Give me options!

Puppy Brinkley.  It's hard to believe he's almost 5.

Now that I've had a week or so to let the idea of Brinkley having hip dysplasia sink in, I think I'm starting to get a better grip on things.  The first conclusion that I've come to is that I need more options!  Brinkley turns 5 on June 1st.  FIVE.  To me, that's young, even for a dog.  I'm not too keen on the idea of pumping him full of Rimadyl so young.  His kidneys and liver would surely be affected as the years go by.  Essentially, Rimadyl is a pain killer which sole purpose is to mask the pain rather than address the source of the pain.

I can understand why my vet prescribed him pain meds.  As the vet explained to me, I don't have to use them every day, right now.  This is great news because the pills are PRICEY!  20 pills for $37.  Recommended daily dose is 1 every 12 hours.  That's 10 days of pain medicine for $37.  That's $1350 a year if Brinkley were to be entirely dependent on pills to manage his hip pain.  Who knows what other internal pain or problems would crop up with that kind of medicine.  Common sense tells me that if I started giving them to him, he would exert himself, be in more pain, and require continued medication...evil spiral downward.

Thankfully, Brink is no where near that stage now.  And I would like to delay that as long as possible.  For now, he'll only get some pain meds on the rare occasion that he exerts himself so far that he's limping and struggling.  Those days are few and far between right now.

So, what options do I have to help Brinkley delay the inevitable??  His current vet mentioned acupuncture.  She's certified in it so that recommendation made sense to me.  But she really didn't offer anything else other than to add a joint supplement to his diet and change his diet so that he loses about 10lbs.  After losing 30lbs myself, I know how losing a percentage or two of body fat can improve mobility and energy.

Those options still weren't enough for me.  I wanted more.  I wanted to find something that would allow Brinkley to somehow get stronger and possibly increase his range of motion.  I stumbled upon dog hydrotherapy.  So far this sounds like a promising option.  As with humans, exercise in the water allows the dog to move their limbs and exercise (and build muscle) without their weight putting pressure on their joints.  I've located multiple places nearby that offer underwater treadmill therapy.  And I found one place that has an indoor heated pool for open water swim for pets and owners.

I also asked a friend who is a vet tech her opinion on Rimadyl, joint supplements, etc.  She not only provided me a great lists of joint supplements but suggested Adequan which is an intermuscular injectable glucosamine.  From doing research on that, I've found vets have had great results with it and in the long run it is cheaper than all other products, like Rimadyl.  And unlike the others, Adequan is aimed directly at the muscles and joint in need of attention to repair and rebuild cartilage.  After a loading period, it's only administered once every 4-6 weeks and very few side effects.  While Adequan sounds like a great option, I still want to find out what long term effects it may have before I start Brink down that path.

For right now, we're doing nothing.  We're packed for our trip.  And Brinkley is packed for his stay at Brent's parents' place.  I'll do more research and start making decisions when I get back from the trip.  Brink and I will have to work even better as a team if I'm going to get him to old age with as little pain as possible!!