Arthritis in Pets

Latest Articles

Arthritis Its Debilitating and Detrimental Effects
Arthritis: Its Debilitating and Detrimental Effects Did you know that Arthritis is one of the most disabling diseases? It's true! Arthritis currently affects more than 40 million Americans and that figure is expected to rise to 60 million...

Arthritis Pain
What Causes Arthritis Pain Arthritis pain can be caused by many different factors and affects everyone differently. The inflammation process causes redness and swelling in and around your joints, over time it starts to damage the joint and the...

The Joint's A Rockin: Keeping Arthritis At Bay
Sore, aching knees, hips, fingers, backrest. Pain after excessively much activity. Pain after overly little. Eventually, almost everyone gets degenerative arthritis. Sometimes it's the result of decades of wear-and-tear on the shock-absorbing ...

Arthritis in Pets

Arthritis occurs when the joint surfaces which are supposed to glide over each other become rough as they rub together. The joint cartilage, which aids smooth movement of the joint, decreases it's lubrication and deteriorates, thus making movement more difficult and often painful. Pets are just as susceptible to arthritis as humans.

Have you noticed your pet moving at a slower pace? Does your dog have trouble jumping about and running around? Does it take several small jumps rather than a single leap for your cat to reach the counter? If your pet is having difficulty in performing these routine movements and has reduced mobility, chances are he may be suffering from arthritis.

Arthritis in pets, as in humans, can greatly affect your pet's health and well being. With the onset of this Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD), your playful and active pet can quickly turn listless and pain ridden. This disease usually affects larger breeds of dogs, like retrievers, but it can also occur in cats. Approximately 30% of family pets suffer from arthritis. The stiffness, pain and swelling in a pet with arthritis is the same as what most human being would experience.

The cause of arthritis in pets is often different from that in people. While arthritis commonly accompanies old age in humans, dog and cat arthritis is often caused by direct injury to a joint. More old dogs and cats have arthritis than young ones, not because they are old, but because degeneration of the bones worsens over time. It occurs in large dogs more often than in cats and small dogs since the animal's weight is primarily stressed on the joints. Also, the common causes of arthritis, such as hip and elbow dysplasia and other common bone problems, are usually diseases of large, fast-growing dogs. Arthritis, however, does

occur in small dogs and cats as well. In the US, an estimate of 20% of cats suffer from arthritis.

Pets can't discuss their pains outright. So how do we know our pet is a victim of this joint disease? Some signs that you should be mindful of are the following: change of personality, being inactive at play, lagging behind on walks, reluctance to jump or climb stairs, difficulty of rising from a resting position, limping and yelping in pain when touched. If you notice some of these signs, have your veterinarian diagnose the condition of your pet with an X-ray.

If your pet is diagnosed with arthritis, don't panic! The good news is, there are plenty of remedies to alleviate the pain. An effective treatment duo to best relieve arthritis pain includes pain medication and weight loss. Common pain medications are analgesic and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They revive the spirits of the pets by removing their pain, allowing pets to move easily and to exercise. Exercise, in turn, corrects the alignment of the joints which lets them experience less pain. A veterinarian's prescription is necessary to determine the exact dosage for your pet. Some veterinarians recommend Omega 3 fatty acids to protect the heart, kidney and liver.

Many veterinarians recommend using supplements that protect the cartilage. Such supplement is termed as chondroprotective. It not only nourishes the cartilage but it also help pets with arthritis experience less pain. The second part of the double treatment is weight loss. Pet owners should help control their pet's food intake. Studies show that when overweight pets lose weight, their pain significantly decreases.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Arthritis

Written By: Michael Russell

People's Pharmacy: Supplement for arthritis raised cholesterol - Tuscaloosa News
studies do not demonstrate any benefits for mild to moderate ... My 15-year-old son had low HDL and a poor cholesterol profile at his checkup. (Total cholesterol was 146, HDL 29 and LDL 96). So for 10 months,

Rheumatoid Arthritis Signaling Protein GM-CSF Reverses Alzheimer's Disease In Mouse ... - Medical News Today
A signaling protein released during rheumatoid arthritis dramatically reduced Alzheimer's disease pathology and reversed the memory impairment of mice bred to develop symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease ...

Disease Activity Is Main Factor in Disability from Rheumatoid Arthritis - Newswise
Source: Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Newswise — For people living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the level of disease activity—measured using the standard DAS 28 score—is the factor most ...

Chelsea Therapeutics' experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug trial gets FDA nod - Small Cap Network
As we told our readers last Friday, Chelsea Therapeutics International, Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHTP) was set to run higher in anticipation of FDA news. This morning, the company has announced that the U.S. Food and ...

Chelsea Therapeutics gets FDA OK to start study - Forbes
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd. said Thursday it received Food and Drug Administration clearance to start a midstage study on a potential rheumatoid arthritis drug. The company said ...

Celebrex Appears Easier on Stomach for Arthritis Patients - MedicineNet.com
THURSDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who take the painkiller celecoxib for arthritis pain and inflammation are less likely to suffer gastrointestinal damage than those who take diclofenac plus omeprazole , a ...

Arthritis: The Secret to Treating Alzheimer's? - Redorbit.com
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers know that people with rheumatoid arthritis are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Now, they may have an explanation why. A new study shows a protein released in ...