Osteoarthritis, also known as Degenerative Joint Disease, doesn’t just impact people. It is a painful condition that can similarly affect the joints of dogs, cats and other pets, regardless of breed or age.
Sadly, arthritis can severely limit your pet’s quality of life. It can lead to side effects such as lameness, reduced activity and reduced desire to walk or play. Unfortunately, there is no cure for arthritis, meaning the best approach is to prevent your pet from developing it in the first place and a pain management plan once it has been diagnosed. This is why understanding osteoarthritis is vital to helping maintain your pet’s quality of life, whether they have begun to suffer from the condition or not.
Diagnosis
Recommended to diagnose and can also be repeated to assess progression to help with ongoing management plans
Managing Osteoarthritis
There are some general measures we recommend you take to keep your pet in optimal health.
Osteoarthritis management requires a holistic approach. Treatment needs to focus on not only the cartilage but also on the surrounding structures, including the joint capsule and ligaments. Effective management involves a balance of factors, with modifications of the treatment regime considered if the current treatment does not prove sufficient.
The key factors are to:
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Maintain regular moderate physical activity and undertake rehabilitation in the form of physical therapy
- Give the pet commonly used joint supplements
- Support the pet with pain medications, particularly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- Seek alternative therapies such as joint injections, surgical treatment options, stem cell therapy.
Weight Management
A long-term study performed on dogs showed that dogs who were given a restricted feeding schedule lived longer and suffered from less arthritis than dogs that were allowed to eat as much as they wanted.
Additionally, a study showed that reducing the weight of a dog decreased the lameness associated with osteoarthritis.
Therefore, managing your dog’s weight is an important factor in preventing and managing arthritis.
Physical Rehabilitation
Maintaining regular exercise is vital to the treatment of arthritis. Ideally, multiple shorter walks are better than long, intensive sessions. The same activity each day works best.
For animals that are out of shape, traditional rehabilitation activities such as passive stretching, controlled walking through or around obstacles such as tall grass and pools, underwater treadmills, and swimming will help the animal become fitter and more enthusiastic about activity.
Joint Supplements
Supplements should be used early on when arthritis is diagnosed to delay the progression of the disease. It is unknown whether these supplements have a preventative role, but since they do not have significant side effects, they can be implemented prior to the development of arthritis.
Does Your Pet Suffer from Arthritis?
Vets of Geelong provides comprehensive, expert veterinary services that focus on preventive care, early diagnosis, and personalised treatment plans. We ensure pets with arthritis get the best possible treatments to ensure their quality of life. If you live within the Greater Geelong area, contact us online or call one of
