Arthritis: That's Not 'Getting Old', It's 'Pain'

Few things make me quite as sad as seeing an elderly dog limping badly, and knowing that there is no relief in sight for that dog. There are a lot of people who genuinely believe that debilitating pain is just a normal part of getting old for dogs. The thing is, they don't fully realize that "getting old and creaky"="debilitating pain".

I do understand that getting old hurts. I have autoimmune joint issues that mean I get to deal with some of that decades earlier than many of my peers. However, I always have the option to take pain medication. My dog doesn't have that.

It's true that dogs slow down and spend more time sleeping in their senior years. Keeping them at a healthy weight and making sure they get plenty of exercise can help keep them comfortable. Rehab and physical therapy can also help them compensate. However, it's important to recognize and treat the pain that comes with arthritis.

"Getting old" doesn't slow down you dog, pain does. The reason he stops jumping up on the couch or your bed is because it hurts too much to do that anymore. Often the reason he stops tolerating the antics of children or younger dogs is because it hurts too much for him to play. He can't play ball for as long as he used to because after a few throws it hurts too bad for him to keep playing.

Is pain medication "natural"? Nope. You know what else isn't "natural"? Getting old. In nature, animals that slow down fall prey to the many dangers of life in the wild. Let's face it, most of our dogs would starve or be the victim of a more able-bodied predator long before they reach this geriatric stage of life. It's our fault, through advances in diet and health care, that our dogs live long enough to suffer debilitating arthritis. Though it is through the best of intentions, we did this to them.

Our dogs don't have thumbs. They can't open a pill bottle, or make an appointment to complain to the vet that they just can't handle a game of fetch anymore. I think we owe it to them to make their twilight years as comfortable as possible. Even if pain meds have the potential to shorten their lives, I am firmly of the opinion that it kinder to give them a few comfortable years. Forcing them to live longer years in great pain is just selfish.

Treat Tuesday: Zoe Pill Pops

Zoe Pill Pops are soft, smelly treats that are just the right size for hiding a pill or two. They come in three different flavors, two of which are safe for poultry-allergic and egg-allergic dogs. The more widely-available Pill Pockets are all made with chicken liver, so I had completely abandoned the idea of using medication-specific treats for Brisbane until I found these. The bag is resealable, and the treats themselves are sealed in pairs to help keep them as squishy and stinky as possible.

Good For: Hiding great big capsules for endless 20-day courses of antibiotics. Giving meds in the morning without getting a spoon covered in peanut butter. Getting Brisbane to take his pills without finding half-chewed capsules on the floor later. Dogs with poultry allergies.

Not Good For: Constant daily use, they get expensive and there's not that many in the bag.

How Much We Like Them: I had a moment of panic when I realized we were going to be out of them in a couple of days. Fortunately Amazon will get them here before I have to go back to hiding those giant pills in a tablespoon of peanut butter.

10 Ways to Get Pills Into a Dog.

Brisbane is currently on four different medications, so pills are a daily part of our lives. At work I give a lot of dogs their medications in Pill Pockets, but the standard ones are full of chicken and the allergy-friendly ones use duck. Briz is allergic to poultry, so no Pill Pockets for us. Instead, we use a variety of other methods to get Brisbane medicated. He's mostly cooperative, but there are definitely some pills he minds more than others.

1. Just feed it.
Some dogs will snarf down anything. This works particularly well with fish oil capsules and pills that are designed to be tasty. A lot of joint supplement pills are made to taste good, and some flea and heartworm preventatives are as well. Brisbane will usually just eat his Comfortis pill plain, though he makes faces while he chews it up. I know plenty of labradors who will happily gobble down any object that is fed like a treat.

2. Throw it in some kibble.
Once again, this can be more or less successful depending on the dog and how they eat. Those that hoover up anything in their bowl without stopping to chew probably won't even notice an extra-special addition. Plenty of dogs at work get their tasty joint supplements tossed in with their kibble. Brisbane, on the other hand, would definitely leave that white pill behind in the otherwise empty bowl.


3. Throw it in some tastier food.
Brisbane will eat most pills right along with his kibble if I stick them in a bit of something tasty. Pumpkin, yogurt, apple sauce, and baby food all make capsules and tablets a little more palatable. The only pills Brisbane won't eat this way are large tablets, like human joint supplements.

4. Offer it on a spoon.
While Briz will eat most of his pills in a bowl of kibble, this isn't the way I normally get him medicated. Brisbane gets his daily ration of kibble in the form of training treats, or dispensed from some of our wide variety of puzzle toys. Food bowls aren't part of daily life here, but treats offered on spoons are a regular sight. Since my dogs are familiar with the concept of licking food off spoons, they are less likely to notice that there's an extra lump in there.

5. Hide it in a treat.
American cheese slices are pretty common DIY Pill Pockets, some of the dogs at work get theirs wrapped in bread or lunch meat. I like processed cheese because it can be mooshed around the pill really well. I find individually wrapped processed cheese slices like Kraft Singles pretty convenient for a dog that needs pills every day, I just rip off as much as I need and then wrap the rest of the slice back up. Ru never falls for this trick.

6. Pretend to feed it to someone else.
Nothing encourages pill snarfing like a little competition. Brisbane might be feeling a bit 'meh' about a treat, but he's willing to choke it down just to keep another dog from eating it. He will even deliberately swallow a pill he already spit out if he thinks Ru might get it. Of course I have to be careful not to accidentally medicate the wrong dog.

7. Feed three treats.
The pill is always in the middle treat. The first treat is to lull the dog into a false sense of security, there's no yucky pill hiding in there. The second and third treats should be fed very quickly, they'll be less suspicious of the second treat and eager to swallow it so they can hurry up and eat the third treat. For highly suspicious dogs, random three-treat sequences with no pills can help throw them off.

8. Put it in something stinky and wonderful.
That's not boring processed cheese, that's herbed goat cheese! I tend to save the extra-stinky stuff for temporary meds like antibiotics, and for dogs who really hate pills. When it comes to stress-free medication, the pill vehicle doesn't need to be a healthy part of their diet. I'm willing to use cat food, fancy cheese, and anything else that particular dog loves.

9. Put it in something sticky.
Peanut butter is currently my favorite way to get pills into Brisbane. One small spoonful will hold 6+ pills. It's tough to spit out, and everybody loves it. Brisbane will even take large yucky tablets this way, without trying to spit them out. I honestly think the pills make the peanut butter easier to eat, since they don't stick quite as much as just peanut butter. I've also seen peanut butter spread on bread and wrapped around pills. Honey would also likely work the same way.

10. Liquefy it.
Ru is currently on antibiotics for a urinary tract infection, and Ru hates pills. The easiest way to get meds into him is in liquid form. Usually I ask the vet for liquid medication, but sometimes I end up grinding up tablets and mixing them with a little water, yogurt, or baby food. This doesn't work for capsules or time-release medication. Ru doesn't really like his antibiotics, but I can just pull his little cheek out and squirt the medication into his mouth.

Over the Counter People Medication for My Dogs

You should always ask your vet before givng your dog any type of over the counter medication. I am a dog owner and not a veterinarian and can't give anyone medical advice. What I can do is share what I do with my own dogs.

In general I assume that over the counter medication for humans is not safe for dogs unless I have heard it directly from my own veterinarian, or from a trusted friend who heard it from their own veterinarian. I know the wrong kind of pain medication can cause organ damage, and the oes that are safer for people are more dangerous for pets.

I know a lot of people who give their dogs asprin. A low-dose, enteric-coated asprin helps Brisbane feel better when he has overdone it at the beach. My vet says if he needs it too often, I should consider getting him a pain prescription. He only needs an asprin once or twice a month, so I think he's ok.

Benadryl, or diphenhydramine, is so useful that I buy big bottles of it at Costco. It seems to be incredibly difficult to overdose on Benadryl. Ru has stepped on a bee at the beach twice now, and my vet said to give my wee 6-lb chihuahua an entire pill. It didn't put him to sleep, but it did make him super-clingy for the rest of the day. He needed to be held and snuggled continuously. Brisbane has environmental allergies, and when he is very itchy I usually toss a couple of Benadryl in with his dinner. If he has eaten chicken, duck, turkey, or eggs I will also give him Benadryl a couple of times a day until the itching subsides. I try not to give it to him every day though, because it is possible to build up a tolerance. I personally can take half a dozen pills and feel nothing.

My vet thinks that Briz is allergic to pollens and grasses in addition to foods. I give him Zyrtec every day to keep him less itchy. Not all of my vets have recommended this, at least one said he had zero experience giving dogs allergy medication other than Benadryl, but that it wouldn't hurt him so I was welcome to try it. A friend gives their dog Claritin every day, their vet has some experience with preventative allergy meds and told them to give their 50-lb dog three pills a day because they metabolize it faster than people. Coscto sells 365 Costco-brand Zyrtec pills for $15. I like having them around for guests with cat allergies, too.

When I run out of salmon oil and can't be bothered to get more, I sometimes give Brisbane a few of my husband's omega-3 gummies. There are a lot of people supplements that are also used for dogs, but I don't give mind a lot of supplements. I have also given Brisbane glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM, but didn't notice any difference so I can't really say they helped.