I have been using vita flex, flex free maximum strength joint support formula for over 15 years on my dogs, which has worked wonderfully. I cannot seem to find it anymore, do you have any other suggestions? JP, Wyoming
Dear JP,
We carry Vita-Flex Flex Free® Maximum Strength Formula on our equine side—is that what you mean? It’s their “super-concentrated economical alternative to Flex Free Original Formula requiring only half as much.” That is, a 1000 pound horse only requires ½ a scoop (0.08 ounces or about 4 grams) once daily for joint maintenance.
In my opinion, that’s waaaay too concentrated for a dog and, even though the active ingredient in the product (Chondroitin) appears to be safe, I recommend you explore some of the newer products out there formulated specifically for joint health in dogs. In addition to Chondroitin, you’ll see Glucosamine, Hyaluronic Acid (HA), omega 3 fatty acids, MSM, and herbs such as Boswellia and Bromelain. Various combinations of these ingredients have been blended into tasty chew tabs that make proper dosing a cinch. Now you just have to experiment and see which combination of ingredients helps your dogs the most!
To help you do this, we have a cool feature on our website called Comparison Charts. You can compare the form of each product (powder, capsule, gel, tablet), the serving size for a 50lb dog, and the mg amounts of each active ingredient.
However, that still leaves a lot of products to look through, so I’ll go ahead and tell you that our most popular products are the Cosequin line by Nutramax and the Glyco-Flex line by Vetri-Science. I hope you find something you and your dogs love!
Gee wlilierks, that’s such a great post!
I have a 10 year old Beagle, her name is Peg. A number of years back she receive a kick to the hip by a mini horse. Vet put her on Tramadol 50 mg. She came out of that and was fine.
2 weeks ago she was out with us and moved just right. She yipped and has been lame ever since. I have felt everywhere on her hip and leg with no results of pain.
I was hopping you could recommend a joint, inflammatory medication that I could give her.