According to Vet Rachele Lowe, there are a number of ways you can help your pet once stiffness in their joints starts to cause them a problem.
First and foremost you need to keep their weight under control, but there many other practical ways you can relieve symptoms of pain associated with arthritis, including supplementing their diet with natural additives such as Rose-Hip powder.
Arthritis is unfortunately a really common and can be really devastating disease for both dogs and cats but the good news is, is that there are lots of things you can do to help an animal that has arthritis.
At home, for example, you’ve got to make sure they’re nice and slim. Dogs and cats with arthritis, the less weight they have to carry around with them, the better they’ll cope and frankly, the longer they’ll live.
The other thing you should think about with dogs is tapering their exercise program and making it consistent. They need to do a little bit of exercise a day but it should be non-jarring. So swimming rather than running; walking for little distances rather than pounding the pavement and that really helps.
Thirdly, make sure you look after the areas that they sleep. They need to be nice and warm, they should have nice and soft bedding. You can even think about a nice hot water bottle and a nice protective kennel if you live in a cold area particularly. Supplements could be invaluable in preventing and treating arthritis. These types of supplements include chondroitin, glucosamine, zinc and Rose-Hip. Rose-hip is a really good example of an organic, natural anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant that you can add to the food.
These products are really easy to administer. The Rose-Hip Vital Canine, for example, just add a certain number of scoops to the meal depending on the weight of the dog. Then after that, pain relief is really important. Arthritic pain is just the same in cats and dogs as it is in people and the vet will prescribe some anti-inflammatory pain relief medication. So as long as you do all those things and keep them nice and slim, they’ll go on for a long time comfortably.
Credits
Rose-Hip Vital Canine, 1800 851 888
Rachele’s makeup courtesy of professional makeup artist Maria Whiting , find her on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter
Do you have any tips or tricks you use for your pets with arthritis? Tell us below…
