Anyone used these (paw-pads) or anything similar?

[sam.i.am]

http://www.smartpakcanine.com/produc...035#fulldetail

they are designed to provide traction for arthritic/neuro-impaired dogs. Oliver is beginning to struggle to get his footing in order to get up on the wood floors. He has neuro-related degeneration in his hind end along with some arthritis. I have rugs everywhere but he seeks out those spots that do not have a rug. I've added a couple of rugs in his favorite spots (next to the table, etc.) but I was hoping that these thingies will help him.

Anyone have experience with them?
I'm having a hard time seeing what I know is a decline in his abilities. He'll be twelve years old on November 7 and I know 'he's old' and all that, but it is still awful awful awful.

Thanks for any reviews on this or other potentially helpful products

[krb0471]

I've used these and had success-
http://pawzdogboots.com/

[sam.i.am]

Thank you very much.

This weekend has been awful for him. I've needed to help him up and he's been really unsteady. I have a vet coming over to see him.

[saints23]

How'd Oliver make out with the vet? I'm having the same issues with Tony unfortunately and they have just about the same diagnosis.

[sam.i.am]

Hi Morgen,
Sorry to hear about Tony's troubles. I love that guy.

The vet said, "He's doing great for his age." and told me that what we are doing for him is all we can do. It's very disheartening. This was a second opinion to our normal vet. Oliver has Laryngeal Paralysis which has secondary symptoms of hind end weakness and proprioception problems with the hind feet. There is nothing to reverse or stop its progress, they say.

I don't know if Tony's issues are neurological, but my vet referred me to this site as this is the only study she was aware of regarding finding help for these degenerative neuro issues (she did not agree with a lot of the dietary recommendations and doesn't like garlic given as a supplement since it can be toxic to dogs at some level): http://neuro.vetmed.ufl.edu/neuro/DM_Web/DMofGS.htm

In addition to his joint supplements, I think his MSM, fish oil (both in high doses) help him a lot.
I've also recently added a B-100 supplement (vitamin B is supposed to be supportive of neuro function)
and I've also added acetylcarnitine (here's a general link about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylcarnitine).

[saints23]

Thanks for the info. I will definitely look at the links. Tony has deformities in his vertebrae and also his hips. So he was diagnosed with DDD and arthritis. I have hime on spinal herb supplements now that I get from an accupuncturist, but I think adding the MSM and fish oil couldnt hurt. How much of each do you give Oliver? I think him and Tony were around the same size.

[sam.i.am]

The therapeutic doses that I've read/use about are:
1000mg of whole fish body oil or salmon oil (not cod liver oil) per 20 or 30 pounds. Oliver has a sensitive stomach, so I worked up to 6 pills. I'd rather give him 7 pills, but his stomach doesn't take much more than 6 easily. WM has salmon oil without soy or other ingredients in them for a reasonable price. Sooooo many brands have soy or a million ingredients. The salmon oil ones from WM have just gelatin and glycerin and salmon. Most other bottles I've seen most places have a long list of chemical and additives. He eats these pills like treats, so it's not hard to get him to eat them. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Spring-Val...#ProductDetail
Delilah doesn't love them, so I put them in her bowl with her food and she usually eats them. Can you believe she's gotten choosy about what she eats :-) She still eats her food without any fuss but she doesn't take pills in her food anymore. Remember you could just put her antibiotics in her kibble? She picks stuff out now. LOL

1000mg of MSM/30 pounds, so Oliver gets 5000mg/day. I split that between his breakfast and his dinner. He doesn't seem to mind the taste at all.
Since Tony's issues are ortho rather than neuro, those two things are great. Also, possibly hyaluronic acid, which is helpful for the joint fluid. I'm not sure that is relevant for the spine, though.

[saints23]

thanks for all the info

[sam.i.am]

Just to follow up with a quick review:
These stayed on for one or two days (they are little pads with adhesive on the back and you clean the dog's foot and stick them on). I think they may be somewhat helpful increasing the % of time that Oliver can get up on his own, without help, so I think they work pretty well.

And, for a dog who would not tolerate boots, these are a non-irritating option. Oliver is verrrry intolerant of stuff being on him, so I was surprised that he does not care that these were on his feet...so, that's a plus. Oliver walks around minimally and the larger pads that go on the larger heel pads came off fairly quickly but the smaller individual toe pads lasted a bit longer maybe even longer than 2 days.

They are not super-cheap and the shipping is silly for a card of adhesives. They charge 7.50 for shipping and mail the small card of stickers in a BOX with PADDING. I thought that was very weird.

[Baroooo]

I'm not sure about Smartpak canine, but I'm betting the shipping is the same as it is when I order from Smartpak Equine. They have a flat $7.50 shipping charge - whether I order 8 x 25lb buckets or one paperclip! If you need a lot of stuff, the shipping is a great advantage. For one card of paw stickies, not so much. If you re-order, buy a bunch of other stuff and ths shipping will pay for itself.

I looked at the paw stickies when Solly (also LP, very bad back end) started to have trouble toward the end of his life. I decided that throw rugs were cheaper than impaction surgery when he ate them off his feet!

The best of luck to Oliver.

[sam.i.am]

OMG, Solly ate them?! What a mess that would be. Luckily I am home with Oliver almost 24/7, so I guess/hope I'd catch that. I only apply a few at a time on his back feet so they're not on every pad. I forgot to say that before.

Oh, I did not realize it was flat shipping. It would be great to order a lot of stuff and have the same shipping fee. I'll definitely check into that!

We have throw rugs EVERY-freaking-WHERE at this point. It looks pretty ugly around here since I actually bought some crappy rug on a roll at Lowes and CUT it to fit around my doorways to just put carpeting everywhere. But, I added these for increased traction. LP is such an awful disease. Sorry to hear that your Solly suffered through LP, too.

[Baroooo]

Solly tried to eat them - I was watching him, so we didn't lose more than one toe sticky, and he passed that with no trouble. After that, I went back to all throw rugs because they made me too nervous!

Solly was a living dictionary of canine ailments (and a fine example of how even "champion" breeders can bred for volume rather than quality). He almost made it to his 14th birthday despite everything physically wrong. May Oliver be as happy as Solly was.

[sam.i.am]

Solly was absolutely gorgeously handsome!