# is this truely necessary with joint supplements?



## Onyx (Nov 28, 2011)

My Chi unfortunately has Luxating Patella so her vet recommended putting her on glucosamine. Of course, she said it wouldn't cure it but may help decrease the damage to the cartilage and it would be better to start now rather than wait for arthritis to set in and be painful.

She's going to be on about 500mg of glucosamine and 500mg of msm daily which is what Glyco-Flex III soft chews have. I noticed on the back of the bag it says to double the dose for the first month. Is this really necessary to see the benefits from it? Will it not work as good if I just start her on this dose and keep her on it? I'd hate to waste that many soft chews if it isn't truely necessary. That would be two months worth of treats gone in one month.


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

i never heard of that stuff but have u heard of consequinn? my bf has tried that on one of his cat's before and it did wonders for his joints. he started off when he was a kitten and now its strong as ever on his jumps. i hope someone else here with more knowledge can help u out and im so sorry about ur baby's luxating patella, unfortunately its one of the health issues majority of chis get eventually  my Dexter had it before but it was a very minor case and it popped back on its own. the limpin was painful to watch though...


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I have two chi's that have had their knees repaired. Their vet recommended 200 glucosomine. I have chicken jerky strips that have it in them. They get one as a bedtime treat.


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## Mydaddysjag (Feb 8, 2012)

Yes, use the loading dose for the first month


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## KayC (May 3, 2005)

pigeonsheep said:


> i never heard of that stuff but have u heard of consequinn? my bf has tried that on one of his cat's before and it did wonders for his joints. he started off when he was a kitten and now its strong as ever on his jumps. i hope someone else here with more knowledge can help u out and im so sorry about ur baby's luxating patella, unfortunately its one of the health issues majority of chis get eventually  my Dexter had it before but it was a very minor case and it popped back on its own. the limpin was painful to watch though...


This is what my vet reccomended for me to give Zoey. I empty the capsule and give 1/4 of it daily in a little bite of turkey.


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## Huly (Mar 5, 2012)

I used glucosamine for my Shepherd Rotti that had hip issues and it helped a lot!


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## Onyx (Nov 28, 2011)

KayC said:


> This is what my vet reccomended for me to give Zoey. I empty the capsule and give 1/4 of it daily in a little bite of turkey.


Has the Cosequin worked well for you, see any improvement? Or are you just using it as a preventative?

It's a bit pricey so want to make sure it works well in general before buying


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## Rocky (Jan 25, 2010)

I feed Rocky greenlip mussel extract which apparently shall help. Also fed him glucosamine treats before. I am honestly not sure whether it really helps. At least it doesn't seem to get worse.
Don't see why you wouldn't feed it straight away though if it at least could help. Doesn't harm in any way. 
I didn't really care about the price either especially as a surgery would be way more expensive. So if there is at least a chance to improve the LP or not to get worse, I would try it.


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## Onyx (Nov 28, 2011)

Rocky said:


> I feed Rocky greenlip mussel extract which apparently shall help. Also fed him glucosamine treats before. I am honestly not sure whether it really helps. At least it doesn't seem to get worse.
> Don't see why you wouldn't feed it straight away though if it at least could help. Doesn't harm in any way.
> I didn't really care about the price either especially as a surgery would be way more expensive. So if there is at least a chance to improve the LP or not to get worse, I would try it.


haha true about the price.

Onyx's food has green lipped muscle oil in it (Ziwipeak) and I also give fish oil 3 times a week since it can supposedly help with inflammation and a number of other things.

I wonder if giving a human glucosamine supplement would be okay. It seems so much cheaper for the same product. The fish oil pills I use are human ones, so maybe.


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## Rocky (Jan 25, 2010)

I am not sure. But you could ask your vet about it. I think I was reading somewhere that people are doing it (but used the ones that you can open and put the powder over the food). But would rather check with the vets if thats really ok.


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