I am going to try to break down an incredibly complex process for ya.

You ready?

Arthritis can occur in any of your pet’s joints, the well known joints are the elbow, hip, & knee but it can be seen in the spine, the toes, you name it….  

Unfortunately we’re ALL in the same boat as our pets.

No one is spared….dun dun DDUUUNNNNN (ok….I’ll take it down a notch)

But seriously….. if your pet is born with a joint problem like hip or elbow dysplasia, or he tears a ligament such as a cranial cruciate ligament, or is abnormally using the joint with chronic overuse…..

Arthritis is the body’s natural way to help stabilize your pet’s hurt joint.  (our bodies are sooo cool!)

Unfortunately, arthritis not only causes aches and pains in that particular joint, but a whole bunch of other issues will start to happen as well… 

Well if it's bound to happen, just let it ride you might say….

Well, what if you tried a different approach….

I know you’ve heard me say this before but… Being proactive is KEY!!!

There are many mechanical and chemical processes that are going on during the formation of arthritis.  

You start to see inflammation in the joint capsule.  Which means synovial fluid has increased, (the fluid inside the joint) along with inflammation of the synovial lining (this makes the synovial fluid which brings nutrients to the cartilage) of the joint.  The acute joint will be hot to the touch and will not want to bend and flex that well because of pain.  Have you noticed this in any of your pets joints?

Moving on……now stay with me…..

As the inflammation becomes chronic, the knee will no longer seem hot to the touch, but the joint will still feel thickened, painful, and stiff.  

Looking inside the joint, there will be less synovial fluid (which means less nutrition) and now the cartilage (the soft cushion found on both of the end bones) is now starting to break down, exposing the subchondral bone underneath.

With these changes to the cartilage and subchondral bone, your vet on x-ray might see degradation of the cartilage, bony fissures or bone spurs which make the joint even more painful.

This is where anti inflammatory medicines like (Deramaxx or Rimadyl) help because they decrease the amount of inflammation in that joint that’s causing all of these changes early on!

Arthritis, osteoarthritis, degenerative joint disease….all three sayings mean one thing….

Your pet has a hurt  joint that is breaking down and needs to be tended too.  

Unfortunately, we have no way of stopping arthritis, but our best bet in keeping your pet as comfortable, mobile and happy as possible is by using a multimodal approach.

One of the many ways to help is by performing massage on your pet because I haven’t even mentioned the muscles surrounding the arthritic joint, but they are getting weaker & losing elasticity by the day when they’re not being stretched as much.  

Also the compensatory muscles on the other legs are taking on much more of the weight and getting tighter as well, this means the whole body is feeling it's effects. 

Check out the Senior Canine massage workshop below where you'll learn where the tight muscles are and how to decrease muscle tension and pain with the proper massage techniques.  

Give it a try, it's a much cheaper & easier way to start giving your pet a little muscle relaxation right from home!

So there you go……everything you did and did not want to know about your pet’s arthritis! 🙂

Age is not a Disease,

Enjoy the Journey!