joint supplments

[Highpheasant1]

Hi Guys,
Do any of you give your young working dogs any joint supplements?
I have a 19/20 month old lab. I take him out training almost daily and he has attended his fist shoot last weekend. I just wondered if anyone gives their dogs joint anything such as yumove?
Thanks
C

[Miesque]

Yes, everything over 12 months gets one. I use Equine Cortaflex as it' cheaper but the same formula as the canine version

[Gundogs11]

Turmaric (golden paste) worked wonders for one of my creaky spaniels. It apparently has other health benefits so I would have thought it could be used safely as a preventative.

[Judy]

Depends on what's in their food, mine get glucosamine and chondroitin in their kibble so I just feed the oldest one a supplement of Joint Aid for Dogs, she's 11.5 and still putting in a full day's picking up without getting stiff.

[Saul]

Or a raw chicken wing / thigh plonked on the kibble? Good quality protein, and all the building blocks they need for joints, after all they're eating bone and cartilage Looks a damn sight tastier than granules too!

[madrags]

Joint Aid for mine, and have just changed to the equine version as so much cheaper!

[Miesque]

Or a raw chicken wing / thigh plonked on the kibble? Good quality protein, and all the building blocks they need for joints, after all they're eating bone and cartilage Looks a damn sight tastier than granules too!

Certainly a useful start but the levels of glucoasmine/chrodontin/MSM etc will be a fraction of the levels in a good supportive supplement.

[Saul]

Certainly a useful start but the levels of glucoasmine/chrodontin/MSM etc will be a fraction of the levels in a good supportive supplement.

So what? I'm questioning the idea that in a balanced diet that supplements are either "good" or "supportive" for anyone other than the manufacturer or seller.

Can you point me to your evidence that glucosamine, chondroitin, or methysulphonylmethane cannot be intrinsically manufactured by a mammal, i.e. they are "essential" as in essential amino acids or some vitamins and have to be in the diet. The point being that if the animal can manufacture them itself as required it will, and you don't need to add them to a well balanced diet.

For such a confident dietary claim of "goodness" evidence would be a large numbers canine study with a well matched control group, good randomisation, double blind naturally, a suitable follow up period (for dietary factors say 2-4 years) with small numbers of drop outs and an objective end point shown to have validity and inter observer reliability. I'd be impressed if you could find a study not funded / written by people taking payments from those making joint suppliments.

Those same joint "supplements" have no evidential basis for use in use in humans, I'd be amazed if they did in dogs (though always happy to be amazed and eat my hat). The idea that a manufactured dry granular form of the above ingredients was somehow more healthy than an unprocessed dietary source of the same... or that somehow more was better (just like some people have beliefs about vitamin intake that more is better) bears questioning.

Do you have any potential COI to declare?

[Miesque]

Do you have any potential COI to declare?

I'm a vet. Depends if you see that as a COI or not

[Saul]

Well as a professional you would know well what a potential COI would be, do you or your practice profit from selling joint suppliments?

That's not really my point though Miesque, I'm not doubting your integrity, but certainly am probing the evidence behind the idea that joint suppliments are of benefit (beyond the basics of in a vit D deficient diet, adding vit D is useful!)