Arthritis can cause chronic pain to the dogs and it affects one in every five dogs in America. Dog arthritis is common in older dogs, but it can also be found in young dogs. The dogs mostly suffer from arthritis if it is overweight, old and inactive. Arthritis can later develop into joint disease, hip dysplasia and in severe case, tumor.
Canine can suffer from osteoarthritis and mostly, old dogs suffer from osteoarthritis. There is no cure for the osteoarthritis and the main cause of osteoarthritis is a joint injury or putting lots of pressure on joints. The dogs can suffer from the joint problem, also due to limb conformation or abnormal joints.
1. Problem in sitting or standing
2. Swollen joins
3. Canine trying to bite the joints
4. Canine avoid touching the joint
5. Losing weight and lack of appetite
6. Taking more sleep and appearing less active
7. Changes in behaviour
8. Difficulty in jumping or running
9. Pain on the joints
If the dog finds it difficult to run or climb for almost two weeks and appears unhappy or less alert, than a physical examination can be conducted by a veterinarian. Human medicines can be poisonous to dogs and it should not be given to the canines. Pain killers such as ibrufen and acetaminophen can be life threatening for dogs.
1. If you feel the dog has arthritis, the diet should be changed to control weight gain. He should not be given diet rich in carbohydrate and grains, instead, the amount of protein and fresh foods such as egg and meat can help him to stay healthy. The pet should lose weight to stay healthy as most of the senior and overweight dogs are at a high risk of getting arthritis pain.
2. Fish oil helps in providing nutritional supplement to the dog as it contains omega-3 fatty acids, which helps the dogs in inflammation. He should also be given high amount of vitamin E to prevent the loss of vitamins through the omega-3 fatty acids.
3. Arthritis can be treated by maintaining a healthy routine. He should be regularly taken to walk.
4. The veterinarian can suggest appropriate pain killer for the pet to reduce arthritis pain. Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be given. There are many different types of natural anti inflammatory drugs available in market that can be used to reduce the arthritis pain.
5. They can also be given corticosteroids but there are many risks of giving corticosteroids.
6. Glucosamine therapy: In this type of therapy, the dog is given oral medicines, which contain glucosamines, green lipped mussel, chondroitin sulphate, HCL and some other chemicals. The veterinarian can be given injections of glucosamines and the supplement protects the joints.
7. Other methods of curing arthritis are acupuncture and gold bead implants. There are also some traditional curing methods, which can be applied on the dogs.
