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Dog Arthritis
What dog arthritis is, how it forms, and how you can treat it

What is Dog Arthritis?

Dog arthritis (degenerative disk disease) is a disease in which joint cartilage deteriorates, resulting in surfaces that are supposed to glide over each other but become rough wheras lubrication within the joint is decreased. Movement is more difficult and often painful. The signs of arthritis in a dog are: difficulty in walking (such as limping or a stiff, slow, or ungainly gait) difficulty in getting up from a seated or lying position; difficulty climbing stairs; a creaking, crackling, or "ratcheting" sound in the joints; an overall decrease in mobility; an unwillingness to move and dragging the back legs so that the tops of the nails scrape the floor. Dogs who are experiencing the pain of arthritis also may become "snappish" if they are touched in the wrong place or made to move when they're not ready. They experience arthritis pain just as humans do.

How Do You Know When Your Dog has Arthritis?

If you notice any of the following signs, your dog may be suffering from arthritis

• Reluctance to walk, climb stairs, jump, or play
  
• Limping
  
• Lagging behind on walks
• Difficulty rising from a resting position
  
• Yelping in pain when touched
  
• A personality change
• resisting touch

How to Effectively Treat Dog Arthritis

You can help your dog's arthritis in the following ways:

• give your dog a reasonable amount of controlled exercise -- that is, the kind of exercise that does not overtax joints, but that helps maintain overall mobility and flexibility
  
• control your dog's weight... the lighter they weigh, the less strain they will have on their load bearing joints
  
• get an early diagnosis and recommended therapy -- which means taking your dog to the vet for a definitive diagnosis and recommendations on exercise program, nutrition and diet, medicinal treatment, and therapy
• give your dog a high quality liquid glucosamine formula like Syn-flex.

Treatment

Dog arthritis can sometimes be halted or prevented by surgery when x-rays indicate joint malformations. If surgery is not indicated or advisable, relief can be achieved with painkillers, glucosamine, exercise, rest, and diet. However, even over-the-counter painkillers should not be used without the advice of a veterinarian.

Some common pain relievers for canine arthritis include:

• Rimadyl (carprofen): A NSAID which has been effective in treating the pain, however has very serious and potentially fatal side effects
• Adequan (polysulfated glycosaminoglycan)(5) given by injection twice each week for four weeks
  
• Palaprin6: a buffered aspirin specifically for dogs

However, these above medications have very dangerous side effects and in the case of Rimadyl, potentially fatal ones. Furthermore, the painkillers above only treat the pain, but do absolutely nothing to treat the disease of arthritis itself. We highly recommend that anyone with a dog who has arthritis or hip dysplasia, be given glucosamine daily.

Glucosamine is an amino sugar produced from the shells of chitin which produces molecules called proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans. In turn, these molecules stimulate the production of synovial fluid, which is the substance that lubriates your joints and ensures cartilage does not deteriorate.

Glucosamine has been shown in numerous studies to be very effective in the treatment for dog arthritis. However, the type of glucosamine product is very important. It is very important to have a pharmaceutical quality glucosamine product, and one that is delivered in liquid form with a number of other ingredients like chondroitin, boswellin, bromelain, and omega 3 and omega 6.

After reviewing all of the glucosamine products available for arthritis in dogs, we recommend a product called Syn-flex®. More information on this product can be found here.

More information on arthritis in pets can be found in our Dog Arthritis Resource Center

Read the Consumer's Guide to Glucosamine Products for Pets

More information on easing arthritis in humans with glucosamine can be found in our Glucosamine Resource Center

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