Greetings,
Welcome to this month's issue of The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. Please pass this along to your friends!

Table of Contents:

1. Featured Articles from The Pet Arthritis Resource Center
2. More Questions about (pet) Chiropractic Care
3. Pet Arthritis Message Boards

Featured Pet Arthritis Content

A Guide to Glucosamine Products for Pets Canine Hip Dysplasia Stories of Users of Rimadyl Natural Arthritis Relief for Pets Recommended Books on easing arthritis pain in Pets Using Glucosamine to Ease Arthritis Pain in Pets

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More Questions about (pet) Chiropractic Care

If you are a regular reader of these Pet Arthritis Chronicles, you may recall that quite some time ago I wrote an article about pet chiropractic care. Since that time, I have had a number of you ask for more information.

Arthritic Pets
Let's face it. If you are using a high-quality liquid glucosamine product, providing your pet with adequate exercise, and keeping them on the right diet--you have most of your pet's arthritis problems under control. Nonetheless, since there were a lot of questions that came up about using chiropractors that are trained in pet chiropractic care, (and, I emphasize that fact) let's take a look at some other issues.

What are the other benefits…or, are there any?
Of the pets that I have been exposed to, 99.9% do just great on my recommended program. After all, liquid glucosamine has become a "magic bullet" for most pets and the diet and exercise round out the picture very nicely. However, I am learning that there are some other benefits to using chiropractic care for your pet.

The Central Nervous System
Since most of the arthritis-related problems are muscular-skeletal and neurological (arthritis, muscle and joint problems) we have to look at what role the central nervous system plays in other medical conditions your pet may have.

According to the specialists who do this kind of work, I am told that disease, stress, auto-immune disorders and simple aging can be impacted by chiropractic "adjustments." What these specialists tell me is that a properly-trained "pet chiropractor" can get your pet's nervous system back in balance.

In short, they are saying that a great many medical conditions (like vomiting, inflammatory bowel syndrome and even stress) can be alleviated by proper chiropractor care.

Why that may be so.
If you are "skeptical" about these claims, you might consider that chiropractors deal with more than "bones." When a spine is adjusted, the nerves that are housed inside the spinal column are also affected. That would seem to put some strength behind the argument that getting the spine aligned properly could impact on a great many bodily functions. Here, we are talking about things that are far-ranging such as digestion and blood circulation.

What it all means to you.
If your pet is doing well with their arthritis on a liquid glucosamine supplement and diet as well as exercise, you may not want to consider this additional expense. On the other hand, if your pet is experiencing other problems that might warrant a trip to one of these specialists, then I can't see any harm in it.

Just make certain that if you try this approach, you are using a trained professional. You can normally find one by asking your veterinarian or check online by searching for "pet chiropractors."

Frankly speaking, my pets do just fine using my recommended approach. However, I might mention this point. I do take the time to massage their spines in a deep but gentle up and down motion. If nothing else, it seems to make them very relaxed and I have to think that I am accomplishing something. Possibly, I am just getting some satisfaction out of the fact that they seem to enjoy it.

See you next time.

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Pet Arthritis Message Boards

Dogs

• Canine Hip Dysplasia
• Arthritis in Dogs
• Glucosamine for Dogs

Cats

• Feline Hip Dysplasia
• Glucosamine for Cats
• Arthritis in Cats

Other Animals

• Arthritis in Other Animals

Here's a few sample posts from the Forum...

Suzette
Posted on 13 Dec 2003

Yesterday my 1 year & 9 month old Black Labrador was diagnosed with severe Hip Dysplasia in his right hip and mild HD in his left. The vet informed me that he has most likely had this condition for awhile and that is was probably caused by an injury earlier in his life. I have no way of knowing what type of injury he sustained as I just adopted him this past May from my local Humane Society. Anyway, the Vet recommended two options: that Buddy have the total hip replacement surgery $4000.00 that would be performed at the Vet College or if I could not afford that, then he could perform the excision surgery in his hospital for $1000.00. I asked the Vet if there was anything else that I could do for Buddy and he suggested an aspirin as needed for pain for up to 10 days, as aspirin can cause bleeding. Anyway, since the diagnosis, I have looked up numerous articles on the Internet and have read that this excision surgery seems to be more for dogs under 40 lbs. My Lab weighs 63 lbs. Any suggestions or thoughts on this? All advice would be most welcome.

I have been searching the internet looking for an answer for our famliy pet. He is 8 1/2 yrs old, a shepard and shar-pei mix. He's beautiful. Our vet has diagnosed him w/arthritis. He gave him a cortizone shot last week and EtoGesic pills to be given once daily. Our dog showed improvement for the fist few days after the shot of cortizone, but now he has returned to the state he was in before we took him to the vet, even though we are giving him the pills. Our vet didn't give us much hope and indicated that if, we didn't see any improvement within 2 weeks, that it would be time to "put him down". Currently, our dog cannot get onto our beds (yes, he sleeps with us or our daughter) without assistance. When he gets off of the bed, he will yelp, as the impact of getting down hurts his joints. He no longer wags his tail. He is having difficulty getting up from a lying position. He doesn't sit, he either lays or stands. When he stands, he continually moves about alternating his wieght from foot to foot. I know he's in pain, but I'm just not ready to give up on him yet - - especially at Christmas time. Do any of you have any words of wisdom to help our "Harley"?

Post your own message on The Pet Arthritis Message Board now!

This concludes the January Issue of The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. Look for the next issue in your inbox on February 15th, 2004!

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Have a great January from The Pet Arthritis Resource Center and The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. See you next month!