What are the most effective treatments for canine arthritis?
With so much information floating around there, and the massive amounts of what I would call predatory marketing in social media trying to get you spend your money on quick remedies aka, magic ingredients, I thought I would try to bring some practical information that is evidence-based and experience based to pet owners.
What is arthritis? It is a loss of joint cartilage on the ends of bones. Arthritis can be caused by injury, or just natural degradation or cartilage. The cartilage is what allows bones to glide across each other. Arthritis is an inflammatory condition that causes not only cartilage loss, but also inflammation of the joint capsule (think about your joints wrapped in shrink wrap, containing lubricating, joint fluid. When inflammation starts, imagine a milieu of nasty enzymes being released, which peck away at your joint cartilage like a pesky Pacman! The end result is pain, as there are loads of nerve endings inside the joints. Pain leads to inactivity, behavioral changes, lameness, lagging behind on walks, weight gain, muscle loss and overall decreased quality of life.
Treating arthritis is multimodal; however, if I had to rank the treatments in order of importance for you to follow and likely effectiveness (evidence-based) this would it:
1.Controlled exercise>
2.Weight control>
3. NSAID’s or monoclonal antibody therapy>
4.Omega 3 fatty acids>
5.Disease modifying agents>(Adequan is the only one, more on this later)
6.Other pain medications>
7. Complimentary therapies> (laser, acupuncture, chiropractic
8.Nutriceuticals. (food or supplements containing health-giving additives and having medicinal benefit).
Oconee Veterinary is here to guide you in your decisions for improved quality of life for your pets. Ask how we can help! Our pets are totally dependent on us for everything they need. We don’t want you to miss an opportunity to turn back the clock a bit or even better, being more proactive about arthritis.
-Dr. Bangle