I have an almost 13 year old Golden Retriever. I have had him since I was 2(: and I’m almost 14. He is my whole family’s dog. He has arthritis in his joints and hips, and that makes it really hard for him to get up. Lately we have been noticing that he will rarely get up and all he wants to do is sleep. Also, at night he will get up and poop all over the floor two or three times and its not just regular poop its diarrhea. My dad lets him out 4 or 5 times at night but he still is doing this. My mom has been talking about putting him to sleep. (not because he is pooping on the floor but because she thinks something is wrong) We are going to try to take him to the vet,but what do you think we should do?. I know that this is my dog, and my parents will have the final say in what we do but I dont want to put him down if its not his time to go. Thanks.
He takes daily pills for his arthiritis. And no he hasnt been seen at the vet yet because money has been extremely tight in my house. What are we supposed to do? Take the dog to the vet, and then find out that we dont have the money to pay for it??

I had a baby by c-section 3 months ago. During the last few months of my pregnancy through now, I’ve been having severe pains in my hip joints. It isn’t all the time, but happens most when I bend down, stand up and sit Indian-style. Sometimes I even hear a “pop” when I move. The pain is almost unbearable, and causes me to limp. Could this be related to my hips widening from pregnancy, or possible hip arthritis? I am 23 years old, with no previous symptoms until now.

My neighbor’s 14 year old Chow has severe arthritis. Am having a Senior moment…and cannot remember the safe dosage for Aspirin for him. He weighs about fifty pounds and cries in his sleep as well as when he’s awake. He LOVES life and has a sweet and playful nature. He also has non-red ‘hot-spots near his tail. She keeps him clipped against the heat….but would a vinegar rinse help him? She is too poor to afford Vet treatments…can’t even afford a license for him…neither can I. Any suggestions!?! Thank you.
Maureen…you are SO right! It’s not even HER dog…Buddha belongs to her worthless son who says’ He’s just old’. This is the BERST old dog. We just want him to be as comfortable as possible. By the way…I buy his Iams…that’s the best I can do; he has all his teeth and a fine appetite!

late year my 11 yo dog tore the acl’s in her knee..it was the end of august she had the surgery. weather turned off cold and bad after her 6 wk restrictions were up so she was unable to rip n run due to muddy outside though we did take her for walk..wouldnt let her lie on ground because of arthritis…over the winter she figured out she could drag her rear with her front legs and still keep moving. when we tell her to use her leg she will walk on it fine but she has gotten so lazy over the winter it drives me crazy at times seeing her drag herself..for 11 yrs old she is still very alert and active but just wont use her leg like she should. she is in no pain now and vet said she is just being lazy which is what i knew all along. i even tried one day wrapping a towel around her to support her to help her use the leg more and after she figured what i was doing she quit using both legs so i stopped that.

just need to know how to make lazy ole granny use that leg more

the last week or so i have been suffering from hand tingling and numbness of incredible pain to the point of almost non-functionality. it all started waking one morning and thought nothing of it cuz it had happened before if i slept on one side too long. but this pain was different in its intensity and that it lasted all day. when asking my dad he said it was cuz i had overworked it redecorating my new place(which was kinda true cuz the 2 days prior to my painful wake-up it had been sore from painting and installing a wire curtain to surround my bed with no brakes) and that it should be gone by 2weeks. the thing is the past few months though i had a few bouts of swollen and irritated eyes if i left my contacts in too long and my eye doctor said it might be a symptom of arthritis. the pain also mainly hits when its cold and damp like it has been lately but is mostly fine when either not damp or bone in cold.and though maybe unrelated i also have had unusual(brief and uncommon) chest pains within the past months ANY IDEAS?? i know i should go to a doctor but i have to wait for a day off and you all know insurance and heath-care sucks

Hello. I have arthritis and chronically inflamed muscles. I’ve been prescribed a NSAID but can’t take it long-term due to a stomach ulcer. I’m looking into alternative anti-inflammatories. Let me know if you know of any herbal or otherwise natural treatments that have anti-inflammatory properties. Thank you!
Thanks for the helpful advice so far. Btw, I was already treated for H. Pylori with the 14 days of amoxicillan, clarithromyacin and nexium. I blew clear in the breath test after. The ulcer just hasn’t healed yet b/c the Lodine irritated it

Okay, my family has a 2 year old Golden Retriever. She just recently tore her cruciate ligament. It’s fully torn and the vet says surgery but we can’t afford it, at all. No way possible. I did research online and it says their are some way with physical therapy, but my mom and dad say it wont work because it’s fully torn. I don’t want my dog to get arthritis before she’s even 3. I don’t want her to be a cripple the rest of her life, and I don’t want her to die. We just recently put our 13 year old dog to sleep, and if a torn ligament can kill a dog, it’d be horrible. I don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?
Oh, and my parents don’t want to waist money on the surgery because we had surgery on our old dog, and it didn’t fix anything and we ended up putting him to sleep. /:

I’m a 20 year old male that has been having annoying knee pain for a few years. I realise that nobody who answers this is going to be able to say for sure what the cause is, but at least give me ideas on what to tell the doctor when I do see him.

This has been going on for 5-6 years now, my family doctor basically writes it off as nothing, tells me I have jeuvenile oesteo-arthritis. But he lists the symptoms and they don’t fit me, hardly at all.

So the pain:

Never there in the morning.
Is at the back of the knee, on the inside, seems to come from the very prominant tendon you can see/feel in the back of most peoples legs.
Standing or walking for long periods agravates it.
Stairs up or down, make almost no difference.
Biking( I have been HEAVILY into mountain biking for years, my whole life basically) there is never any pain.
The back of my leg swells when the pain is there.
A simple tensor wrap or stretchy knee brace almost immediately relieves the pain, 100%.

My calf and back of the thigh both always have that feeling of the day after you work out. Where you need you stretch. And stretching the front of my leg (quads) relieves the pain temporarily.

The pain is a dull feeling, not around the kneecap at all, and only on the inside of the back on my knee. I can still walk just fine, putting my knee in any position but dead straight also relieves the pain. Running doesn’t aggravate it anymore than walking does.

I plan on going to the doctor with a list similar to the one I wrote out here, but basically I’m wondering if anybody can point me in the right direction with what this may be..

I don’t have any health insurance right now (not good, I know) but I am interested in changing that. All the insurance plans I’ve ever had prior to this point have been through my places of employment, but my current employer does not offer any insurance because it is part time work (and they don’t offer full employment except to management). I have never used any of the insurance from any job before because I have not had any emergencies to deal with. And I have not seen a doctor for my CP related issues since I was a teenager. Stupid I know but I had an intense hatred for all medical doctors for many many years due to my earlier experiences from childhood.

I have been thinking a lot about getting health insurance lately though due to my increasing leg issues over the past several years. I do have other health issues as well, which I believe are all related to the cerebral palsy in some form or the other (depression, obesity, high blood pressure, joint problems, foot arch pain, hip issues, arthritis, etc…). So I’m wondering, Will my cerebral palsy (and the secondary health issues) be covered under normal insurance? Since the CP happened at birth, are there any loopholes that will allow me coverage without the astronomical deductibles or rates, or am I basically just screwed and will have to pay out the a** for any treatments?

My dog has severe arthritis that began due to obesity (about 5 years ago?) and is now elderly (15). She is having a very difficult time. She is taking 2 higher dosage of a steroid, as well as pain medication that she has been on for a long time now. Has anyone heard of Petaprin? Does this actually work? She is a beagle, and about 30 pounds. I know Petaprin was specifically developed for large dogs, but read it can help all size dogs. Is this a gimmick? Does anyone really know?