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Arthritis
What is arthritis?
Arthritis is inflammation of the joints. Although the end symptoms are often similar the causes of
arthritis are varied and may have very different treatments and outcomes.
Inflamed tissue lining the inside of a
knee joint. This is typical of arthritis.
What types of arthritis are there?
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Degenerative (osteo-arthritis) – the most common form of arthritis found in animals. This
includes arthritis due to old age, over-use of joints and trauma related. It can also include
some cases of arthritis in young animals that can be due to underlying developmental
problems that occur whilst the animal is still growing.
Immune mediated – the most common type of arthritis in people. This can include types
of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis which is actually uncommon in animals. In Nova
Scotia, we are increasingly seeing cases of arthritis due to Lyme disease that is spread
by ticks.
Septic – these are joint infections that are quite rare considering the number of injuries
that occur to joints from road traffic accidents and bite wounds.
Miscellaneous – causes for these can include reactions to drugs and other disease
conditions.
Why do our pets get it?
The most common reason that our pets develop arthritis is due to old age or trauma to the joint.
The primary cause may be obvious e.g. an accident causing a torn cruciate ligament, or may be
more subtle with no obvious factor that triggered the problem.
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How does it present when our pets have arthritis?
The main problem with arthritis is pain from the joint. This often shows up as stiffness in the joint,
especially when the joint has been rested for a period of time. Acute cases may present as an
animal that will not walk on a limb, may hold it up or may be lame when walking. Chronic cases
may just present as an animal that is increasingly reluctant to exercise over a period of time.
Remember it may be that more than one leg is affected and so the animal may not be able to just
hold up the bad leg on its own.
How can we diagnose arthritis?
Usually we look for a combination of clinical signs that may be detected at an examination,
sometimes it may be suspected by the history that the owner describes. If confirmation is required
this can take the form of xrays, blood tests, joint fluid analysis or arthroscopic examination of the
joint or surgery. Unfortunately, sometimes the diagnosis may just tell us what is happening at the
present moment and not what caused the problem originally.
Arthritic reaction in a knee due to a
torn cruciate ligament.
Are all joints affected by arthritis?
All joints can be affected by arthritis but some are more commonly affected than others. The most
frequently affected joint are the hip, knee, ankle, and elbow joints, along with the joints of the
spine. The effects of arthritis can vary depending on the joint e.g. elbow arthritis is more
debilitating than knee arthritis.
The severity of the arthritis can vary from patient to patient, probably due to genetic reasons and
also the cause of the arthritis and the animal’s lifestyle. Some breeds of dogs, such as Boxers,
can have very marked spinal arthritis at an early stage of life. However, they can cope very well
and so sometimes despite the signs being visible on xrays the animals are comfortable.
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What affect does exercise and weather have on an arthritic pet?
Exercise affects arthritic joints dramatically. It is important to get the correct balance between
keeping the joints moving and preventing stiffness and not over stressing an arthritic joint. Arthritic
joints tend to be more comfortable when they are warmed up and therefore the worst time is after
a period of rest before the joint has been stretched.
Damp weather and low barometric air pressure is not good for arthritic joints as it causes the lining
of the joint to become sticky and uncomfortable. This problem is made much worse if it is
combined with cold weather. Therefore, we tend to find that arthritic patients are more
uncomfortable during the winter compared to the summer.
Can I use over the counter medications to help?
There are many medications that are available for helping with arthritic pain in humans. Although
they may be safe in people often these drugs can cause problems in our pets. Drugs such as
Tylenol, Bufferin, Children's Advil etc are NOT designed for use in our patients. These drugs
can cause serious side effects such as stomach ulcers and gastric bleeding, liver and kidney
damage, and other issues such as bleeding disorders etc. Dose rates of medications may vary
from the human doses rate. Also, our patients are much smaller than people.
We can advise on medication that is much more suitable for long-term pain management due to
their reduced side effects.
How can we make our pets comfortable?
The current best way to manage your arthritic patient is to create an individual plan that is
suitable for your pet. This includes looking at diet, weight control, exercise management, antiinflammatory drugs, nutraceuticals, essential fatty acid supplements, disease modifying drugs,
physiotherapy (including acupuncture and laser treatment) and other treatments.
Ensuring that your pet does not carry excessive weight is very important. The extra stress that is
put onto an arthritic joint can lead to more rapid deterioration of the arthritis (see below).
An exercise program that maximizes the use of the joint whilst minimizing the trauma to the joint
is the ideal plan. This needs to be tailored to the individual and therefore may vary from patient to
patient. It may also need to be altered depending on the weather and other factors.
The long-term aim is to try to reduce the dependence on strong medications to the minimum.
However, they are extremely useful for short term control to enable the patient to become mobile
and for longer term control when the arthritis has progressed. They also have a use when there
are breakthrough problems with pain, this may occur for example during a sudden cold snap in
the winter.
Physiotherapy has a very important role in helping to maximize the performance of the joints.
Different exercises help different joints and we can offer advice on what is best for each case.
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Omega fatty acids
Essential fatty acids (EFA) (Omega-3 fatty acids) are very
useful for help with inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.
They are found in products such as Evening Primrose oil, fish
oil, borage oil and hemp oils. There are many different types
of fatty acids, but we are mainly interested in eicosapentanoic
acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The
recommended dose for EFA is 100mg/kg/day in total. This
means that many products do not supply sufficient EFA. We
would recommend Aventi Omega 3 complex as a product that
can supply sufficient quantity of EPA/DHA at a reasonable cost.
Glucosamine / chondroitin sulphate
Nutraceuticals are a large range of products that are readily available for the
human patient. They include supplements such as chondroitin sulphate
and glucosamine. The benefits are not always predictable and can vary
from patient to patient and from product to product. The theory is that these
products supply the components that are involved in cartilage repair. In the
laboratory situation they appear to work well. However, there is a lot of
debate as to whether these products actually get into the joint in the live
animal; and so the results may not be as good in your pet as you would
expect.
The quality of the product can also vary tremendously as they are less strictly
regulated than pharmaceutical drugs. In general you get what you pay for so
choose a good quality supplement. We recommend COSEQUIN and Thera-bites as some of the
best examples of these products.
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Other medications
Other prescription drugs such as polysulphated
glycosaminoglycans (Cartrophen - PSGAG) or hyaluronic
acid may also help. These are usually given in the form of
injections.
Diets
Certain commercial diets contain these nutraceutical components and can take the guesswork
out of controlling arthritis. We recommend Hill’s J/D and Royal Canin Mobility diets as being
some of the best, but they still may require further supplementation.
Weight control is also very important and is part of dietary management of arthritis.
What other treatment options are available?
Other treatment options include cold laser therapy, physiotherapy/rehabilitation therapy,
acupuncture, etc.
What are the long-term consequences of arthritis?
Arthritis is a chronic progressive disease that will usually only get worse. The clinical signs do not
always follow the progression of the disease. It is therefore possible to have arthritis for several
years before it severely affects your pet. By trying to approach the problem from several different
angles it is possible to get good control of the arthritis even though the disease is progressive.
Summary
Arthritis is a common disease that will affect nearly all pets at some stage of life. By creating an
individual plan that looks at a wide range of treatments it is possible that your pet can live to have
a good quality of life despite the progressive nature of the disease.
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Weight, Calories and Your Pet
Daily estimated caloric needs for weight maintenance:
10 lb cat
174 calories
10 lb dog
218 calories
20 lb dog
366 calories
50 lb dog
729 calories
You can tell your pet is an ideal weight if:
Ribs are easily felt
Stomach doesn't sag
Waist is easily noted when viewed from above
You can tell your pet is overweight if:
Ribs are difficult to feel under the fat
Stomach sags- you can grab a handful of fat
Back is broad and flat
Waist is barely visible or absent
Calorie Count in Treats
Lean Beef- one ounce- 64 calories
Beggin Strips- one strip- 34 calories
Bonz- one medium- 67 calories
-one large- 89 calories
Cheese- one ounce- 106 calories
Chicken, skinless- once ounce- 52 calories
Egg- 1 Large- 81 calories
French Fry- one fry- 20 calories
Hot Dog- 2 ounces- 170 calories
Ice cream- ¼ cup- 50 calories
Ice milk- ¼ cup- 50 calories
Liver- one ounce- 46 calories
Milk 2%- ½ cup- 72 calories
Milk bone- Small- 1 bone- 20 calories
- Medium- 1 bone- 40 calories
- Large- 1 bone- 115 calories
- XL- 1 bone- 225 calories
Peanut Butter- one TBSP- 82 calories
Tuna in oil- one ounce- 56 calories
Tuna in water- one ounce- 36 calories
Whisker Lickins- 6 pieces- 18 calories
Recommended Treats
Apple- ¼ medium- 20 calories
Baby carrots- 4 carrots- 24 calories
Hills T/D- Feline- 6 pieces- 10 calories
Hills T/D Large- 2 pieces- 36 calories
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CET Chews- 1 chew- Petite- 50 calories
Large- 1 chew- 64 calories
XL- 1 chew- 122 calories
Green Beans- 1 ounce- 18 calories
Hills Small- 3 pieces- 26 calories
Hills Rx treats-1 biscuit- 15 calories
Royal Canin biscuits 1 biscuit 15 calories
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