Here’s an important thing that dogs and humans "of a certain age" have in common: both encounter difficulty with stiffness in the joints, and both can benefit enormously by taking Glucosamine sulfate supplements to support the joints and keep them in working order.
A form of amino sugar that aids cartilage repair, Glucosamine occurs naturally in the body and functions as a sort of joint lubricant. To ease the discomfort of osteoarthritis, Glucosamine’s presence in the body may be boosted with supplements derived from shrimp shells. (It also can’t hurt to remove the cartilage tips from your chicken or turkey meals and toss them to your dog.)
So, besides adjusting our senior dogs’ environments by providing ramps and step-ups to help them get around, we can help our elder statesdogs to become more mobile from the inside out by adding Glucosamine to their diets as a geriatric supplement. (It is, however, contraindicated for patients with diabetes.)
It’s truly inspiring to see a dog who’s suffered from arthritis-induced joint stiffness rapidly regain mobility and the freedom to move around. If he’s like my dog, he is likely to go belly-up with joy at his newfound ability to thoroughly enjoy exercise and playtime opportunities the way he used to.
