Just as with people, many pets suffer from arthritis. While most pet owners believe that arthritis in dogs only occurs in elderly animals, there are many other causes besides aging that can lead to the soreness and inflammation of a pet's joints.
In more than half of the dogs over six years of age, there are some signs and symptoms of arthritis. Understanding the kind of arthritis that your animal is suffering from and what caused it can help you better understand how to treat the condition and prolong the happiness and quality of life for your pet.
Dog Joint Pain Resulting from Trauma
In some cases, young canines can have arthritis set up in joints that have experienced some type of trauma from injury. This can occur in working dogs or dogs that are overly active. There are several common types of conditions that are seen as a result of an injury. Traumatic Arthritis, which usually leads to osteoarthritis, is common after joint injuries.
Hip Dysplasia can result from injuries as well as be caused by infections. Shoulder Degeneration is usually caused from trauma but sometimes, too, can be caused by infections. Hypertrophic Arthritis is typically associated with bone spurs. Knee Stifle is a type of arthritis resulting from torn ligaments in the animal's knee.
Acute Traumatic Arthritis is a condition caused from injury that often needs quick medical attention and possibly surgery. Unlike the arthritis that results from trauma in humans, the joint condition in dogs typically occurs very soon after the injury in pets.
Arthritis in Dogs Caused by Infections
While some types of arthritis are caused from injury, other types are caused from infectious elements in the joints. Infectious Arthritis is commonly caused by an infection in the area. This condition usually requires some type of antibiotic pet medicine. Shoulder Degeneration and Hip Dysplasia also both may occur from infections or from injuries.
Self Bodily Attacks Causing Dog Joint Pain
One common cause of some types of arthritis in cats and dogs alike is the body attacking itself. When Auto Immune Arthritis, better known as rheumatoid arthritis, occurs the animals own immune system is attacking and causing pain in the joints.
Pet Arthritis Due to Degeneration
Some pets have conditions that cause their cartilage to breakdown. Osteochondrosis is associated with the deterioration of the cartilage.?Osteoarthritis is also contributed to the breakdown of the animal's cartilage. These are both typically progressive and chronic conditions. Near 90% of the cases of arthritis in dogs that are treated by vets are contributed to osteoarthritis.
The first step in helping your pet with painful and agonizing arthritis is to identify the type of condition. You should then discuss the symptoms with your vet. Once the problem has been discovered, you can begin carrying out treatments to help soothe your dog and make him more comfortable.
In some cases, you may need to distribute pet medicine while in other cases you may find that simple changes around the home make life more enjoyable for your canine.
