Glucosamine Chondroitin Tablets?
I just purchased a bottle of Gluco. Chond. tablets for my 3 year old lab w/hip problems. Do I give him the recommended human dose (on the bottle) of two tablets a day or will giving my lab one a day be sufficient enough?
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Tagged with: hip problems
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The dose on the label is for a 150 lb adult human so generally with glu/chon tablets we can adjust down accordingly based on the dog’s weight.
However, for a lab with hip problems you may well want to give that full adult dosage. This is often what we do.
All glucosamine and chrondroitin is not equal by the way. With these supplements it’s very much a case of "your mileage may vary" and we don’t know why some dogs respond better than others when it comes to various g/c supplements. My personal recommendation is to use Joint Strong or Liquid Health Level 5000 (both from http://www.k9rawdiet.com) or both in very severe cases. Both supplements have highly absorbable forms of g/c but they also contain a host of other beneficial ingredients that help the joints.
Good luck!
Call your veterinarian for the proper dosage for your dog’s weight.
A lab-sized dog should usually get somewhere around 1000mg/day, or more. (less for maintenance, but you said the dog already has problems) Some people will do as much as 1500, but I really am not all that convinced the extra 500 is exactly necessary.
Most human tabs are 500mg each. 1am, 1pm is the best bet (you could do it all once a day, but splitting it up will help keep a more balanced amount in the system)
I would also supplement with MSM (many of the Gluco, Chron formulas have it in there. It is a natural anti-inflammatory and really helps with the pain.
A popular brand of Gluco/Chron prescribed by vets is Cosequin. Here is their label info.
Ingredients:
Glucosamine HCl 99%
500 mg
Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate 95% (Low molecular weight)
400 mg
Mixed Glycosaminoglycans 5%
Ascorbate (as Manganese Ascorbate)
33 mg
Manganese (as Manganese Ascorbate)
5 mg
Directions:
The recommended initial administration period is four to six weeks. Your dog may respond in a shorter period of time. At this time you can decrease the number of Cosequin DS Capsules to the maintenance level.
Dog’s Weight
Initial 4 to 6 week Administration Period
Maintenance Level
10-24 lbs.
1 capsule daily (1/2 am, 1/2 pm)
1/2 capsule daily
25-49 lbs.
2 capsules daily (1 am, 1 pm)
1 capsule daily
50-100 lbs.
3 capsules daily (2 am, 1 pm)
1-2 capsules daily
Over 100 lbs.
4 capsules daily (2 am, 2 pm)
2 capsules daily
Don’t feed glucose tablets. They are expensive. Go to a local feed store and buy glucosamine LIQUID. It is much higher concentrated, and you only need to put a teaspoon or so a day on your dogs food. A bottle will last you a long time, and does much better work. I have seen a 12 year old german shepherd female who could barely walk act like a puppy after taking the liquid for a few weeks. It’s the only glucosamine I will give my shepherds.
Not only that, but human glucose tablets aren’t recomended for dogs. If you do insist, feed him 1-2 tablets a day.
You ought to be giving your dog a DOG supplement, not a human-grade supplement, unless specifically told to do so by your VET.
There are major differences.
I highly suggest the Missing Link supplements if you want a great joint support supplement for your large breed Labrador.