Short answer is YES they do.
I will continue with the not so short answer (trust me, make time to read this)
These are miracle natural medicinal creatures that have the ability to give your dog joy and provide pain relief (and in our case replace cartrophen injections!) If you have had the opportunity to see New Zealand in the flesh you will understand me when I say of course something so magical comes from NZ. If you have not visited NZ, well get on out of here... Do that first, then come back here and read this.
Now I am not a fisherwoman. I am not a vet. I am the owner of a rather abnormal looking kelpie cross doberman who didn't grow into his legs. Bandit started suffering from sore hips at 6 months old. He would lie on his mat and sulk, he would get up from the ground and drag his back legs behind him and it would take a couple of steps forward for his back legs to get into gear and hold him up. So what do we do when our unspeakable furr friends are in pain? Talk to them? I tried that and all I got from him was "I am in pain. Help me"
So, like I say I'm no vet. I take him to the Vet hoping for some answers and some serious pain remedies so my peanut can run like forest again. So he gets diagnosed with Hip Displacia telling us later in life he will suffer with arthritis and even lameless. Cool...we adopted a lemon.
So I ask the Vet, how do we get our lemon out of pain? The answer. 4 injections a year, every year for the rest of his life. Come the start of winter Bandit had to have 1 injection every week for 4 weeks, and we were told this would relieve the suffering and help him move pain free.
Problem was, after $400, bandit looked worse during his injection month, we were broke and our lemon dog appeared to be in more pain.
So. We try Sasha's blend. We try massage. We try. We try. Then once year we missed the cartrophen injections and he didn't get better but he didn't get worse. So we left it.
Then we hear about Green Lipped Mussels. 2 per day. Maybe an extra 1-2 after a good beach run. Good to note the dosage is based on your dogs weight. Recommended dose is 1-2 mussel per 15kg per day.
We have been doing this for 3 years now. Not 1 injection. No lameness. No lagging in his back legs when he gets up. No sulking. No lemon dog.
So what are they? Magic. No, seriously. They are magic. A creature from the sea, that tastes like the sea and alleviates pain. That is magic! (It might also be because they are full of glucosamine... but ask any doctor and they'll tell you it's cause they're magic)
Why am I writing this now? 2 days ago we were at a market selling our treats and a customer came up to me I recognised from a previous market. This is what she says about her lemon dog..
"You know, I just had to tell you about our old girl".
"Oh yeh", I curiously replied.
"I didn't believe you when you told me about your dog and the green lipped mussels, but it's true. We got some and she is actually better! She is moving faster, she's more upright... the Mussels really work. I can't believe it"
Long answer peeps. YES, Green Lipped Mussels work. YES, they are natural and if your dog like's seafood they are going to eat them up like any other treat.
PS - If you use osteoarthritis vitamins from the chemist have a look at the ingredients list. There's a good chance they will contain Green Lipped Mussels!
If they are good enough for you, well of course they are good enough for your lemon :)
