[Dailydrool] Arthritis question

[dpmcquade at verizon.net]

This winter Belvedere's arthritis has really caught up with him. The SOD/Boswellia he'd been taking had been causing him some stomach upset and was no longer quite helping enough anyway. I shot him over to the vet after he had a lot of trouble standing and getting comfortable in the middle of the night, and he's been on prednisone and then tramadol (his tender tummy will not accept the usual NSAIDs for arthritis). 

I am looking for other ways to help him, since I do not want to keep him on the pred (we are having terrible peeing parties right now and the pred is not good for his elderly organs, I'm sure) and the tramadol doesn't have things perfectly under control.

Does anyone know of other options that really help? Specifically, I was wondering if those heated discs you can put in dog beds are at all useful. I suspect that a lot of the trouble is that it's been so cold and snowy this year. But before I'd buy a disc, I'd like to know if it has any value.

Any other ideas are also welcome.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets