Dietary Supplements/Medications For Older Dogs?

I have a 12 yo black lab whose purpose in life is to hunt pheasants (beside sleeping and eating). She really hasn't slowed down when hunting, but she doesn't have the stamina she used to and she takes way longer to recover (expected, given her age). My job is basically to protect her from herself.

Many of my hunting buddies have recommended Medicam/Myloxicam, but my vet is a little old school (OK by me) and dissuaded me from putting her on it due to it's side effects (liver damage, I believe). Another friend swears by a supplement called Cosequin DS. Yet another friend tells me to give her 81mg. baby aspirin if she is stiff after hunting.

Her annual physical is coming up shortly and the topic of hunting her and supplements/meds is bound to come up.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

I recently started my dog on Triacta after he was in quite a bit of pain after longer periods of activity (almost daily) and I saw a huge improvement within a couple of weeks. I learned about it because it's commonly used for horses to help with joint pain. I'm not a huge believer in supplements or drugs but I was happy to see his quality of life improve in a relatively short period of time. I would take a look at it anyway and see what you think.

TY. I'll do some research and mention it to my vet next visit.

Of the years with our older dogs we had used Metacam, then the vets moved to Deramaxx and they now prefer Onsior as anti inflammatory of choice, so that is what we are using on our oldest.

There is a new joint suppliment for daily use called Antinol being tested and she is currently participating in trial for it. Soft gel capsule and due to her weight at seventy pounds it is two capsule a day. Key ingredient is green lipped mussels.

As well, we also suppliment all our dogs with a half tab of GlycoFlex III daily.

We use American vets and they have us on a new NSAID called Galiprant. The dog had surgery on both knees last year and he now needs an NSAID for a long-term (chronic) condition
so they recommended Galiprant. It works differently and is less likely to cause organ damage.

Quote:

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition where cartilage - the protective material that cushions a joint - breaks down over time, causing the bones to rub against each other. This rubbing can permanently damage the joint and cause pain, inflammation, and lameness. Older and overweight dogs are at higher risk of developing OA.

Available since March 2016, Galliprant (grapiprant tablets) is the newest active ingredient approved to control the pain and inflammation associated with OA in dogs. Galliprant is part of a group of drugs called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

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Canadian vets can get it, but it's not widely used from the sound of it. It's costly but we have pet insurance for the dog, so not an issue.

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinar...osteoarthritis