My boxer is nearly 12 and has really bad arthritis, which has deteriorated loads in just a week. She's been xrayed and other injuries ruled out, and been put on a lot of painkillers to help. her back legs have got terrible over the space of a week, but she did have a fall last weekend so hopefully she can recover and strengthen back up comfortably.
Does anyone have any advice or recommendations for severe arthritis? The vet said to try acupuncture, which we will. I asked about hydrotherapy and the vet said we need to get her pain relief first and so that she's putting her leg down properly again. Going to speak to the vets this evening to update them how we got on over the weekend and for anything we can try. Just wondered what other people's experiences were with older dogs suffering bad arthritis, if there's any advice or recommendations to help.
Thanks

One of my dogs was suffering with arthritis, we kept him slim and he was just on painkillers. He started with the pills age 11, and he lived to 15 still in the end doing little walks, but he could not do stairs anymore.

I found below online which might help you?

Weight control is an important component of any treatment for arthritis.

The number one thing you can do for your dog’s arthritis is to make sure your dog is not overweight. Extra weight can aggravate arthritis by causing undo stress on the joints. Dog arthritis medicine can ease the symptoms of arthritis, but losing weight can usually benefit the dog even more.
Fish Oil Supplements For Dogs are useful. Veterinarians are discovering that Omega 3 fatty acids can be valuable for a variety of conditions. They have become a popular supplement often recommended by veterinarians, for arthritis, kidney disease, allergies, skin conditions and elevated cholesterol.
All dogs deserve a comfortable bed to sleep in but your arthritic dog can be made more comfortable with a soft bed to help him with his painful joints.

wrong thread

My 11 year old dog was getting a bit stiff, she has been on Yumove advanced for over a year, this seems to have helped her. To this I started to add a capsule of fish oil in her breakfast, which also contains a pilchard. My dog cannot talk so I really do not know if any/all is making life better for her/relieving pain but as the problem set in she stopped being able to jump into the car, she can now and did within 2 weeks of taking yumove, I do not know if this is down to yumove advanced or a combination of the above, but she does move better now, runs and plays etc, she does still take it slowly when rising from her bed, which is two deep, the top one being very soft, the bottom firmer.
Hope this helps some.

Our 12-year-old dog has regular acupuncture which has helped his arthritis a lot. We have to keep him 'topped up', i.e. don't leave it until he's hobbling, so every 6 weeks or so. He takes Jointaid supplement every day. After several years of that he took a dip, so we've been giving him bee venom honey, which we got from a local producer. Apparently it makes you produce natural cortisol (painkiller) in the body. Big improvement with five days & he's very lively at the moment.

We had really good results with yumove advance tablets but it can be expensive. My eldest dog is 17.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/YUMOVE-ADVAN.../dp/B00JITOFHS

Sorry I did mean to thank people for their advice!
I didn't go with the acupuncture in the end. Mostly because I didn't hear back straight away from the lady that was recommended near us. My dogs on a few different painkillers and seems to have really improved. She's exhausted after even little walks now though. But still does want to come out if I ask her or if I throw her ball in the house she'll chase it. It's difficult to know whether she's tired because she is old, but up until all this she was doing longer walks ok and then just needing a rest day or two, or whether the painkillers are making her more sleepy. I need to take her to the vet in the morning so will ask then. Thanks again for your replies. I'm going to ask about the honey venom. We tried yumove before but I didn't notice much of a difference. Will ask about yumove advance tomorrow as well.

Hello, have you considered using turmeric? It's has amazing anti inflammatory properties, and is most potent when mixed with oil and black pepper to make a "golden paste" there is a page on Facebook called Turmeric User Group and was initially set up by an Australian vet surgeon who noticed it's beneficial properties! I use it on my horses too, and really does work wonders! Have a google on it, I really would recommend it, and it is very cheap to pick up!

ive not heard of that, but will definitely look it up and give it a try! Will let you know how we get on. Thank you!