I know you're proud of her. I know I'm always so thrilled when Robin and Simon are accepting of strangers and their handling. It's such a weight off my shoulders.
I've heard of cartrophen and have heard good results for some people-- hopefully she'll have fabulous results!
We've upped Simon's adequan shots to every 2 weeks because it's that effective. As you know he's old, and his arthritis is becoming fairly debilitating; from what I understand, it's common to need it more frequently when dogs are in Simon's situation. But we start to really, really notice when it's running out. He has trouble even standing in one place without sliding down unless he's up on his shots. And then once he's had it, he wants to run around and follow the others (Have you seen the brochure for Rimadyl with the golden retriever running jauntily on the cover? I think of that every time!! ). When we first started it, he only needed the shot every 6 weeks or so. We were giving it to him every month, and so we didn't see the decline that happens when it runs out and didn't realize just how effective it had been. Now it's a night and day difference. Worth every penny. Our vet charges $30 a shot (it was $25 until recently), but I know of some people who give the shots themselves and have the vet order it for them.
Keep us posted!