Should my dog take joint supplements after surgery?

When you and your pup are prepping for an orthopedic surgery, you want to know that your canine companion is in good hands-steady and knowledgeable hands to say the least! But did you know that what happens after the surgery is every bit as important as what goes on in that operating room? It’s true, the recovery period can make or break an orthopedic surgery, no matter how neat and pretty your veterinarian turned it out.

So, how do you make the most out of helping your dog to recover in the best way possible? Strictly follow your veterinarian’s rest and exercise guidelines and talk to them about joint supplements.

Wound healing is a complex process, as you can imagine. Even though just about everyone can do it, there are some factors that influence wound healing and long-term recovery for the better, and some that affect it for the worse.

To begin with, an injury or surgical site needs to have a good blood supply. That’s because blood carries all of the healing factors, including oxygen, to the place they are needed. You also need a clean, healthy place to start, something that should come easy following a sterile procedure. To keep that place clean and healthy, you’ll also need an immune system that’s up to snuff.

Factors that are going to go against healing and that can increase the recovery time include: underlying health conditions, such as diabetes, kidney or heart disease, or Cushing’s, to name a few. Any of these can interfere with blood flow or the immune system, increasing the time it takes for a dog to knit themselves back together. Also a factor is being overweight. Not only does excess weight equal excess pressure on joints, fatty tissue can actually increase inflammation, something that healing tissues don’t like. Finally, you’ll want to keep that surgical site from getting infected by following the vet’s orders of not bathing, not letting your pup lick the incision, and giving the prescribed antibiotics.

Besides keeping your dog’s surgical site clean and not letting them run wild, you can also promote healing by giving supplements. While joint supplements aren’t quite a miracle pill, they do have a lot to offer a dog’s joint, especially following something as invasive as an injury or surgery. Let’s break it down by the major ingredients:

Now, you can see how any one of these ingredients is going to give your dog’s freshly worked-on joint good, natural ingredients that the joint tissue and fluid crave. Supplying them with these necessary nutrients in the quantities that they need will help ensure that the body has everything it needs to rebuild and repair. Not only do these ingredients feed the joints, but they will also crossover to help bones and muscles since it they all work together in giving your dog their much-needed mobility.

If your plan is to give joint supplements only immediately following your dog’s orthopedic surgery, it’s time to come up with a new plan, and a long-term one at that. While joint supplements can help your pup breeze through the surgery recovery period, they are equally important for your dog’s long-term arthritic outlook.

You see, arthritis is an inflammatory process that leads to the breakdown of the joint cartilage and other joint tissues over time. What this means for your pup is joint stiffness, pain, and even swelling that make your pup choose to stay in bed over a morning walk.

Giving joint supplements can help to decrease the inflammation that is the root of the issue. They also provide those great nutrients that help to rebuild and boost joint tissues, even if they’ve already experienced some wear and tear.

You shouldn’t be surprised that anything that affects how that joint is supposed to behave is going to cause some problems. This includes injuries or joint abnormalities. Most of the time, these problems set that joint up for arthritis down the road. Proactively giving joint supplements can help right a dog’s joint ship to decrease the severity of arthritis or prolong its development of it.

The quick answer is now! But it’s also never too late. Puppies can even take joint supplements. The general rule for some breeds is to start joint supplements as soon as a pup stops growing. These are breeds that are especially prone to hip, elbow, or knee abnormalities or injuries. Breeds on that list include:

You may have noticed that this list leans heavily toward the large and giant breeds of dogs. That’s simply because these dogs often grow at a tremendous rate, going from puppy to pony in a matter of a short time. If these puppies grow too quickly, they run the risk of bones and connective tissues not reaching their destination at the same time, leading to joint abnormalities.

For young dogs, GlycanAid Maintenance is right up their alley. It will give them the powerful products of glucosamine, chondroitin, vitamin C, and even some MSM to help joints stay youthful and healthy into a dog’s adult years. For a little added boost, talk to your vet about giving your dog Flexerna Essentials for the omega fatty acids as well.

If you’ve already missed this time frame, don’t worry. Joint supplements can still be put to good use in adult and even senior pups. They can even help dogs already undergoing the grueling discomfort of arthritis. For these dogs, though, you’ll want to look into something a little more powerful. GlycanAid HA has all of the beneficial ingredients as the maintenance version GlycanAid with the added power of hyaluronic acid to help lubricate those grating joints. MSM Joint Boost will up their MSM intake for a little extra pain management, and Flexerna Omega will take the anti-inflammatory capabilities to a new level.

For a different approach to pre-existing arthritis, talk to your vet about Adequan injections. This medication is made to prevent and help reverse the effects of arthritis and is safe to use in conjunction with most other joint supplements. Speak to your veterinarian about this possibility if your dog is experiencing, or likely to experience, debilitating arthritis.

You may also wish to add in some separate vitamin E or vitamin C for their antioxidant actions or some eggshell membrane to help build and maintain muscle. After all, the stronger a dog’s muscles are, the easier they are going to recover from orthopedic surgery.

If your pup has had an orthopedic injury and is facing surgery, it’s still not too late. Talk to your vet about starting joint supplements prior to surgery. Most supplements need time to really take effect. They require a loading dose, usually twice the maintenance dose, for a couple of weeks in order to get the nutrients built up in your dog’s system. However, most manufacturers and dog owners alike will tell you it takes 4-6 weeks to really see the full effect. This means that if you want those joint supplements working at full steam during surgery recovery, they’ll need to start taking them at least a month in advance.

Now, some vets may prefer you wait to start joint supplements until after surgery. That is because there is some concern about bleeding and wound healing issues with some supplemental ingredients in humans with unknown effects in our canine companions. Some vets may recommend stopping joint supplements or not starting them until after surgery just in case. Your vet is going to know what is best for your pup, so be sure to tell them all of the medications that your dog is taking.