Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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What has been your experience for supplementing a dog who is a tripawd without cancer, cost wise? I know you guys battling the big C have a lot of supplements going on, I feel for you and the pups, too.
We looked a bit into joint supplements for our old guy with arthritis and they were super expensive. $60 for a bottle that would last a week for his size (70lbs). Dante will be roughly the same size, a bit smaller maybe.
We didn't look into it too much, and the vet had told us getting human supplements as opposed to the ones packaged for dogs would be cheaper, even though they had the same ingredients.
Please tell me no one is paying $240 a month in supplements just for joint care and prevention?! We could do it, but I sure would prefer not to pay THAT much if we don't have to. We already pay about $120 a month in food for all 5 animals - and that will go up as the pups grow!
So, what are the secrets to keeping cost down? Certain stores, brands, online? I see a thread stickied for coupons and savings, I will check that out as well!
If you can't afford the vet stuff the next best thing would be the over the counter human meds but be aware that human supplements are not regulated by the FDA so not all supplements contain what the label says. The last time that I saw a Consumer Reports on the subject they found that the Nature Made brand tested consistently high so that is the brand I use if I need to use human stuff for my dogs.
Having said that I do spend extra when it comes to joint support. I use the Dasuquin brand for both my French Mastiff and Pitbull because it is very pure and ends up being less pills than the human stuff plus it is flavored so they eat it like a treat. I also use fish oil (2000 mg of EPA and DHA for the Pitbull and 4000 mg daily for the mastiff).
Pam
munko said:
So, what are the secrets to keeping cost down?
Subscribe to the Weekly Coupons topic in the Eating Healthy forum for regular coupon codes from VitaPal, Vitamin Tree and various other online vitamin superstores for savings on all your natural supplements.
Check out this Tips and Resources topic for sale announcements and special offers on all dog products from Fetch Dog, Petco and others.
Review the numerous online pet pharmacy links and see the left sidebar on the Tripawds Nutrition blog for savings on supplements and pet meds.
We have not yet started Wyatt on any serious regimen of supplements other than fish oil, probiotics, and Halo Vita-Mineral supplement for dogs, at the cost of approximately $25/month. He does not yet get any joint supplements.
Great question, thanks for starting this topic!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
boy oh boy is this timely…..Magic had his surgery on 3/11 and I started him on the Dasuquin (from the vet)…OMG…he has to take 2 for 4-6 weeks then 1 a day….they are almost a buck a pill from vet. THEN, I got the K9 Immunity and the transfer thing to go with it…both those are $59 and because of his size, Magic would need to do 10 pills of the K9 Imm. a DAY…there are 84 pills in the bottle. I got the human transfer thing first but now have the right one, there are 30 in the bottle, he takes one a day. I also got the K9 omega capsules. Then I just went and got the Evo food (had to buy all three flavors of dry of course!!)….I'm afraid to keep reading!!!!! My major problem and Rene is desperately trying to train me, I want to do it perfectly…if it says 10 then by God he is supposed to be taking 10…however, trying to find stuff to hide them in and if he bites down…oh boy, there goes THAT option.
I don't even want to add up the cost. I guess I have been pulled into this because for the last four years I have had a VERY expensive kitty…three years of chemo (and the first year was once a week, including blood test once a week) and now the kitty has kidney failure that I treat daily with fluids and I also give shots for red blood cell production (never mind the various pills)…so along with the gold plated kitty, I will now have a gold plated doggie!!!
After some of the reading, I am kinda afraid to get anything that isn't from the US (selling point for Aloha Medicinals) and the people things apparently sometimes have other stuff in them that isn't good.
I am finding that there is SO much information that I actually can see the little letters leaking out the corners of my eyes…my hard drive may be full…it was getting kinda old and unreliable anyway and NOW….good thing I have this place and all of you to come and get info from!!!
Just wanted to share with everyone what I shared with Diane, which is, when Jerry was diagnosed, we found it much easier to tackle the information overload by working with a limited, manageable amount of supplements that we had seen good reports on. We also picked ones that we knew we could afford, and ones that Jerry would willingly eat.
You're right Diane, there's so much information out there it can make a person insane. And if you're so busy trying to get up to speed on ways that you can help keep the cancer at bay, then that means less quality time you're spending with Magic. That is no fun.
There are so many things out there that show potential for keeping cancer in remission. Some have more hard science backing them than others. We could go on and on trying to pick everything that we can afford to help our fur kids, and we could go broke doing so. But for a good quality of life, try your best not to let all of these choices, costs and information take over your life and rob you of your time together. Because in the end, all that matters is the time you enjoyed as a pack.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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