What is
Arthritis?
The
word arthritis is a generic term referring to many different types of
conditions in the joint. When
the term arthritis is used it commonly refers to osteoarthritis (OA), which is
also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD). Osteoarthritis is the most
common form of arthritis and studies indicate that it occurs in 20% of dogs
over 1 year of age.
Understanding
Canine Osteoarthritis
A
healthy joint consists of cartilage that covers and protects the ends of the
bones in a joint. The cartilage has no nerves and in a normal joint when
cartilage rotates on the cartilage of another bone, the dog feels no pain.
However,
arthritis causes the cartilage to wear away. This exposes the bones, which have
many nerves. When two bones touch each other, your dog feels pain. This pain
can greatly affect your dog’s quality of life, although dogs tend to be very
quiet about displaying their pain.
Early
treatment of Canine Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis
can be managed much more successfully when it is diagnosed and treated early in
the process. Some owners will proactively start joint supplements or joint
support diets in working or active dogs.
The Risk Factors
of Canine Osteoarthritis
Dogs
of any age or breed can develop osteoarthritis and there are certain risk
factors you should be aware of including:
- Breed size - large or giant breeds have a
higher incidence of arthritis
- Age - arthritis is more common in older dogs
- Weight - overweight dogs are more prone to
arthritis
- Breed inherited traits and conformation - which
can lead to arthritis because of hip dysplasia or elbow dysplasia changes
in the joint
Overweight
dogs: Studies
have shown that weight loss alone can significantly improve comfort in dogs
with OA. Joints that are already sore and stressed are made worse when they
have to support extra weight. Ease of activities such as climbing stairs,
jumping into a car or truck or getting up from a sitting position can improve
dramatically with weight loss. If your dog has a Body Condition Score over 6/9
you should consider weight loss for your pet.
There
are a number of very good weight loss diets available. Royal Canin Satiety Support
is a low calorie diet that contains ingredients designed to help your pet feel
full, maintain lean muscle mass, help with skin and coat and also contains
Glucosamine/Chondroitin to help improve joint function. It comes in a dry and
canned formula. We would be happy to develop a weight loss program to help
achieve weight loss and ultimately improve the comfort of your pet.
Other
option for weight loss include: Hills Metabolic and Royal Canin Calorie Control
diets. Hills also makes a combination weight loss and joint support food.
Exercise
Just
like in people exercise is vital for weight loss. Exercise helps increase the resting metabolic
rate and burns more calories while maintaining or improving muscle tone. The
most successful weight loss programs are combined with good exercise programs.
Controlled
exercise is invaluable in treatment for patients with osteoarthritis. This can
help improve function and reduce pain, by using the “move it or lose” it principle.
Please see our additional exercise sheet.
Joint Support
Diets
Royal
Canin Mobility is a veterinary diet that is specially formulated to help
improve joint health and reduce joint pain in the canine patient. It contains
green lipped muscle, omega fatty acids and glucosamine /chondroitin all
ingredients that support joint health. It is also moderate in calories to help
maintain weight.
Please
see the diet brochure.
This
is the diet that Bowmanville Veterinary Staff reach for with their older active
dogs and many of us use it proactively as our pets become seniors.
Other
options for joint support diets include Hills J/D and Hills Metabolic/Joint. (See brochures)
Nutraceuticals
Nutraceuticals
are nutritional supplements and are believed to have a positive influence on
the cartilage health in the joint. Many people will have heard of Glucosamine
and Chondroitin which are products that have been available for humans for many
years. Using products that contain these natural ingredients may help but we have
found products that contain more than these two ingredients to be more valuable.
There
are many products available as joint supplements. At Bowmanville Veterinary Clinic we will only
stock/sell products that have been proven by scientific studies. Some products
on the market have anecdotal reports that they work, which is supportive great,
but we want to know that the products we sell also have evidence based scientific
studies to support them.. The other criteria that must be met before we
consider bringing a nutraceutical to our shelves is some thing called the NN
number. Unfortunately some nutraceuticals have inconsistent delivery of
ingredients so you may not be getting what you pay for. Products that carry a
NN number mean they have been certified to meet safety and quality criteria.
When a product contains only approved ingredients which are safe or low risk
they can be assigned a NN number. For you and your pet the NN on the package is
proof that the manufacturer meets adequate standards for these types of
products.
Flexadin
Plus - our number one nutraceutical for joint support is Flexadin Plus. It has scientific studies and is NN certified.
This product contains Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Omega fatty acids and Devils
Claw. Devils claw is a naturally occurring anti-inflammatory. Many of our
canine patients have started with this product and owners have found a very
positive improvement in their dogs comfort and mobility. Remember it is very
important as your dog ages to encourage exercise to control weight and maintain
flexibility. We need to keep them moving.
Results
can often be seen within days. The same company that makes Flexadin Plus also
manufactures Flexadin Advanced. This product uses UCII collagen a very advanced
ingredient that is widely used in human medicine. This product works with the
immune system to help maintain joint integrity. It can take up to three months
to see the maximum benefits of this product. One big advantage of Flexadin Advanced
is that you only need to feed one chew regardless of the size of your dog.
Flexadin
Plus and Flexadin Advanced have a palpability guarantee so if your pet does not
approve of the taste they are fully refundable. This company also offers a “buy
six get one free” loyalty program. (See brochure)
We
also carry Dasuquin by Nutramax another scientifically studied and NN certified
product that has been widely used in the U.S for years. This is a good
alternative to Flexadin if your pet does not like the taste of Flexadin.
NSAIDS
The
term NSAID refers to Non Steroidal Anti –inflammatory Drug a class of drugs
that are used to treat the pain and inflammation caused by arthritis. One of most
common NSAID’s used in people is ASA but since dogs are much more sensitive to
NSAIDS than humans aspirin can cause unwanted side effects such as stomach
upset or irritation to intestines and can lead to vomiting and diarrhea,
stomach ulcers and possibly more serious side effects. NSAIDS specifically
formulated for dogs were introduced in the 1990’s. These NSAIDS work more
effectively for dogs than aspirin while minimizing side effects in the internal
organs. These drugs have changed and provided improved quality of life for millions
of dogs living with the chronic pain of osteoarthritis. NSAIDS do have side
effects that we must consider. Kidney, liver
or gastrointestinal conditions must be assessed to make sure your dog is
able to metabolize and excrete the medication A complete history, physical exam
and blood work are necessary prior to initiating NSAIDS along with periodic
follow-up blood work as recommended by our veterinarians
Metacam
(Meloxicam) is our number one NSAID of choice. It comes in a flavoured liquid
that can be given directly or mixed in to food. We also like this product
because it can reduced to what we call a lowest effective dose i.e. the least
amount of drug needed to still provide pain management and improved quality of
life. (See brochure)
There
are a number of other NSAIDS available to us if Metacam is not giving the
desired results.
For
our very arthritic patients it may become necessary to prescribe drugs to use
in conjunction with nutraceuticals and Nsaids. Drugs commonly used for pain
management in humans are now approved in dogs. The most commonly used adjunct
drugs are Tramadol and Gabapentin. These are sometimes used alone if a pet is
not able to safely use an NSAID.
DMOAD-Disease
Modifying Osteoarthritis Drugs
There
are injections available that to retard the progression of arthritis by
stimulating production of lubricant and cartilage in the joint. Examples are
Cartrophen or Adequan.
The
treatment starts with a series of four injections given a week apart. After the
initial series the treatment usually consists of one injection per month.
Injections are given at the veterinary clinic, along with treats to distract
your dog. (See brochure)
Alternative
therapies-there are many exciting opportunities in this area for additional
resources such as physical therapy-is done here, acupuncture, massage,
chiropractics, etc. Please ask for our list if interested.
As you
can see, there are now many options to help prevent pain and improve the
quality of life of dogs affected by Osteoarthritis.
