osteoarthritis in the dog

Osteoarthritis mainly affects adult or senior animals, but it does not exclude puppies that may have suffered some joint trauma or some organic, genetic or supervening disease that may affect the joints.

Causes

Among the main causes we have the following:

• Advanced age.
• Traumatisms (fractures, torn ligaments…)
• Joint pathologies (infections…)
• Immune system diseases.
• Growth disturbances.
• Overweight/obesity.
• Low physical activity.

Symptoms

Among the main symptoms of canine osteoarthritis we can appreciate:

• pain :
  • The animal may present:
    • Complaints of varying intensity when faced with certain movements, postures…
    • Refusal to walk, exercise… the animal does not want to move as prevention/avoidance of the appearance of pain.
    • Varying degrees of impaired locomotion such as lameness, with and without support, of the extremities.
    • The animal tries to avoid contact with the owner and/or other animals to avoid affecting the painful areas.
    • The animal adopts unusual postures (antalgic) to avoid pain.
    • Behavioral changes: the animal usually becomes less tolerant of its environment due to the discomfort generated by the pathology, even being able to show aggressive behavior.
• inflammation :
  • • It is another symptom that can accompany osteoarthritis, an inflamed joint, in a variable way, due to the joint pathological process.

Diagnosis

In most cases, professional assessment by exploring the affected area and subsequent confirmation by taking X-rays will suffice to diagnose the problem. In some cases, it may be useful to carry out other diagnostic tests (CT, MRI…) for a detailed assessment.

Prevention

Even without being totally clear about all the possible causes of the appearance of osteoarthritis in pets, what is clear is that we can prevent the appearance to a different extent by taking into account the following points:

• Food :

• • Puppy : feeding the puppy is essential for the prevention of osteoarthritis, if the “building” is not “constructed” correctly, it is more likely that “structural” problems will occur throughout the life of the animal. Puppy food must provide all the necessary nutrients for growth to occur properly, avoiding excessive concentrations of certain nutrients that can accelerate the development process and open the door to future problems. A good food will cover the needs of organic maintenance and the growth needs of the puppy, but without excesses!
  • Adult : the adult’s diet must be focused on providing the necessary resources for the animal, the resources for the maintenance of the organism without generating energy excesses that lead to one of the main problems of a dog in reference to osteoarthritis: overweight/obesity.
  • Senior : in the case of older dogs, a specific diet is essential to adapt to the needs of a dog over 7 years old (approx.): more digestible proteins, control of energy intake, vitamins and minerals appropriate to the characteristics of the dog. age… and, of course, overweight/obesity control.

• Weight control :
  • We have already shown it in the food section: being overweight/obese is one of the main predisposing and triggering causes of osteoarthritis in dogs; overweight/obesity generates an excessive load on the animal’s joints, on ALL of them!! There are many occasions of animals diagnosed with osteoarthritis that improve to the practical absence of pain by exclusively controlling the excess weight they present.

• Exercise :
  • Physical exercise provides the animal with a locomotor system in perfect condition: strong bones, toned muscles, physical resistance…
    But a suitable physical exercise and adapted to the individual characteristics of the animal (age, size…), since inappropriate, violent exercises… can be the primary cause of joint wear and/or traumatisms that give the starting signal to osteoarthritis.

Treatment

For the treatment of osteoarthritis in dogs, the most used drugs are:

• Analgesics for pain control.
• Anti-inflammatories to control the inflammation that is caused in the affected areas.
• Nutritional supplements to provide the necessary nutrients when cartilage and/or bone are affected by this problem.
• Physiotherapy/rehabilitation. In veterinary medicine we can also provide patients with this type of treatment that leads the patient to a restoration, as far as possible, of their locomotor abilities altered by the problem.

And before finishing, make it absolutely clear that when faced with a diagnosis of ARTHROSIS in our dear friend, the involvement of the owner is essential for a correct evolution of the problem: the administration of drugs in the guidelines proposed by the professional, ensuring the daily exercise that It will allow to avoid an incapacity of the function, and to adapt the amount of food to the ideal weight of the animal and its circumstances, will be key in the management of the pathology, and essential to provide the quality of life that the animal requires.