Owning Pets

There’s nothing worse than having to watch your pooch suffer from arthritis pain. You can tell by the look in their eye they hurt. Chances are you desperately want to do something to ease their misery. The good news is there are things you can do to slow down the progression of this painful disease, or perhaps prevent it from ever happening at all!

Thought by many to be an auto-immune disease, the immune system becomes over-active which causes the body to attack healthy joint tissue or cartilage. This results in pain and inflammation. Arthritis has many different symptoms and can occur at any age, although it is more common in older dogs than younger ones.

When arthritis strikes, it causes cartilage to break down. Cartilage is the dense connective tissue that protects the joint between bones. In dogs, these areas include the hip, knee, and ankle joints. However, arthritis can occur in other locations such as the feet or spine. As the cartilage wears away the bones rub together, leading to pain, inflammation and stiffness.

If you suspect arthritis in your dog, consider these major symptoms:

v Difficulty sitting, standing, or getting up from the floor or bed
v Favoring a limb
v Decreased activity, sleeping more, lack of interest in play
v Weight gain
v Attitude or behavior changes
v Appearing to have stiffness or sore joints
v Swelling around the joints

In recent years, scientists have been studying Glucosamine as a way to treat arthritis in dogs. Glucosamine is a glucose molecule produced naturally in the body. Its job is to fuel cartilage cells to produce the proteins that hold joint tissue together. As dogs age, they are less able to produce glucosamine, which causes the cartilage to wear down and stiffen.

Chondroitin is a cartilage element believed to restrain the enzymes that break down cartilage. Glucosamine and chondroitin are both essential to maintaining healthy joints. Together they protect and rejuvenate the cartilage tissues.

Glucosamine plus chondroitin has been clinically proven to prevent arthritis symptoms in rats with arthritis in up to 54% of cases, as opposed to 96.5% of the group that received no treatment. What this means is that by giving your dog this compound you have an over 50% chance of helping them get rid of some, if not all of their arthritis symptoms.

Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements show promise in treating symptoms of secondary arthritis in dogs. This type of arthritis typically occurs after an injury or surgery. A study suggests this combination can significantly reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis in dogs.

There hasn’t been any studies so far that show any negative effects of giving your dog these supplements, however you still may want to consult your veterinarian before proceeding.