"Arklier" wrote in message
...
The vet is reluctant
to operate on Augie's hip because of his age and the fact that it
doesn't interfere with his normal movement, and recommended to give
him an aspirin tablet when he starts limping.
........There's a lot more that can be done than just aspirin. At the very
least I'd be giving this dog glucosamine, salmon oil with Vit E, MSM and Vit
C. There are other products out there to try. This website has a list and
dicussion: http://www.dogaware.com/arthritis.html Also acupuncture may
help and this article mentions an infrared device and heat packs:
http://handicappedpets.com/wiki/inde...=Hip_Dysplasia

If there's no problems with liver or kidney (and a test should be run FIRST
to check), you can try some of the NSAIDs available from the vet.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/brace/index.htm

At $80 each they're not cheap, but I was wondering if anyone had any
experience with something like this and opinions

..........80 bucks is cheap compared to surgery! And I like their return
policy - at least they have one and if you get no money back the item is
donated. I'd certainly give it a fling for a mere 80 bucks. I checked
their returned and used products section and there's no listing for this
brace, so people must keep them. I'd check out their forum. There's also a
Yahoo Group you can join and see if anyone has used this product:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanineHD/

buglady
take out the dog before replying