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October 29, 2010

A representative from GLC1000 worked the exhibit hall at BlogPaws West in Denver, September 2010. The GLC brand is family of glucosamine-chondroitin supplements, available for dogs, horses, and even people. Although, I’m fiercely loyal to Level5000, the product we’ve been giving Ginko for years. I accepted the free two-week sample of pills the representative gave me. Here is what we found.

Quick Background on GLC1000

The company sells the capsules through veterinary practices and suppliers, but you can also buy it on your own from www.glcdirect.com.

Based on a 4-pills-a-day dose (two in the a.m., two in the p.m.), here is what’s inside:

  • 865 mg Chondroitin Sulfate
  • 865 mg Glucosamine HCI
  • 865 mg Glucosamine Sulfate
  • 865 mg Glucosamine Potassium
  • 240 mg N-acetyl D-glucosamine
  • 240 mg Ascorbate
  • 60 mg Manganese Proteinate

I’m surprised it does not include MSM, but I brought our old bottle of Level5000 (liquid) and the bottle of GLC1000 pills to our veterinarian when Ginko licked open his knee surgery incision recently, and she said she liked the pill formulation better.

We compared it in the exam room to Cosequin, which is the original product that did testing and research to show it works well in dogs, and the GLC1000 looked darn similar to me in content and even has higher levels of some things.

You can look up purity and content results on GLC1000 from ConsumerLab.com, but you have to pay to join, it seems. Still, the fact that it has been tested is a good sign, I think. And, here is a link to the research done on GLC1000 (but it looks like they only tested it on 6 dogs, which seems like a small test group to me).

Cost Details

After we saw good results after the two-week free trial, I ordered two big bottles of the GLC1000 for Ginko. With 180 pills in each bottle, that’ll last us 90 days (at 4 pills per day).

We paid $80.95, including shipping, so that’s about 89 cents per day. Less than $1 a day to keep Ginko’s knees from hurting as much is MORE THAN worth it to me.

So we’re going to give this new product a try for a few months and see.

We had been paying about $56 for a bottle of Level 5000, which lasted us 2 months or so. That comes to about 93 cents per day.

Anecdotal Results So Far on the GLC1000

After years of continuing to pilot the sofa (being the stellar sofa captain he is) when I went to bed, Ginko now races down the hall and jumps on our bed so that he can snuggle for the time slot between when I turn for the night and when Tom puts the dogs to the bed.

Our bed is a good 30+ inches high.

Sometimes, Ginko still hesitates before he leaps, but he hadn’t been leaping up there much in years … seriously, years.

We knew he was feeling “better” when we found him UP in the bed of Tom’s truck snooping around our latest haul from Costco. That’s a big jump. The bed of the truck is even higher than our bed. Perhaps the food was extra motivating, but still … he leaped right up there and started nosing around.

We had to laugh.

Shooting Pain

Granted, Ginko still has a few episodes most days where he literally startles — sometimes jumping AND screaming in pain. What we’ve realized, after the scare with incision coming partially open and looking infected, is that this stabbing pain he has likely comes from the ONE SCREW that broke off in his leg when they tried to remove it this summer.

Once in a while, it must tweak him just so … to cause a big pain, but a short-lived one.

There probably isn’t much we can do about that. Our veterinarian agrees.

Had we taken those TPLO screws out 6 months or even a year after his bilateral knee surgeries at age 3 … they likely would have come out easily.

BUT, since we didn’t try taking them out on the right side until he began having real trouble this year and then got that horrible infection, it’s notably stuck.

Pain Management

So, we’re going to try this new supplement, and we’ll continue to give him as-needed pain meds, if necessary.

BUT, it does not look like dosing him with NSAIDS or any such thing would help with this screw pain … since it comes and goes in a flash.

***

FTC Disclosure

I did indeed get that initial two-week trial free. I’ve since purchased the product, and I’m mostly writing about it to share our findings … in case you’re looking for a new supplement for your dog with any orthopedic issues.

About the Author Roxanne Hawn

Trained as a traditional journalist and based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA, I'm a full-time freelance writer for magazines, websites, and private clients. My areas of specialty include everything in the lifestyles arena, including health and home, personal finance and other consumer interests, relationships and trends, people and business profiles ... and, of course, all things pet related.

I don't just love dogs. I need them in my life. Seriously.

  1. We have an orthopod following R due to his elbow dysplasia. He told us that some dog glucosamine products have been tested and showed to have almost NO glucosamine in them. Consequently, he encouraged us to use certain tested brands of human glucosamine supplements. That’s what we’ve been doing ever since. So, the dogs and I can share a bottle!

    Now, if it seems to be working for Ginko, no reason to change anything! I just thought that you’d be interested in what our respected orthopedic surgeon told us.

  2. I received this at BlogPaws Denver also and was wondering how it would work. TY for the review!

  3. I really appreciate this detailed and candid product review. Very helpful! My 8-year-old dog is beginning to have a lot of stiffness and joint pain; maybe I will try this.

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