Greetings,
Welcome to this month's issue of The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. Please pass this along to your friends!

Table of Contents:

1. Content from The Pet Arthritis Resource Center
2. How much glucosamine do Fido or Fluffy really need?
3. Pet Arthritis Message Boards

Glucosamine for Dogs Information on treating arthritis and hip dysplasia in dogs with glucosamine Natural Arthritis Relief for Pets What you need to know about arthritis in dogs, the treatment options, and nutritional support. The Types of Arthritis in Dogs From osteoarthritis to hip displaysia to hypertrophism to carpi: A listing of the most common forms of arthritis in dogs.

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How much glucosamine do Fido or Fluffy really need?

If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I am a strong advocate of safe approaches to dealing with your pet's arthritis. Certainly, I have made it clear that the use of a pharmaceutical quality liquid glucosamine is my preferred approach as opposed to prescription drugs that have the potential to cause serious side effects.

However, in the past 10 to 12 months, we have seen a couple of newcomers enter our industry making claims that are not supported by clinical evidence. I think this is an important issue and one that you should be aware of.

Pets vs. Humans
Liquid glucosamine is effective in handling arthritis in both pets and humans. The only difference is the amount of the product that a pet is given which is dictated by body weight. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds and are taking 1/4 ounce of liquid glucosamine daily, the dosage for your 75-pound pet is 1/8 ounce. Since this is the case, is there any evidence that tells us how many milligrams of glucosamine your pet needs daily?

The correct dosage and who needs more?
The basic claim being made by these companies is that you must use a product that contains at least 1500 mg of glucosamine. To support that argument, they cite historical studies that have been conducted on humans. The question is do those studies support an argument that you have to use 1500 mg of liquid glucosamine?

Those companies are not presenting the facts correctly. Most of the clinical studies used a pill or capsule form of glucosamine; others used injections. Additional studies have clearly demonstrated that pills (or capsules) are not as absorbable as a liquid form and in fact, the liquid absorbs at four to eight times the rate.

That means that far less liquid glucosamine is needed than when a pill or capsule form is used. Any argument that your pet (or any human for that matter) needs 1500 mg daily is simply not true.

Let's just put it this way…
The bottom line is that when using a liquid glucosamine to handle your pet's arthritis, he or she is getting more than enough at around 800 mg a day. Given the evidence regarding the absorption of liquids vs. pills, a product that provides 1200 to 1250 mg of glucosamine is going to do the job very effectively.

Is there any evidence that "more is better?"
This is a pretty straight forward question. There is absolutely no clinical evidence to support a theory that using a liquid product that contains more glucosamine is going to provide better results--no evidence whatsoever.

Conclusion
As a pet owner and a consumer, you are entitled to the straight facts. Unfortunately, there are those who have used historical clinical findings to draw an incorrect conclusion; I would submit that it has been done to sway your purchase decision.

The only real answer you are looking for is to make your pet a healthier, happier one no matter how bad their arthritis problems may be. In making a purchase decision, you are entitled to the straight facts.

See you next time.

For information on arthritis in pets visit our site at http://www.arthritis-cats-dogs.com

For information on glucosamine and the leading products read A Guide to Glucosamine Products. Or you can learn more about glucosamine formula Syn-flex®, our recommended glucosamine product.

A feature to our Pet Arthritis Resource Center is the Pet Arthritis Message Board. You can post messages, ask questions, learn more, and meet friends. You can post messages in any of the following sections.

Dogs

• Canine Hip Dysplasia
• Arthritis in Dogs
• Glucosamine for Dogs

Cats

• Feline Hip Dysplasia
• Glucosamine for Cats
• Arthritis in Cats

Other Animals

• Arthritis in Other Animals

Here's a few sample posts from the Forum...

Russell
Posted on 10 Oct 2004

Please everybody.

My dog is suffering from spinal pain and he became to feel more and more pain, and then he found it harder and harder to walk, and then he finally got his rear end paralyzed.

He is a lhasa apso, 20 months old. We took an X-ray and the vet determined that his spine was ok. What now? How could we know what do he have? Distemper was discarded because he was suffering wth spinal pain. He often screams when we try to lift him.

Please, i would like to know if someone has something to share with me about that subject!

thanks a lot,
Russell

Post your own message on The Pet Arthritis Message Board now!

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This concludes the October Issue of The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. Look for the next issue in your inbox on November 15th, 2004!

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Have a great October from The Pet Arthritis Resource Center and The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. See you next month!