12 Effective Natural Arthritis Remedies for Dogs

I do a lot of rescue with little dogs. I have 4 right now. One is my daughter's dog that I have been babysitting while she was on a year tour in Mosul, Iraq. She is coming for xmas this weekend & will be taking her baby home with her to Fort Hood in Texas when she returns.

We live in Colorado & am just coming out of a deep freeze for 2 weeks! During the last weekend, my Silky Terrier started whining in pain! ( 6 or 7 years old?) Even though he loves his walks outside & play in the snow, he couldn't even make a full walk around our building. The sever cold was doing something terrible to him! We've a 2bdrm upstairs townhouse, & he couldn't make it up or down the stairs, up or down on couch or bed. He'd just stand there & stare. He's never been through anything like that. His eyes were clear, gum color good, eating, drinking, peeing, but not pooping so well! I think it was too painful. I kept giving him massages & found a small bump on his lower spine. He goes really stupid when we see other dogs on our walks, so I thought maybe he did something to his spine. Looked for animal chiropractor, but too cold to get him anywhere, so kept looking as that was all I could do besides keeping him comfy.

I was freaking out as it was a weekend, everyone's car was in the deep freeze, & the Holistic Vet is about 15 miles up the mountain from me. Luckily, I had some Rimadyl, pain killer left I dosed him with even though I don't trust pharm med's while I research the web for solutions......

I use earth clinic for holistic remedies for me & my pets, & believe me I've saved $1,000's in Vet bills.....& I haven't been to a Doc since 2001. I'm 60.

I also comb through the people section & adjust the dosage for pets.

I ran across "Molasses for Arthritis", pets & humans. My neighbor dug out to go to the store so I had them pick some up for Sparky. It worked! I dosed him pretty good the first 24 hours & I was just amazed how well it worked for him! He was soon back to him ol'self within 24 hours later. I also gave it to the other 3 dogs in smaller dosage. They are all now so full of energy they are driving me crazy, lol!

I already put h2o, ACV, pinch of Sea Salt in their daily water bowl, but am just amazed how well the Molasses worked for the cold weather Arthritis!

I wanted to post a Thank You follow up to earth clinic & all the wonderful people that share their experiences here!

Happy Holidays & Much Love & Blessings to All!

Lady Gwen

Not a scientific approach, I know, but as long as she is comfortable and her old frisky self, it is good enough for me.

Last Thanksgiving I removed cartilage and skin leftover from boiling our turkey carcass, and blended it up with some hot water in my Vitamix. It made a kind of meat Jello that I have been adding to my old terrier's grain-free food. She has become like a different dog!

Before I could only walk her about a mile or two because she would get sore and become very slow. But now she can easily walk twice that distance with plenty enough energy left to jump in the car all by herself afterwards. I always used to have to lift her in and out of the car, she couldn't do it on her own.

I just now made the dog another batch of blended up cartilage, this time from a goose. I also hear Vitamin C helps you assimilate collagen into your tissues, I might try giving her some of that, too.

I have arthritis, and have thought about trying it, but I don't have the time to sit next to that thing all day. Ahhh the life of a cat... My best friend Snapper has gone to his reward... And may have found a cure of arthritis for some... Hope this helps.

11 months ago my 16 yo toy poodle became very weak and she had trouble holding up her body. She cried lightly in my ear. She was in too much pain. The vet wanted to run many tests on her and X-rays but felt she would most likely be put down. I took pain medication for her but she wasn't well enough to take it. Her left front leg curled up and froze in that position. Then each of her three other legs stuck out like branches and froze. I held her up over the grass so she could go and held her 24/7. At this point I thought I had nothing to lose and went to the Horse Supply and Feed Store and picked up the only DMSO they had. It was mixed with aloe and was a gel. I dabbed her left front leg with the DMSO gel on a cotton ball. Within 90 minutes the leg fell back into a natural position. I continued to hold her and waited until the next day to dab the DMSO with a cotton ball down the length of her spine from neck to tail. Within a few hours all three legs that were frozen like tree branches fell back to their natural position. It took a few more days for her to hold up her body and a few more days to be able to walk up the grassy hill.

I had just moved into this condo complex and I didn't know anyone. The neighbors watched this whole thing play out. My downstairs neighbor saw my dog walking around and asked how on earth she is still with us. I told him I used DMSO. He is a chemist and very familiar with it and asked astonishingly, “SOLVENT? You used solvent on your dog?! ” I told him I did and it worked. Had I known how amazing it really was I would have used it sooner. Now I dab her hip joints, shoulders, neck or legs when needed. It felt like the miracle my pooch and I had prayed for. It's used on horses. I have no idea what for I just know it is remarkable.

• Joint repair after accidents.
• Muscle soreness, aches, charlie-horses
• Hip displaysia
• Arthritis
• Damaged discs and joints
• Skin irritation & itching (yes calcium deficiency can cause this)
• Patchy hair

Eggshells - Brown ones. Why? Eggshells contain chondroitin, glucosamine, collagen, & world's most highly bioavailable calcium. Did you know the body (humans too) lose about 1-2% COLLAGEN PER YEAR IF NOT MAINTAINED THROUGH DIET? There goes your skin & hair & joint cushions! Take eggshells instead. Only thing missing in eggshells is MSM, and eggs themselves contain natural sulfur agents, so literally you have everything you need for joints in a whole egg. Shells also contain over a dozen trace minerals like boron. Stop buying expensive joint supplements. Guess what? Most of them; they're made from leftover eggshells & egg products!

NOTE: Calcium / eggshells powder MUST be dosed with vitamin C, and magnesium, and optionally a few other things - see DOSE METHOD below.

Preperation

• Save & Rinse used eggshells as you cook your breakfasts daily.
• Use warm water, and air dry them on a dish towel.
• Be sure not to discard the inner shell skins
• I have never gotten sick this way. I and my pets take them daily.
• Bake in over @ 250 for 20 minutes if paranoid about bacteria.
• Grind them in an electric coffee/ spice grinder for 60 seconds.

Alternatively; you can soak the shells in apple cider vinegar for a few weeks until they're completely dissolved and dose the eggshell-vinegar decoction. I don't do this. Do your own research on that method.

Dose Amount

On average: 1 tsp of powdered eggshells contains 900mg calcium

• Check how much calcium is already in your dog's food
• Calculate your dog's daily recommended allowance of calcium
• According to the NRC, healthy adult dogs generally require 50 mg of calcium per kilogram of body weight. In pounds; it's ~ 22.5 mg per 1 lb of body weight. For example, a 5 kg dog (about 11 lbs.) needs 250 mg of calcium per day, a 25 kg (about 55 lbs.) dog needs 1250 mg per day, and a 50 kg (about 110 lbs.) dog needs 2500 mg per day.
• I generally disagree with that much calcium. Too much can cause calcium deposits, and displaysia of the hips.
• As dogs age, they need less calcium or you cause arthritis, adjust down 25-50%
• Considering all the above, you should get a rough idea of how much eggshells to add to your dog's food. Watch over the coming weeks, and adjust.
• A good rule of thumb is you want to see the dog's front ankle & shin areas where paws bend to meet the legs be closer to stiff & straight, while standing up on all fours. You don't want there to be too much of a bend or bow here, between the ankle and the paw. If the dog is a healthy weight and you see a pronounced bend, they are calcium deficient. See youtube videos or search images for reference.

DOSE METHOD

• Eggshells are great, but they need extra things to help the body absorb, or else the dog's joints will just get calcified and stiff, and you can actually CAUSE HIP DISPLAYSIA & ARTHRITIS this way, by having too much calcium and too little calcium absorbing nutrients in the diet.
• Dump eggshells in feedings, preferably spread over the dog's meals evenly throughout the day.
• Add Magnesium. A good rule of thumb is a 2:1 calcium-to-magnesium ratio. (Need 500mg magnesium crystal-powder for around 1000mg calcium. Note; 1/8 tsp or 500 mg powdered magnesium chloride generally contains about 50-60 mg of actual magnesium. If you gave 500mg of actual magnesium, that would be too much and cause profuse diarrhea)
• Magnesium Oxide will be very similar dosing
• Add Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate form ONLY)-A good rule of thumb is a 2:1 calcium-to-Vitamin C ratio - About 500 mg, or 1/4 tsp Vit C per 1000 mg Calcium
• Vitamin C given regularly during the first 2 years of life are critical in preventing hip displaysia later on in life. But it's never too late.

EXTRAS - highly recommend the boron - these will help bone growth & marrow health & disc gel to recuperate

• Hyalauronic Acid (dissolve 1/4 tsp + 1/4tsp sea salt in a 16 oz bottle of water & refrigerate; will take an hour to dissolve the gelatin) - take a big capful per day in the dog's food
• Boron (dissolve 1 tsp in 16 oz bottle water or pint mason jar) - take 1 tsp of the water per day
• Organic Sea Kelp Granules - They contain calcium, magnesium, iodine & many other micronutrients that help quite a bit with arthritis and hip displaysia. 1 tsp per day for big dogs.

I have a 70 lb (32kg) adult dog. So she needs approx 1500mg calcium daily.I give her approx 1000mg instead.

She gets 1/4 tsp eggshells 2x a day in her food, which is homemade so it has no calcium to begin with. So she gets about 450mg per day, but she gets 400 mg more calcium from 1/2 tsp Boswellia powder I give her, an Ayurvedic tree resin from the Frankincense tree.

So she gets approx. 60% her daily RDA of calcium and all the chondroitin, collagen, glucosamine her joints need.

Added in she gets 1/8 tsp or 250mg vitamin c powder per feed.

She also gets 4-5 drops magnesium oil I prepare myself.

• It's just 50/50 water & magnesium chloride crystals. In 4-5 drops we have around 100mg magnesium powder, and around 10-12 mg of magnesium. I'm aware I should give more according to the above, but I had to adjust down because this particular magnesium is HIGHLY potent and will cause very loose stool if I go above this amount. Besides; the vitamin C helps absorb the leftover calcium that the lack of magnesium couldn't.

Do not skip vitamin C. If you skip vitamin C, the calcium will hinder Iron absorbtion and your pet will become anemic especially if no red meat is in the diet.

Do not give citric acid / citrate form of vitamin C. You will likely cause great GI discomfort to the dog, which will result in vomiting, pancreatitis and diarrhea.

Recommend also; to buy braces for any injuries your dog incurs. They make IVDD / disc pain full body braces, they make knee braces, hip braces, and hock(dog's ankle) braces. Could save a simple sprain or minor break from becoming a surgery.

Two years ago, he could scarcely walk or get up due to awful stiffness of the hind quarters. I was so worried I'd lose him! And he was suffering.

The vet's x-rays showed, to his joyful surprise, zero arthritis in hips and no hip dysplasia. His wife, the other vet in their family practice, prescribed pills for my dog. I tried a 2 week sample. I didn't see much improvement, and he would need regular screening to ensure the pills weren't causing serious organ problems (a possible side effect of these pills). Not only that, but boy, were they expensive! It would have cost $300 per month to purchase those pills.

I wished for an answer, and shortly I received it. My neighbor, who owns 5 gorgeously healthy, huge labrador retrievers, and whose daughter is a veterinary technician, said he'd share his "secret" with me.

Ester C. Yes indeed, Ester C, my friends, that was THE answer! Apparently it even helps if your dog DOES have hip dysplasia. It doesn't cure the dysplasia, but it somehow relieves their pain so they can walk again! I googled it up and down to be sure it was safe and I was providing my faithful friend the right dosage.

My Findings:

1) Apparently you must use ONLY Ester C, not regular vitamin C (it can cause stomach upset). Give the Ester C with their meal, not on an empty stomach.

2) You should load them up in increments, building them up to the proper dose, don't give the maximum dose from the start. After you've built them up to the maximum dose they can tolerate without stomach upset and suitable for their size/weight, you soon see the results. Then you can lower them to a maintenance dose: For my golden retriever, I began with 500mg per day divided into his two meals morning and evening (250mg morning 250mg evening) for several days. I then slowly increased him to 1000 per day, (500mg AM and 500mg PM). I then upped him to 2000mg (1,000mg AM 1,000mg PM).

I saw results in a couple of weeks. I lowered his dose to 1000mg and I have maintained him on 1 capsule of time-release Ester C per day in his breakfast meal for 2 years.

My boyfriend saw the difference, my sister saw the difference and I see the difference. He gets up off the floor NO PROBLEM. Now, mind you, he is 11.5 years old. He is better now than he was at age 8!

He can walk 2.5 miles again like we used to do! I never thought he'd be able to ever do that again!

And guess how much this wonderful treatment costs me? Less than $10. a month! I buy a bottle of 1000mg time-release Ester C, 60 capsules, for about $10. Can you believe it? I can buy the 90 capsules for about $15. That's a 3 month supply, folks.

I guess we're not supposed to name companies here, but it comes in an orange box and an orange bottle. I buy it at Walmart and also at my supermarket Shoprite. I'm sure any decent Ester C will do.

It is for humans, not special for dogs.

I love it and am so thankful for what it has done for my dog!

I hope this post is useful to other dogs out there. I did a lot of research before I used Ester C on my dog. So of course I advise you to research what is right for your dog.

Good luck

Supplements: I also recently started adding turmeric, msm and glucosamine to Max's food. Dosages: 1/4 teaspoon of powdered turmeric in his food in the morning, diluted with chicken broth. At night I crush a 1000 mg tablet of MSM and give him half of it (500 mg), plus a full capsule of glucosamine blend from Trader Joe's (glucosamine sulfate 750mg and glucosamine HCI 750 mg). My vet mentioned that she likes the combo of MSM and glucosamine for dogs with arthritis, which is why I started him on that a few weeks ago. The turmeric has helped heal up a benign cyst that had burst through the skin on his front paw. Very glad one of EC's readers reported a cure for dog cysts recently -- thanks! At any rate, Max seems to be doing better on the supplements -- walking faster, wrestling with the other dogs, less confusion at night when the lights go off. Yea, yea, yea.

I put her on a diet (mainly, I told everyone to stop feeding her under the table, Lol. ) to help relieve the pressure the extra weight was putting on her joints. Then I started giving her leftover glucosamine tablets from when Grandma took them. I put them in the little pill pockets for dogs until we ran out, then I started to make my own. They are expensive and who knows what's in them! I think the "pockets" I make are also key. Here's what I do:

In a small bowl I mix peanut butter (maybe 4 tbls) with blackstrap molasses until it looks like chocolate (maybe 4-6 tbls?). I don't measure I just mix until it gets a good color. Then I add turmeric powder until it goes from syrup to a malleable putty that cleanly comes off the fingers. I put it into a small jar and then whenever Muffie needs her "medicine" I scoop out a little bit, roll the glucosamine into a little ball and feed her the pill.

She loves it and no longer has any mobility issues, or pain that I can tell. I've been doing this since November 2011. Muffie gets one pill, twice a day, and the amount of turmeric/bsm/pb "pocket" that I make lasts about 3-4 weeks. I buy the turmeric in a half pound bag from the Indian market for about 5 dollars, so this remedy is cheap for us (I haven't even come close to running out yet). It's cheaper than what the vet gives her. Plus, I know it's good for her!

I think the turmeric helped her liver detox the pain pills, reduce inflammation, and lose weight, too, since it helped her liver to process the fat she was losing from her "diet". The powder also allows the concoction to be rolled into a ball instead of just getting peanut butter all over your hands! Be careful, though, it stains yellow.

The BSM is also good for arthritis, but the peanut butter is just a tasty medium that she'll eat. Otherwise, she just spits it out. Before coming up with the homemade pocket I tried bread, cheese, and meat to no avail.

Dr. John Simon, Woodside Animal Clinic