12 Effective Natural Arthritis Remedies for Dogs

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Trea (Shirley, New York) on 01/22/2010
★★★★☆

I tried ACV for my dog today and it made it a little bit better. She hurt her leg when she went out to do her business this morning. She was limping when she came back in. She's a 3 year old Shepherd/Lab mix and occasionally limps when she's been laying down awhile. Two hours after the ACV and a little bit of sea salt in her water and she was at least able to touch her paw back on the floor again, before that she was hopping around.

In the afternoon I put some amalaki juice in with her food just two teaspoons full and about an hour after that she was able to put her full weight on her foot again. She's still limping slightly but that's a big improvement.

I had been given a few bottles of amalaki juice a few months ago by a friend and used it myself and was amazed at how much it had helped my shoulder. I had injured my shoulder at work years ago and assumed I developed arthritis in it because whenever I do yard work it acts up. It worked so quickly that I was amazed. I realized I could not afford the brand he gets but was able to find a much cheaper brand with almost all of the same ingredients and it worked too.

I figured I had nothing to lose so I tried it on the dog. I'm not sure if it was the salt in the water, the ACV or the amalaki juice but I'm happy she's doing better. I am still going to mix some ACV in with her food tonight though and some amalaki juice tomorrow morning with her food.

Yucca Extract

Posted by James Pettus (Johns Island, SC, USA) on 08/23/2009
★★★★★

dogs with arthritis: as a boarding kennel owner we have given older dogs yucca tablets with great results. small dogs 1or 2 tablets twice a day large dogs 2 to 4 twice a day for about 2 weeks or until results are seen. then you can maintain with 1 a day.

Chlorophyll, Olive Oil, Broccoli

Posted by Lois (NYC, NY) on 03/07/2009
★★★★★

i used clorophyl, a green juice and evoo, 1 teaspoon of each to start in water. then gradually twice a day. my dogs had arthritis and this helped so much. i also give them steamed broccoli a few small bunches a day. theyre doing great. i hope this helps someone.

EC: EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Exercise, Turmeric, Glucosamine, MSM

Posted by Deirdre (Atlanta, GA) on 10/03/2008
★★★★★

Just wanted to report that I am having great results on my 14+ year old german shephard mix who has arthritis (especially in the hips). I think that one of the most helpful and important things I'm doing is exercising him without fail every day. I take him on walks each day, usually about 3.5 miles total. Considering his age, he's in remarkably good shape and, except on steep hills, keeps up with our other 2 young dogs. We used to walk by a neighbor's golden retriever who was let outside in the front yard several times a day to do her thing. She hobbled around in obvious pain, barely able to walk. I never once saw the owners taking their sweet dog out for a walk. She was only about 10 years old when they put her to sleep. Just my opinion, but I think early deaths happen with some frequency to yard-only dogs. Exercise keeps those joints lubricated!

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.

Sea Salt Water Cure

Posted by Cindy (Wichita, USA) on 08/23/2008
★★★★★

Natural remedies for animals seem to fly in the face of those who claim they only work as placebos.

Shake some unprocessed sea salt into the pooch's water. Domestic animals are notoriously salt deficient. If you know of someone who has a pet with arthritis, you can see the benefits of the watercure immediately. Just shake some sea salt in their water dish. I don't know if it's the salt or if it is the fact that they seem to drink more water if it has a pinch of salt in it, but it works. The "placebo effect" claims so often used against natural remedies won't hold up against a dog that is cured of arthritis or a child cured of asthma.

Sea Salt Water Cure

Posted by Cindy (Wichita, Kansas) on 08/17/2008
★★★★★

For my Lhasa Apso, I have used sea salt, after I had used it on myself with such amazing results. My "puppy" was 16 years old and could barely move around. I simply put a little salt in her water and she immediately started drinking more water. Her water consumption had slowed way down when she started getting old.

Unfortunately, she was already well into kidney failure but she was quite perky and able to jump up on the couch and run up and down the stairs as she hadn't in quite a while. It was very strange. She was perky and happy up to the very end though she was extremely emaciated by then. I was very comforted to have made her last days so happy and active. I miss her very much.

Sea Salt Water Cure

Posted by Bob (Moscow, Pa.) on 04/24/2007
★★★★★

If you check our pet testimonials On our watercure2.org site and read the home page story of how this was discovered, you will see that curing pet arthritis is not even a challenge. Just add unprocessed sea salt to its food and water and within 24 hours a pet will stand up and walk with a limp even though previously it had been unable to stand. Best of all it is free. Bob Butts

Eggshells

Posted by Ron (USA) on 12/12/2022 29 posts
★★★★★

A general cure-all for joint issues & bone weakness / aiding broken ligaments & bones to heal in all animals (incl. humans). Eggshells can be used to treat the following:

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.

Knee Brace

Posted by Lily (Colorado, Usa) on 06/02/2016
★★★★★

For arthritis, this is a remedy that isn't something you can "administer" your dog but in my case it has done an incredible job of keeping my pup relatively pain free and active despite her arthritic knees. I use a dog knee brace, by Ortocanis, one for each of her knees that's affected. This brace in particular is flexible enough so that I can keep it on her for extended periods of time, and allows for full range of motion. She never wears it to sleep and I take it off when we're lounging around at home. But on the days where I can tell she's in more pain, or her limp is back, the brace almost always reduces inflammation and creates a noticeable improvement in her mobility.

Blackstrap Molasses

Posted by Roxie (Emporia, Kansas) on 12/31/2014
★★★★★

I have a 10 year old pug and since the weather got cold he could barely get himself up from a laying position, I mix black strap mollases, coconut oil, peanut butter and he licks it off my finger. He can now get up by himself and does not walk stiff legged anymore. I also give him 1 low dose asprin a day for the pain and have added esther c to it also, I am amazed at how well he is doing now.

MSM

Posted by Mucky (Roseville, Ca) on 10/23/2014
★★★★★

The vet said the x-rays confirmed arthritis in our 10 year old cat. She was limping and acting different; isolating herself. The vet prescribed her some pain medicine and while waiting for it I put a good pinch of MSM powder in her wet food one evening. The next morning, I found her toys strewn throughout the hallway. Something she had not done since the onset of the limp. The limp was only noticeable if you looked for it. We continued the pinch of MSM plus a pinch of Vitamin C powder. After a few days, she was zipping and jumping around like her old self. Absolutely no signs of discomfort from the arthritis. Never even picked up the pain meds. Truly amazing.

Vitamin C

Posted by Es (Newton, NJ) on 11/07/2012
★★★★★

My dog, a loving and happy 10 year old golden retriever, was stiff and had trouble getting up. It was sad to see and I was worried. Vet recommended extremely expensive pills - an anti-inflammatory painkilling drug which is bad for their kidneys anyway. I tried it for a while but then was told about vitamin C by my neighbor who has 5 healthy black labs and his daughter is a veterinary technician. I worked him up to 2000mg of [vitamin] C daily, (1000mg twice a day) starting at 500 (250mg twice a day with food) and building up, adding more each week. Yes, he is SO much better now, we've been doing this faithfully for 5 months now. My boyfriend noticed how much better he was walking and getting up. It is a godsend. I never did need to get a refill of those pills from the vet in the end. The [vitamin] C worked much better, and instead of costing me hundreds of dollars per month, it costs us only $10. Per month. Thank you [vitamin] C!!!

Chicken Cartilage

Posted by Tazzle (Anhedonia, Southwest Usa) on 02/08/2012
★★★★★

My story is about what cartilage did for my little arthritic dog. I hope it is useful.

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.

Olive Leaf Extract

Posted by Dr. Dana (Kalkaska, Michigan) on 01/24/2012
★★★★★

Two years ago, my brothers dog (a 70 lb Shepard mix named Cassie) could barely get up let alone walk around without pain and discomfort. He left her in my care while he went on a trip. I was taking Olive Leaf Extract for a flu like symptoms, as O. L. E. Is a natural antibiotic. Cassie had been suffering for quite sometime, I got this idea to give her some of the stuff. The plan was to use it in a 2 week regimen just like I do for myself. I put a 500 mg pill inside a hollowed out vienna sausage, first I had to feed her some w/o the pill so she began to gobble them down, kinda like a kick start to get her gobbling. Once she was used to eating them I gave her the one with the pill in it, worked every time, she gobbled down the sausage and the pill. Much to my surprise, the very next day she showed a great improvement! I continued to give them to her over the next two weeks. It has now been over two years since this dog, that I didn't think was going to make it another 3 or 4 months, took the Olive Leaf Extract and she is doing just fine, especially for an old girl.

You can find Olive Leaf Extract in any health food or vitamin store, my bottle of (120) 500mg pills only cost $22. Way less than a trip to the vet, and there was plenty left over for me for later!!! Since Cassie's health so quickly improved, I have used the same treatment plan on my smaller 10 lb Shitzu dog with great results and no sign of side effects. Hope this helps your dog and or cat, or maybe even you and or your family and friends!

Hyaluronic Acid

Posted by Dr. John (Royal Oak, Michigan, Usa) on 10/19/2011
★★★★★

Another holistic remedy I have found quite valuable in treating arthritis includes hylauronic acid which aids in supporting joint lubricaton. Acupuncture, chiropractic, and pulsed magnetic therapy are other effective alternative approachs to helping pets over come lameness. MSM, Celtic Sea Salt, and Vitamin E can be added to your pets food to reduce inflammation and free radicals both of which cause pain and lameness.

Dr. John Simon, Woodside Animal Clinic