will a penicillin injection help an older dog with arthritis?

My Rottweiler/Pitbull Mix is 12 years old and whines when she tries to get up. She "low crawls" around the house until she can get her hips warmed up and working. I am worried about her but cannot afford to take her to the vet right now. She has arthritis in her hips.Any suggestions?

NO.Penicillin is an antibiotic not a pain reliever.If your dog is as bad as you describe then you DO need to get her vet treatment. That, or have her euthanised and relieve her of her pain. It may be too late for any treatments to help your dog if she is at the stage of crawling about. 12 years old is "old" for this mix of dog and its very unkind to let her suffer. Jmo.

No, penicillin will not help bad joints, it is to treat a bacterial infection & can give the dog diarrhea when it also kills off all gut flora in the digestive tract. Instead, you can try OTC supplements for joints. Cosequin is specifically made for dogs & can be obtained in a chewable format (extra strength for large dogs). You can order it online (including at amazon.com). You can also give the dog MSM (an anti-inflammatory for joints) & I recommend that sold at GNC stores, vs walmarts. Use a dose of 1000 mg. twice per day. These may be moderately helpful, but for more severe cases (like yours) going to Adequan injections would be my recommendation, as soon as you can afford to visit the vet. He may be willing to order it for you & let you give the injections. Adequan provides cushioning synovial fluid & help repair/replace damaged joint cartilage. I've seen it help dogs who could hardly walk, become much more mobile.

Penicillin is an antibiotic and used for infections, not arthritis. Your dog should be on a glucosamine/chondroitin/msm supplement to help strengthen the cartilege that holds the joints together. Normally vets use a pain medication and/or steroid injections to help with the inflammation caused by arthritis and this is not anything you can buy over the counter. I've never understood why people get dogs when they can't afford them and thus a dog suffers for no reason other than an owners lack of responsible medical care.

You can buy Metacam it's an anti inflammatory and is designed for dogs with this kind of pain.You can buy it over the internet (which will be a lot cheaper than buying from the Vets) and gives you the full instructions on how to use it. It has a fishy smell and is an oral suspension and goes by the dogs body weight.I have had excellent results using this product which was recommended to me by my own Vet for one of my Westies.

how does your dog feel about taking a bath?one thing that could help her is to give her a long soak in a warm bath... no shampoo or anything but an enjoyable arthritis soothing soaksome arthritic dogs get great results from supplements like glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, Ester C, Fish Oil, and Cherry ExtractWhy not call her vet & ask them what they recommend for her.. explain you don't have the money for an exam right now, but that her comfort is important to you..... if you have maintained a good relationship with the vet over the course of her life & have at least had her in to see them in the past 6-12 months, then the should be willing to work with youask them if low-dose buffered aspirin is appropriate for her (baby aspirin)if not, maybe they could give you a script for low-dose of meloxicam ($4 at Walmart for a month's supply)there is also a veterinary medication.... and for the life of me I can't recall it's name right now... my dog was on it for a few months recently... if they don't want to try aspirin (there are legitimate reasons to not use aspirin daily for older dogs) & they don't want to try meloxicam (if you can't afford blood-tests monthly, they might not want to do this)... then ask them about veterinary medication for arthritic dogs & if they would let you pick up a one-week supply to try it & see if it will help your girl --- Rimadyl.. had to go look at the bottle --- ask them about Rimadyl (Carprofen is the generic name)