Aging dog... Anyone try PhyCox?

[WDWBarb]

My GSD is 10.5 years old and starting to feel her age. She's been on glucosamine daily since she was 4, but it's no longer enough to help her aching joints. I talked to her vet about a daily dose of pain meds, but he wants to do that only as an end-of-life measure because she's had problems with her liver when on various pain meds in the past (she had TPLO surgery at age 4 and tried various prescription meds at that time). He gave me a sample of PhyCox (5 day dose) and it didn't seem to make much of a difference, but I understand that 5 days probably wasn't enough time to know for sure. I ordered a one month supply off Amazon and it has excellent reviews, but I would love to hear if anyone else had success with it (or even other suggestions to keep her comfortable).

I need her to live a long and happy life.

 

[DVCLiz]

My GSD is 10.5 years old and starting to feel her age. She's been on glucosamine daily since she was 4, but it's no longer enough to help her aching joints. I talked to her vet about a daily dose of pain meds, but he wants to do that only as an end-of-life measure because she's had problems with her liver when on various pain meds in the past (she had TPLO surgery at age 4 and tried various prescription meds at that time). He gave me a sample of PhyCox (5 day dose) and it didn't seem to make much of a difference, but I understand that 5 days probably wasn't enough time to know for sure. I ordered a one month supply off Amazon and it has excellent reviews, but I would love to hear if anyone else had success with it (or even other suggestions to keep her comfortable).

I need her to live a long and happy life.

My older dog - 13.5 - takes PhyCox. She gets one a day - I use the ones that are soft chew. She thinks they are candy and will eat it even if I put it on top of a full bowl of food she hasn't touched lol.

She is starting to have trouble getting up - has to scramble a little to get to her feet from the hardwood - but so far so good. I know different dogs move through these later stages differently, but I think the PhyCox must be helping.

I was told at my last vet pickup that there is something new that does the same thing but is lots cheaper. I'll try that when I run out of PhyCox.

 

[O2BNWDW]

I am sorry I can't offer help in the way of a review. But I am curious about this as well. Our situations are similar, I have shep/lab mix who's liver is not well due to phenobarbital and has had two ccl surgeries. He cannot take NSAIDs. Almost killed him about 6 months ago He is now "slipping" when he goes up the stairs and struggles with his arthritis.

We have a noon appt today for the vet so if anyone out there can help.

hope your baby is feeling better soon!

 

[TexasErin]

My 8-year-old Great Pyrenees has been having trouble for over a year now. It started off with her having a hard time lifting her behind off the floor to stand up. Then a couple of months later, she developed a limp and had the TPLO surgery. Then three months after that, she developed a limp in her other back leg and had TPLO surgery on that leg (We are no longer credit card debt-free anymore due to these budget busters, but she's a big part of our family and we love her very much). I just hate that after the thousands of dollars of surgery, she still has a hard time getting up. This morning when I was sleeping, I heard her try to get up twice from my bathroom floor and she couldn't do it, so I got up to help give her behind a boost (she's 126 pounds).

It really sucks when they start having so much trouble.

We've done glucosamine for a couple of years and it doesn't seem to do any good. She was on Previcox, but threw up blood with it (SCARY!), so then we had to start giving her Prilosec 30 minutes before the Previcox, but it still really worried me and didn't seem to do her any good. She recently was given some generic Rimadyl and started having diarrhea; the vet thinks it may be the medicine, but we don't know for sure. And now, she has a lump in her lymph node that we're watching- we took her to the vet Tuesday and he said to watch it and see if it changes and bring her back in two weeks. We're praying it's just an infection, so she's on antibiotics.

She's the sweetest, gentlest dog and it just breaks my heart. We've never found anything that really helps her to be able to stand up and most of it upsets her very delicate digestive system.

 

[O2BNWDW]

HI Everyone

I wanted to follow up with what happened at my vet today. My furbaby is 13 years old and as I stated before has been struggling with getting up lately. I took him to the vet today and he told me about Adequan (hope I spelled that right). It is an injection that is not "supposed" to have any side effects. The vet tech that was in the room said that her 10 yr old (63lb) dog is on her 3rd injection and she is doing VERY well on it. She said that she can just jump up now and is not struggling like she had been.

It is a little pricey though. He needs 2 shots twice a week for 3 weeks and then will go to just one every month. A 2 pack of 5ml bottles on 1800 pet meds is about $104 and for his weight (58lbs) he will need 2.3 cc's per injection. So each pack once he is past his initial dosing will last 4 months with a little left over for dose 5.

My vet said it would be only 2-3 bucks to do the shots when I bring him in and that he would show me how to give the shots so I could do it at home if I wanted.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will help as he cannot take NSAIDS (we had the same experience as you TexasErin)

 

[WDWBarb]

Thanks, everyone.. it's nice to hear from people in the same situation (not that I would wish this situation on any dog lover..). I did notice tonight that my GSD actually made it up the steps without slipping or stopping! So that's some progress!

HI Everyone

I wanted to follow up with what happened at my vet today. My furbaby is 13 years old and as I stated before has been struggling with getting up lately. I took him to the vet today and he told me about Adequan (hope I spelled that right). It is an injection that is not "supposed" to have any side effects. The vet tech that was in the room said that her 10 yr old (63lb) dog is on her 3rd injection and she is doing VERY well on it. She said that she can just jump up now and is not struggling like she had been.

It is a little pricey though. He needs 2 shots twice a week for 3 weeks and then will go to just one every month. A 2 pack of 5ml bottles on 1800 pet meds is about $104 and for his weight (58lbs) he will need 2.3 cc's per injection. So each pack once he is past his initial dosing will last 4 months with a little left over for dose 5.

My vet said it would be only 2-3 bucks to do the shots when I bring him in and that he would show me how to give the shots so I could do it at home if I wanted.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will help as he cannot take NSAIDS (we had the same experience as you TexasErin)

Please keep us updated on this - I'd like to know how well it works because it could certainly be an option! I hope it makes him feel like a pup again!

 

[TexasErin]

02BNWDW-I also would like to hear how your dog does on the new medicine.

WDWBarb- I'm glad to hear your baby is having a good day.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

No advice, just wishing you all good luck!

 

[lvloopingbag]

My almost 12 year old Lab has severe hip dysplasia and arthritis and we still walk about a mile a day and he walks up and down our stairs several times a day. He still can jump up on our couch and loveseat.
I credit it to the acupuncture and Adequan shot he gets once a month, along with a laser therapy treatment. He takes Omega 3 fatty acids every day along with a Gabapentin in the AM and then in the PM........When he has a flare up and is limping we can throw in a 75 Mg. Vetprofen and he is good to go....

 

[O2BNWDW]

He was doing very well with adequan until the had to shut down the plant to bring it it code. Not sure when it will be back on the market. After initial doses I did find he could not go a whole month. He's good at the 2-3 week mark. However the vet tech said I could give it to hi as often as needed as there would not be any side effects.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

Our 1st baby turned 14 in May - yellow lab. He's like the energizer bunny. We (and our vet) have decided that somewhere, this dog has found - and is drinking from - the fountain of youth. We gave him glucosamine starting when he was 10 probably up until he was about 12. It stopped really having any effect at that time. According to our vet, he just has a little arthritis in his back hips. This causes a little stiffness when he's been laying down for awhile. If he's extra active (for a 90 something year old man,) or seems to be stiffer than normal, we give him a regular aspirin. That's it. It does the trick for him.

As a matter of fact, here's our sassy guy on labor day weekend. This was AFTER he decided to dive (yes, dive) off the dock a few times to fetch a stick like in his younger days. We continue to be amazed...

 

[O2BNWDW]

I just wanted to post an update regarding Adequan. The facility is up and running (they had to bring it to FDA code) and it is available now through prescription.

I have to tell you all this is nothing short of a miracle for my 14yr old lab/shep mix. In the months that he has not had it the "popping" and cracking when he walks was to the point of making me cringe. I just knew he was in so much pain. And it was keeping us both up at night!

He has had 2 doses so far and his "popping" has lessened significantly and he resting much better and does not seem to be as stiff. In fact, the day after his first shot, we went to check the mail and all of sudden I hear nails on the driveway, I turn around and he is RUNNING at me with the goofiest grin on his face! It was like having my puppy back.

If anyone has any questions I will be happy to answer if I can.