The Old Dog Has Arthritis

Our old Border Collie was looking kind of “creaky” last fall, and later when the weather turned really nasty she stayed in her dog house for long periods of time. On the occasions when she did come out, she was really gimped up. At the worst, she was carrying her hind leg as though her hip pained her considerably.Contemplating her pain, I recalled an old timer once telling me that a teaspoon of pectin a day would both get rid of and keep arthritis away.

I checked the information out and putting it together with additional information gleaned during research, I came up with a recipe for “dog treats” that for the old dog have turned out to be the equivalent of an ancient “spring tonic”.

Within a week of putting our old collie on these treats we could see an improvement. After a couple weeks she was running around again – on all four legs.

Of course all of this is merely anecdotal, and I can’t vouch for the validity of the ingredients, but just in case you are interested, here is the recipe.

“Kind-ta-Hip” Treats:

Dry
2 c oat flour
1 c flax meal
1/4 c garlic granules
20 multi-vitamins powdered
20 (500 mg ) powdered vitamin C
1 c nutritional yeast (brewer’s yeast would work)
1/2 c lecithin granules
1 c. powdered alfalfa leaf (for inflammation)

Wet
60 vitamin E capsules snipped in half (400 IU each)
8 eggs
85 ml (1 pkt) liquid pectin

Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, then combine. Dust the bottom of a large cookie sheet (12″ x 16″) with alfalfa powder and press the “dough” into an even layer. Score into 1 1/2″ squares. Bake at 200°F (no higher or you will destroy enzymes) until the squares are dry but not crisp. The amount of time varies for us depending on the humidity. It can take anywhere from 4 -8 hours. I let them cool on the cookie sheet then crack them apart and store them in a large covered container.

We live in a very cool climate. If you live in a warm place you might want to store your “dog treats” in the refrigerator to avoid mold or salmonella growth (due to the eggs), or you could leave out the eggs and use just enough water to bind the dough together.

If you have an old cookie sheet that you can dedicate to this chore, it might be a good idea. The lecithin gives off a not-so-pleasant odor while it bakes and seems to leave a bit of an odor in the finish of the cookie sheet. Despite the smell, our dog loves these treats and will stand by the container until she gets her daily doses. At 45 pounds, that works out to 2-3 “treats” per day.

Because I do not have access to stores, I mail-order many of my ingredients from San Francisco Herbs. They are fast and have very high-quality, potent products.

I grind the oats, flax, and dry vitamins to a powder in a small coffee mill. It takes several “batches” but overall doesn’t take that long.