Monday, September 12, 2011

Dog Joint Supplements Question

I'm curious as to what others have found to be reliable joint and fatty acid supplements for their dogs. There are some well known joint supplements (GlycoFlex, Cosequin, etc.) and some other well known fatty acids (Grizzly Salmon, Missing Link etc.). And then lately I've had several people tell me they see success with a more all-in-one supplement that contains both (Platinum Performance for example, and the silver Nupro).

Fish oil, salmon oil or flax?

Do you add Vitamin C or other vitamins?

I'm re-evaluating what I'm using and trying to come up with a (somewhat cost-effective) program for my dogs who are still on a raw diet. About half their diet is Xkaliber from GreenTripe.com and the rest is either raw meaty bones (normally poultry) and other cuts of beef including organs, plus a few veggies now and then (and frankly whatever is in the fridge!). Ten-year-old Chiefie has some pretty visible arthritis in both wrists in front and a little bit in back. Chief has seasonal allergies and sometimes itchy skin; they are much lessened on the raw diet but in the high season the allergies do flare up. Five-year-old Coal is showing "crunchiness" all over according to his chiropractor; with his stocky little frame, Coal pounds the ground pretty hard in his work. Coal always tends to have a dry coat and whether that's due to his preoccupation with playing in water or just the way his skin and coat are, he has responded favorably to salmon oil in the past. Almost three-year-old Rime is apparently sound but I'd like to supplement him at some level. Rime has a nice glossy coat and seems to do well on either the flax based or fish oil based supplements. I'm open to the idea of not using the same supplements for all of them.

Some of the reviews I looked at online say that the joint supplements often don't contain what they have listed on the label. After going to the trouble and expense of the raw diet it hardly seems to make sense to purchase a poor quality product to put on top of it! Opinions welcome. Thanks!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

2 rough coats here -- supplmnting oil daily, alternating good fish and flax (on sale). The coats look great, laying down with lots of shine, and shedding stickers fairly easily .. no skin issues evident. Our chiro recomnds Hylasport Canine for the joints.

Billy said...

Thanks; I had not heard of the Hylasport Canine but it looks like a good product and has guarantees to actually contain what is on the label.

Anonymous said...

very welcome .. she+hub own horses, are involved w rodeo, and she also does chiro for the horses at the local track .. she 1st saw the popularity/effctvness of Hylasport Equine, long before they reformulated for dogs. My dog had recent acute sprain of fore knee/wrist (no brks/chips).. there was less damage to joints than vet expctd and dog is recovering in half the time of vet's schedl (tho we are adhering to recvry/PT orders to achieve best repair). good luck w your search.