There are two types of arthritis:
- Primary - Rheumatoid Arthritis: this is a progressive and uncommon disease where the immune system attacks healthy joints.
- Secondary - Osteoarthritis: the cartilage around a joint gets damaged, so new bone forms around the joint. This has no cartilage protecting it, and causes stiffness and pain.
While arthritis normally affects older dogs, and worsens with age, dogs of any age can have it.
Primary:
- Old age
- Injury
- Auto-immune diseases (the immune system attacks its own body)
- Old age
- Injury
- Disease: hip dysplasia, ligament rupture, joint infection
- Obesity
- Painful joints
- Swollen joints
- Joint stiffness
- Lameness, taking longer to get to its feet, unable to jump or climb
- Loss of apdogite
- Depression
In order to properly diagnose your dog with arthritis, your veterinarian will begin with the following:
- Review of medical history
- Physical exam: flexing the joints and listening for abnormal joint sounds, as well as looking for swelling or heat in your dog's limbs
- CBC blood test(complete blood count): measures the total amount of red and white blood cells in the body
- X-rays of the affected areas: to determine the type of arthritis
- Joint Tap: draining and studying joint fluid
The course of treatment depends mainly on what is causing the disease.
- Infection: antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications
- Obesity: diet change
- Surgery: fragments of cartilage or bone in the joint can be removed to decrease swelling, and in extremely painful cases, the affected joint may be removed
- Dietary supplements: stimulates new cartilage growth in the joints and can alleviate some discomfort
- Veterinarian-developed exercise routine: too much exercise for an arthritic dog can cause severe pain; however, too little exercise will make your dog's joints even stiffer
- Medications: long-term steroids and anti-inflammatory usemay alleviate the symptoms
There is no known prevention.
PROGNOSIS:
There is no cure for arthritis, but your veterinarian can give you treatment options so you dog can live a comfortable life. You should pay attention to your dog's movements, as catching arthritis early leaves more options for your dog to live comfortably.
No comments:
Post a Comment