13/05/2025
Weekly Market Chats... Older Dogs and Pain.
If you have an older dog you know. Their younger lifestyle, diet, attention requirements and medical requirements can change rapidly. The realisation that you all of a sudden have an elderly dog can happen over night. My weekly chats with owners show that we are all on similar journeys.
A main concern and hurdle with older dogs is pain and joint issues. The majority of owners with dogs from 8-12 years old have a pain prevention routine. Glucosamine, cbd are popular treatments. Common concerns are difficulty getting to their feet, slower walks, irritability, waking in the middle of the night or change in personality are some signs customers have mentioned. You may have had to change the medication for pain several times often as it stops working but finding the right balance can be difficult.
Zoe has been on everything pre hip replacement so finding something that still worked was difficult. Other dog owners have tried natural alternatives however when a dog is in pain this is often an additional aid and not a replacement to prescribed meds. Librela is a regular conversation these days and although alot of vets are recommending this a miracle pain medication customers are now cautious and doing their research. From conversations I have had a few customers wondered is it scare mongering. Here is my two cents as I have shared with many market customers. Zoe had 4 librela injections while she benefited initially I started to hear concerns about negative results. So I did my research and was on the fence then Zoe got this excessive thirst and I mean she would clear 4 bowls of water in one sitting . The only thing that changed was the medication so after monitoring the situation I stopped the librela and returned to pain and anti inflammatory meds and cbd, thirst disappeared. While this is Zoes journey I know lots of owners that weight up the benefits and comfort of their dog and unfortunately with an older dog the quality of their life often over rules some of the concerns about elements such as ingredients etc. If it was a younger dog taking it I would definitely have a red flag. But that's my two cents.