AGE: 12
CONDITION: Rapid Onset Arthritis
LOCATION: USA
"Any extra days you can give your dog of quality life are worth it. You can't put a price on that."
My senior dog, Diesel, is 12.5 years old. Although he's a been a healthy dog in the fall, around September he was diagnosed with Rapid Onset Arthritis and it got bad really really fast.
He could not walk on our floors very well, his hips would sway drastically. It got to the point for him to walk in the house we had to use a sling. The vet told us he would deteriorate really quickly. They put him on pain medication so I could manage his comfort level and they recommended helping him walk.
We tried everything. We tried socks but they didn't work very well and then we got him a sling which helped a little. He could only play or walk when he was in the sling. The vet basically told us do what you can to keep him comfortable but we had to watch him for signs of extreme pain. If we noticed he had a loss of appetite or trouble with bowel movements we would have to make a very difficult decision. As a family we knew that day might be sooner rather than later as things were progressing quickly.
I started doing some research on his condition and I found a supplement on a Facebook ad. It showed senior dogs in their ads that were walking just like him. The ad said it would help him show drastic improvement in a short period of time yadda yadda yadda. I'm not a fan of snake oil supplements and things that make promises but when it comes to my dogs I thought I'll try anything.
I decided to order it, I gave him 3 scoops in the morning 3 scoops at night. 3 weeks later, after trying the supplement, he was running and playing. This is the dog that couldn't walk down the hallway without the use of a sling and here he is. Playing and running, he has joy, his tail is wagging. He gained weight because he either loves the taste or he's in less pain so he got his appetite back.
For something that was supposed to get progressively worse rapidly, not only did it stop progressing but it got better! I would say he improved by 50%. He's not like a 2 year old dog again but any extra days you can give your dog of quality life are worth it. You can't put a price on that. This is definitely going to be apart of his routine for the rest of his life.
