It is every parent’s responsibility to let every dog move freely! Osteoarthritis in dogs, also known as degenerative joint disease, is a very painful condition. When dog arthropathy is diagnosed, it is generally difficult to completely cure or recover; dog arthropathy is accompanied by joint damage and articular cartilage wear and tear. At this time, calcium supplementation is also difficult to restore dog joints! Therefore, for large dogs and puppies, please do not supplement calcium arbitrarily. Because large dogs grow too fast, please pay attention to the balanced nutrition of the puppies during their growth and development, and maintain the coordinated development of bones and joints; Small dogs after 8 years old, large dogs after 5-6 years old), it is recommended to feed prescription foods related to joint diseases.
How to identify arthritis in dogs
1. Activities
strong>: The amount of activity has dropped sharply, the dog is not particularly fond of play, and the time for lying and resting is more than usual, and it is easy to get tired and unwilling to exercise as usual!
When running, the dog He also constantly changes his hind legs, makes slow or stiff movements in the early morning, after rest and in cold weather, is reluctant to go upstairs, has difficulty climbing stairs, is reluctant to jump in or out of containers, and has difficulty getting up from sleeping positions!
2. Mobility : During daily activities, dogs will bark or whine because of pain, and when they touch the affected area, dogs will run away, bark or bite , the dog will lick and bite its affected joints, the dog’s temperament will change, such as becoming lethargic, depressed or bad tempered, the dog’s appetite has decreased or he is not interested in food!
Prevalence factors
1. Genetic factors: Dog hip dysplasia is mostly related to heredity! Generally in foreign countries, if a dog is found to have similar problems, the dog will generally be sterilized to avoid the continuous inheritance of bad genes.
2. Nutritional problems: Excessive nutrition and increased calcium absorption may cause an imbalance in the body’s metabolism, which in turn induces hip dysplasia.
3. Environmental factors: If the floor is too smooth, the puppies often kick their legs unintentionally, causing unnecessary burdens on the puppies’ limbs; The lack of activity and frequent overfeeding of golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers can lead to obesity, which can easily cause excessive pressure on the joints and cause arthritis.
Treatment methods
1. Physical therapy to restore the dog’s joint movement ability;
2. Life-long feeding of joint disease prescription food series to supplement joint nutrition and enhance joint flexibility; the goal of anti-inflammatory treatment is to relieve dog pain, eliminate joint inflammation and increase extreme mobility, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs It is one of the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of canine arthritis at present, and the dosage of the drug can be changed according to the different needs of the dog.
3. Hip replacement surgery;
4. If your dog unfortunately has arthritis and is overweight, reducing the dog’s weight can reduce the risk of arthritis. A burden that allows the dog to move around easily and weight loss methods include dieting, weight control, and regular physical activity. Obese dogs lose weight and maintain normal weight;
5. Excessive exercise will not only increase the dog’s pain, but also increase the damage to its joints, but inactivity will also delay the dog’s condition , so we have to develop a set of moderate low-intensity exercise for dogs, including daily spread or swimming exercise.
