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Post by Kristi on May 29, 2011 17:52:56 GMT
Great post Kristi. How much ester c are you giving? I wonder how that works? Very interesting that you are already seeming improvement in Laurel. I really couldn't find reliable dosage on it anywhere Tracy so right now I am giving them all 250 MG every other day. If I gave it every day I'd probably only give like the equivalent of 50 mg? the dosages for humans go pretty high so I kind of just divided down. In principal they need to be getting an "overdose" of it for it to benefit their joints...but you don't want that overdose to be consistent or it can cause problems...er, LOL really I am just experimenting. I obviously don't want to give TOO much b'c it can give kidney stones or whatever else... and from what I understand it really needs to be Ester-c for it to be bioavailable to them. I found one very interesting article on ester-c and hip dysplasia in dogs www.yourdoghealth.com/dog_ester-c_study.htm -- but, they are trying to sell THEIR product, ya know? And they didn't give dosage amounts..., other than one place in the article, wherei'ts referring to large dogs, it says "On the low (850mg) dose of Ester-C, only 52 percent of the dogs improved, with an average score of 0.45. Obviously, size of dose was important. Of dogs receiving 2,000mg of Ester-C with extra minerals, 62 percent improved by an average score of 0.87. Why Ester-C without extra minerals had better results remains unknown. ".grrrr. I actually might order some of their product tho, it sounds really good and I like it "in theory" better than just giving a glucosamine? You're going to laugh but the easiest way I've found to give it to them is the orange flavored gummy vitamins you can get at Wal*mart -- they seem to like them like a treat so I just cut it up (their teeth can't figure out the gummy) and give it in 2-3 little pieces which they greedily gulp down. They have minimal "fillers" surprisingly and hey, I am all for easy! |
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Post by Kristi on May 29, 2011 17:56:45 GMT
I forgot to say -- grading is ONLY effective in genetic situations. LP doesn't follow rules when it comes from an injury. When Tyson stands, do his rear legs bow or twist at all? Do his toes point significantly out or in? Does he stand knock-kneed or look 'weak' in the rear? In those cases its almost always genetic. But dogs that otherwise have normal bones display the movement related symptoms -- carrying an effected leg, crying out in pain, etc, but its more like you might see in a human where they've torn an ACL or what have you. Oakley tore all the soft tissue and chipped the bone on either side of the knee groove. So she mostly just carried it cuz the patella was on the side of her leg but it couldn't technically be graded as a 3 or 4 because she didn't have the bone deformities. I hope that makes a little sense? I guess it is important for you to get xrays and see a specialist so tehy can determine what's up. I've stopped allowing mine on any furniture recently after learning just how prevalent injury related LP is  |
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Post by Paula on May 29, 2011 18:12:47 GMT
Great post, Kristi, you always give such awesome info. Now you have me curious about Ester C. Can you link me to what you buy or something similar?
Roo's LP was genetic, she was very very bow legged. It's so awful how cursed this breed is with LP, and sadly a lot of it due to bad breeding.
I agree too that I would try to avoid surgery if it can be handled otherwise. I do think it's often an overdone surgery. For the most part, it should really only be performed on grade 3 and 4, and obviously it will depend on how well they use the leg. If you do need to have it done, best to have it done when they're young. Once again, best of luck with everything, Tysonsmom.
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Post by Paula on May 29, 2011 18:21:34 GMT
I've stopped allowing mine on any furniture recently after learning just how prevalent injury related LP is Do they listen? Kudos to you if they do. LOL. It's so hard to keep mine off of it. I've been using one half of the xpen I have to bar off the front of the sofa. Looks hideous, but it's the only way I can seem to keep them off of it and obviously necessary for Roo for awhile still. I'm going to try and keep them off it in general, I think, but I feel bad as they enjoy sunning there so much. Pip has low grade LP too. It doesn't affect him much at all though. His legs are also quite muscular. |
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Post by Kristi on May 29, 2011 18:35:33 GMT
I've stopped allowing mine on any furniture recently after learning just how prevalent injury related LP is Do they listen? Kudos to you if they do. LOL. It's so hard to keep mine off of it. I've been using one half of the xpen I have to bar off the front of the sofa. Looks hideous, but it's the only way I can seem to keep them off of it and obviously necessary for Roo for awhile still. I'm going to try and keep them off it in general, I think, but I feel bad as they enjoy sunning there so much. Pip has low grade LP too. It doesn't affect him much at all though. His legs are also quite muscular. No of course they don't listen We have an x-pen keeping them from the couch. Looks awful but shrug...its working. |
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Post by Kristi on May 29, 2011 18:36:26 GMT
Great post, Kristi, you always give such awesome info. Now you have me curious about Ester C. Can you link me to what you buy or something similar? Roo's LP was genetic, she was very very bow legged. It's so awful how cursed this breed is with LP, and sadly a lot of it due to bad breeding. I agree too that I would try to avoid surgery if it can be handled otherwise. I do think it's often an overdone surgery. For the most part, it should really only be performed on grade 3 and 4, and obviously it will depend on how well they use the leg. If you do need to have it done, best to have it done when they're young. Once again, best of luck with everything, Tysonsmom. This is what I've used to start: www.walmart.com/ip/Ester-C-Gummies-500mg-60ct/15529253 |
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Post by Paula on May 29, 2011 18:48:18 GMT
No of course they don't listen We have an x-pen keeping them from the couch. Looks awful but shrug...its working. Oooh you're doing the same as me. lol. Ha, I somehow didn't think they listened.  At least it works though! Brilliant, thank you! (I actually see now that you mentioned where you got it, duh) I'm such a wimp starting new supplements and I just noticed the words kidney stones in your post and yeah.. scares me a bit. I think I might give it a go. I think. lol. |
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Post by Kristi on May 29, 2011 18:55:08 GMT
No of course they don't listen We have an x-pen keeping them from the couch. Looks awful but shrug...its working. Oooh you're doing the same as me. lol. Ha, I somehow didn't think they listened. At least it works though! Brilliant, thank you! (I actually see now that you mentioned where you got it, duh) I'm such a wimp starting new supplements and I just noticed the words kidney stones in your post and yeah.. scares me a bit. I think I might give it a go. I think. lol. IDK there are risks with everything--ya know? I read on quite a few forums dosages people were giving and they were higher than those for humans. I have no clue what people are basing it off of. How is ms Roo doing lately? |
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At least it works though!