15 year old dog having arthritis problems, hip brace usage?

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5388]

My stinky boy turned 15 a few days ago, and I notice he's been having more and more trouble with artritis. It's not extremely bad yet, but it's noticable that he struggles to get up after laying down, and he's been falling down a few times. He sleeps at my side on the bed and has done so for his whole life, but he's hesitant to jump up now, like he has to psych himself up. And I took him to a beach house in July and he had a ton of trouble with the stairs (although the water really helped him).

I've never had a dog with this sort of problem before, so I'm looking up ways to help him. I've already got him some chews that'll reduce the inflammation, but I was looking into more of a structural support. My dog has never been the kind who likes being physically carried, he's a medium sized dog so he is weird to hold. I was initially looking for a harness so that, if ever needed, I could lift him up easily, when I started looking into hip braces. Reading online, I see there are many types, from full back brace harnesses with leg braces, to ones you slide under your dogs belly to help ease pressure when you take them for a walk.

My main questions are A) Do these hip braces work well? and B) How long can my dog wear one? Should he only wear a brace when we go for a walk, or can he wear them all day long? He's at that age now where he likes to sleep a lot when we're not playing, and getting up from laying down is getting hard for him, so I'd kind of like a brace that he could wear while he sleeps to help him stand back up. Can you do that with a hip brace?

Anybody ever dealt with this? My dog's quality of life is still good, he still plays and runs and such, it's not like he's an invalid, I just don't want to ignore the problem and make it worse.

[PRONG HORN 3130]

8 hours ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

My stinky boy turned 15 a few days ago, and I notice he's been having more and more trouble with artritis. It's not extremely bad yet, but it's noticable that he struggles to get up after laying down, and he's been falling down a few times. He sleeps at my side on the bed and has done so for his whole life, but he's hesitant to jump up now, like he has to psych himself up. And I took him to a beach house in July and he had a ton of trouble with the stairs (although the water really helped him).

I've never had a dog with this sort of problem before, so I'm looking up ways to help him. I've already got him some chews that'll reduce the inflammation, but I was looking into more of a structural support. My dog has never been the kind who likes being physically carried, he's a medium sized dog so he is weird to hold. I was initially looking for a harness so that, if ever needed, I could lift him up easily, when I started looking into hip braces. Reading online, I see there are many types, from full back brace harnesses with leg braces, to ones you slide under your dogs belly to help ease pressure when you take them for a walk.

My main questions are A) Do these hip braces work well? and B) How long can my dog wear one? Should he only wear a brace when we go for a walk, or can he wear them all day long? He's at that age now where he likes to sleep a lot when we're not playing, and getting up from laying down is getting hard for him, so I'd kind of like a brace that he could wear while he sleeps to help him stand back up. Can you do that with a hip brace?

Anybody ever dealt with this? My dog's quality of life is still good, he still plays and runs and such, it's not like he's an invalid, I just don't want to ignore the problem and make it worse.

 

 

Get him some stairs for getting on the bed   Like These

If he's fat get him leaner.  

Your "main questions" are for an orthopedic vet person.   

 

[Incredulity 11643]

15 year old dog is really old.  count your blessings that he has made it this far.  odds are he's on the way out really soon so enjoy every minute you can.  

 

Personally I have never witnessed success with even things like a sweater for snowing conditions on a dog.  They seem really frustrated and agitated whenever I have been around one that the owner has put apparel items on.  I would imagine braces would be similar at least in the immediate timeframe.

 

 

[tx 3 putt 76862]

that laser therapy stuff works 

[Jerry Callo 8694]

Gabapentin helped our old lab for a while.  Jumping down off the bed can be very painful and exacerbate the problems - you should watch that.