Canine Arthritis Management

Arthritis is an incurable disease that occurs in at least 1/5 dogs. It is best managed through 4 different areas at the same time. See the figure from CanineArthritis.org (a great resource).

There is good data to support the following appraoches.

Weight Loss

This is the #1 thing to reduce pain associated with arthritis.

• Talk to our team for calculations for how many calories per day your animal should be eating. This includes treats! This is a guide. If you are feeding drastically different numbers, then slowly reduce the amount of food each week until you reach the target calories/day.

Cartrophen Injections

Incorporates into the cartilage to slow break down and helps produce healthy joint fluid.

• 1 injection/week for 4 weeks, 1 injection/month for maintenance

Omega 3 Fatty Acid Supplementation

• Recommend EPA/DHA Omega 3 Fatty Acids 100 mg/kg per day from a FISH source in a formulation that contains Vitamin E as an antioxidant. Keep in the fridge and protect from light. NO flax seed/linseed.

• Joint care diets with additional supplementation: OM Joint Care and Mobility

Activity Modification

• Regular exercise, but not overly strenuous or repetitive exercise

• Rugs and ramps to help prevent slipping and easier access to truck, bed, couch, etc.

Ice Packs / Cryotherapy

• Wrap pack in a damp thin towel for 15-20 minutes for a flare up or after an acute injury

Green Lipped Mussel (Motion Health, 4Cyte)

• Shown to decrease inflammation and pain

Flexadin Plus

• Oral supplementation of glucosamine, chondroitin, type 2 collagen

Oral Anti-Inflammatory Medications (NSAIDs)

• Effective, but need to be given DAILY for chronic pain like arthritis. With daily administration, there is an increased risk of adverse gastrointestinal, renal, or hepatic changes.

• We recommend bloodwork to screen liver and kidney function prior to long-term use and monitoring bloodwork every 6-12 months during regular/long-term use.

Librela / Solensia

• Blocks nerve growth factor and therefore pain associated with arthritis

• There is less risk of damage to liver and kidney function with long-term use as compared to NSAIDs, but it is not recommended to use if a patient has cancer.

• We see a greater improvement with the second injection, but it can keep getting better with subsequent injections. Often, once they start this, we do not stop.

  
  

Gabapentin

• Pain management at the nerve level that can help for patients who are not sufficiently controlled on NSAIDs or Librela/Solensia.

• Sometimes we can see mild sedation initially. The dose can be reduced and slowly increased if this occurs.