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Arthritis in back legs

Don't worry Claire mild arthritis is normal in older piggies and can be managed with loxicom anti-inflammatory pain relief and the symptoms eased with some glucosamine supplement which really does help keep the joints moving in older arthritic piggies, our old lady Clover who is 6 has very bad arthritis in her back legs and starting glucosamine supplements made a huge difference to improve her mobility and reduce her pain along with daily loxicom.
If you just use the forum search tool I'm sure you'll find Clover's glucosamine and arthritis story and also links to threads we found very helpful from @YvonneBlue and of course from Debbie at TEAS :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
Don't worry Claire mild arthritis is normal in older piggies and can be managed with loxicom anti-inflammatory pain relief and the symptoms eased with some glucosamine supplement which really does help keep the joints moving in older arthritic piggies, our old lady Clover who is 6 has very bad arthritis in her back legs and starting glucosamine supplements made a huge difference to improve her mobility and reduce her pain along with daily loxicom.
If you just use the forum search tool I'm sure you'll find Clover's glucosamine and arthritis story and also links to threads we found very helpful from @YvonneBlue and of course from Debbie at TEAS :)
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Thank you. I will have a search. Can you please point me in the right direction of what glucosamine supplement to buy? It'll be sometime before Edward and his ladies come home but I want to be prepared :)
 
Red was recently diagnosed with arthritis in his back legs too Clare. He has Metacam twice daily and the vet recommended I gave him glucosamine. I've been giving him the Cystease we had left over after Peanut went to the bridge while I looked into something better. I know from human friends Glucosamine with Chondrotin is best for them so wanted something similar for Red. @YvonneBlue uses Johnson's 4joints liquid which I have on order, I forgot to ask her what dose she uses, hopefully she will see this and let us know!
With his medication he is now popcorning and zooming again so try not to worry too much about Edward.
 
The 4joints as mentioned above may be best for Edward because its a liquid I believe, we us Vitail Flex A Joint For Pets which is capsules full of glucosamine and chondroitin powder that Clover takes sandwiched between thin cucumber sluces. You could always mix a glucosamine supplement powder with critical care recovery food though if Edward is now used to that.
Our vet recommended roughly a quarter of a small dog capsule/dose so 100 to 125mg glucosamine daily :)
 
piggieminder said:
Red was recently diagnosed with arthritis in his back legs too Clare. He has Metacam twice daily and the vet recommended I gave him glucosamine. I've been giving him the Cystease we had left over after Peanut went to the bridge while I looked into something better. I know from human friends Glucosamine with Chondrotin is best for them so wanted something similar for Red. @YvonneBlue uses Johnson's 4joints liquid which I have on order, I forgot to ask her what dose she uses, hopefully she will see this and let us know!
With his medication he is now popcorning and zooming again so try not to worry too much about Edward.
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PigglePuggle said:
The 4joints as mentioned above may be best for Edward because its a liquid I believe, we us Vitail Flex A Joint For Pets which is capsules full of glucosamine and chondroitin powder that Clover takes sandwiched between thin cucumber sluces. You could always mix a glucosamine supplement powder with critical care recovery food though if Edward is now used to that.
Our vet recommended roughly a quarter of a small dog capsule/dose so 100 to 125mg glucosamine daily :)
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Thank you both. I’ve just looked at the Johnsons 4joints, is it the one marketed for dogs? I’m glad Red and Clover are doing well :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
Our vet says about 100mg glucosamine per day, I dont know what concentration 4joints is- perhaps @YvonneBlue or @furryfriends (TEAS) can advise on the 4joints dosage :)
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Debbie from TEAS recommended 0.4ml once daily of the 4Joints. It has really made a difference.

Peggy's arthritis has got quite bad and she also been prescribed Gabapentin.
 
George likes his Oxbow joint support biccies with 90mg glucosamine in each - they're a treat for him! They are solid and crunchy though, so Edward would need to be able to enjoy crunching through one and that would depend on his dental situation. It was 2 weeks before we saw any noticeable improvement and 4 weeks to see significant changes. George's arthritis is a back legs problem rather than in the spine or anywhere else.
 
Would the Oxbow biccies help Meg? She has arthritis in her spine as diagnosed by Kim. She has been on 0.3ml of dog Metacam twice a day for just over 2 years.
 
Betsy said:
Would the Oxbow biccies help Meg? She has arthritis in her spine as diagnosed by Kim. She has been on 0.3ml of dog Metacam twice a day for just over 2 years.
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It's worth a try. I recently started Squeaks and Winfred on the Oxbow Joint Support, as my vet thinks W has arthritis in her back legs, and Kim said S probably has arthritis as he is 6. W is also having some Cystease in critical care.
If I don't see improvement in mobility with those, I may give the 4joints a try, or the stuff mentioned by @PigglePuggle
 
I would give them a go for Meg @Betsy : you'll know after a few weeks if there have been any changes and they won't do any harm.
I should have taken a video this morning as George was standing in the middle of the grass pile claiming it and obliging the ladies to eat around him and pull the stems out from under his fragrant boarly tummy. He was busy being King of the Grass, but when I started shaking the metacam bottle he actually left his throne to come over for his dose and take his biccie nicely! He does make me chuckle 😄
 
Free Ranger said:
George likes his Oxbow joint support biccies with 90mg glucosamine in each - they're a treat for him! They are solid and crunchy though, so Edward would need to be able to enjoy crunching through one and that would depend on his dental situation. It was 2 weeks before we saw any noticeable improvement and 4 weeks to see significant changes. George's arthritis is a back legs problem rather than in the spine or anywhere else.
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Thank you. I think he can now eat pellets again so may be able to manage one x
 
I was really hoping Red would eat the Oxbow as he takes the Metacam easily in the cage. This would mean I don't have to take him away with me as my partner could manage to medicate him. Red looks at those biscuits like they are poison, out of my 6 piggies only one will eat them. @Claire W @Betsy PM me your address if you would like me to send you a few to try before you buy some as they are quite expensive if they end up in the bin.
 
Actually it's very true that Flora won't touch them. She always looks when the others get theirs but she tried them at first and that was that. I wondered if they were sweet - she doesn't like sweet things. Maybe I'll have a little go myself...?
 
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