum quantities)
Glucosamine HCl 1000 mg
Chondroitin Sulfate 100 mg
MethylSulfonylMethane (MSM) 600 mg
Creatine Monohydrate 400 mg
Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)* 18 mg
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)** 12 mg
Manganese 12 mg
Vitamin C 50 mg
Vitamin E 50 IU
Zinc 2 mg
L-Glutathione 2 mg
Alpha Lipoic Acid 200 mcg
Citrus Bioflavonoids 200 mcg
Selenium 2 mcg
Other Ingredients: Marine Lipid Concentrates, Natural meat flavors (non-bovine origin), Bioflavanol, Microcrystelline Cellulose, Magnesium Stearate.
We've used Osteo-3 for a number of years. Bennet was on 2 a day, Bailey is on 2 a day and Riley gets 1 a day. We use the chewables and they loves them. It also comes in a carob/brownie and granlues.


Crude Protein
not less than 8.0%

Crude Fat
not less than 2.0%

Crude Fiber
not more than 30.0%

Moisture
not more than 10.0%

Calcium
not less than 0.4%

Calcium
not more than 0.8%

Phosphorous
not less than 0.3%

Salt (Sodium Chloride)
not less than 0.0%

Glucosamine HCL*
not less than 900 mg

MSM (Methyl-Sulfonyl-Methane)*
not less than 800 mg

Creatine Monohydrate*
not less than 500 mg

Perna Canaliculus*
not less than 300 mg

Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)*
not less than 18 mg

Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)*
not less than 12 mg

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)
not less than 10 mg

Vitamin E
not less than 50 IU
SheepieBoss wrote:
Love your sofa cushions, nice matching pair. Rather like my floor cushions of years past

Image
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:aww: :aww: :aww:
to Donnor's Mom. i love those gps. they are like me and love to sleep. I must have more someday. according to the gps rescue there are over 800 dogs currently in need of adoption or in foster homes. what is wrong with this human society?
Your dogs are beautiful We have a small farm and I often thought of getting one! Nutramax labs makes a suppliment called Dasuquin It is checked for content ( they make cosequin products which we used for our horses) I feel it is the best on the market and you can shop around on line for prices .It is more expensive but quality controll is done The other suppliments do not offer this It is made here in maryland.
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