I have a 12-year-old Rottweiler/Lab mix. He has been arthritic for a few years, and been on a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement to help that. Lately, though, it seems to have gotten a LOT worse very quickly.
- When he's up and moving, he doesn't bend his left hind hock much, so he walks kind of "peg-legged."
- There have been several instances in the past couple months where his back end has simply collapsed while walking up stairs, even on the single step up to my porch. It's like he just sits down and then goes sliding backwards. He doesn't cry in pain when that happens, just sits like he's stuck and waits for me to help him back up.
- Sometimes he'll be just standing and I'll notice that back left leg is trembling a little.
- Though he doesn't like his legs touched, he doesn't seem to react in pain when I stretch and flex his back legs. At least, he doesn't fight me over them any more than his front legs!
- This may or may not be relevant, but he's pooed in my car several times now. Two years ago I could take him on an hour-long trip, but 3 out of 5 times in the past month we've gone to the park 5 minutes away, he's lost control.
Is this a typical progression of arthritis in dogs, or am I seeing something else? The collapsing on the stairs is what truly concerns me, because he's never had that issue before. Would increasing his supplement dosing help? He's 60 lb and gets 600 mg MSM, 500 mg Glucosamine, 850mg Chondroitin Sulfate daily (I'll put links below if interested). Thanks so much for any advice, even just questions to ask my vet.
He gets 2 tablets of each:
http://www.springtimeinc.com/product/joint-health-chewables
http://www.springtimeinc.com/product/fresh-factors
Have considered adding this:
http://www.springtimeinc.com/product/omega-3-6-9-fish-oil-for-dogs-skin-coat
Fed Taste of the Wild grain free food
Up-to-date on vaccines