Pet Arthritis And Joint Mobility

Arthritis refers to inflammation within a joint and involves damage or degradation of the joint surfaces, pain and reduced joint mobility.

Pet Arthritis Causes and Symptoms

The onset of pet arthritis can be due to wear-and-tear with increasing age, joint injury or surgery-related damage to a joint. The effects of pet arthritis include lameness and reduced joint mobility which is often worse in the mornings, after a rest or in cold weather, reluctance to exercise or reduced exercise capacity, stiffness of gait, reluctance to rise or walk up stairs and pain. These effects can greatly reduce the quality of life experienced by your pet.

Animals displaying signs of pet arthritis and reduced joint mobility require supportive treatment and management aimed at reducing these clinical signs. Management needs to be multi-faceted, incorporating both medication and lifestyle changes such as modified exercise routines and warm bedding. The aims of pet arthritis management include: pain relief, increased mobility, reduction in excess weight, initiation of any possible partial repair to the cartilage damage, restricting the development of further damage, provision of general comfort and improved quality of life.

Pet Arthritis Treatment

Pet meds used for the management of pet arthritis aim at providing pain relief, anti-inflammatory properties, regenerative properties or a combination of these. Your veterinarian will be able to assess the severity of the changes in your pet and advise on the appropriate course of medication.

Some joint mobility pet medications can also be used to help slow the onset and/or reduce the severity of degenerative changes in the joints. Pet medications for pet arthritis such as Jointguard and Cosequin can be used for this purpose. They are easy to administer and readily accepted by most pets. The active ingredients owners should look for are chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine. The use of these products in pets without any current symptoms of pet arthritis is becoming increasingly popular as an aid in helping prevent the early onset of arthritis in pets. Any pet which is especially vulnerable to joint damage due to its high levels of activity, a lot of jumping behaviour, or known hereditary or genetic joint issues could be considered for use of these supplementary medications.

Pet arthritis is a debilitating disorder in pets and ensuring that they have pain relief and can maintain an adequate range of joint mobility for as long as possible will help improve the quality of life of your beloved pet.