Dog Joint Medicine
Arthritis affects one in five dogs over the age of seven. And seven is the median age for when a dog is becoming an older dog. Of course, abnormal weight puts more pressure on your dog’s joints. This causes more pain and swelling. In this case it’s good to reduce the fat in your dog’s diet. If your dog has arthritis he shouldn’t eat foods with preservatives, wheat, soy, corn or food colorings. Most commercial dog foods have several grains in them and they increase inflammation, which irritates arthritis.
These are the types of arthritis that plague dogs. Osteoarthritis; Degenerative Joint Disease; Hip Dysplasia; Elbow Dysplasia; Knee (stifle joint); Osteochrondrosis; Hypertrophic Arthritis; Shoulder Degeneration; Wrist Arthritis; Kneecap Dislocation
Some forms of degenerative joint disease can be treated with surgery. For example, hip replacements in dogs with hip dysplasia are becoming more common. Other procedures can also be performed, but their success rests upon how many bony changes have occurred in and around the joint.
Caring for a dog with osteoarthritis requires combating it on many fronts. These include: Weight control and exercise; Physical therapy; Prescription anti-inflammatories or non-prescription medication for treatment of pain and inflammation; Other supplements to reduce inflammation, including fatty acid supplements containing high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
The main thing to remember is that you do not want your best friend suffering with pain if he doesn’t have to. He will not be happy and can become worse without the medication. The pain from arthritis will have him lying around and then his joints can become stiffer. He needs to exercise and that is very hard to do, if he is in severe pain.