What Is Canine Arthritis?
Up to 20% of adult dogs suffer from osteoarthritis [citation to research study here], which is an incurable, progressive degradation of cartilage caused by joint inflammation. It can be caused by older age, a previous history of an injury, previous surgery, or genetics. Canine arthritis is often painful for dogs as there is increased friction between the bones and as a result, often leads to behavioural changes and mobility challenges.
It’s heartbreaking to see your once playful pup slow down and succumb to arthritis, but did you know that treatments other than medication are available? At Canine PT and Me, our expert team can help support your active dog’s healthy movement and wellbeing as they advance into older age.
Check out our comprehensive guide to canine arthritis, including diagnosis and all available treatment options to keep your dog happy, mobile and pain-free.
Recognizing Canine Arthritis
Joint cartilage does break down naturally with age, which can cause your dog to move slower and more deliberately. However, there is an absence of pain and inflammation with normal aging.
This means that your pet will demonstrate signs of distress, compensating actions and behavioural changes with arthritis, including:
- Stiffness after rest: this key sign is important not to miss. Your dog can physically struggle to rise and move around in the mornings, but improves as the day progresses after their joints have warmed up
- Grooming an affected joint excessively or stop grooming hard to reach areas
- Sleeping more often
- Increased sensitivity when being petted over affected areas
Common Causes of Dog Arthritis
Your dog’s risk of arthritis could be higher if they:
- Are older in age
- Are genetically predisposed
- Sustained previous injuries such as CCL tears or fractures
- Are overweight or obese
Early Warning Signs Your Dog Needs Arthritis Treatment
Early intervention for arthritis can have a positive impact on your dog’s future, so we recommend looking out for the following changes to its behavior which can indicate they have arthritis:
- Limping
- Swollen joints
- Stiffness when getting up or during cold weather
- Slowing down on walks, reluctance to go on walks
- Difficulty moving upstairs, climbing into your car, jumping up on furniture
- They demonstrate pain or discomfort in spots where you used to pet them without any issues
- Behavioral changes including increased fatigue and irritability, aggression, social withdrawal and disinterest in play
Types of Dogs More Prone to Getting Arthritis
What Breeds are most affected:
All dogs at any age are at risk of arthritis, but older dogs are more likely than younger dogs to experience these chronic aches and pains. Certain breeds of dogs can be genetically predisposed, particularly those that grow large and fast, so it’s best to keep a close eye on subtle changes to their behavior as often as possible.
Dogs which have previously sustained injuries to their joints, are larger in size, overweight or highly active are also more likely to experience arthritis.
Symptoms of Arthritis in Dogs
Although it can be hard to differentiate between signs of ageing and arthritis in your dog, it’s important to carefully monitor their behavior for any signs of the following issues and consult a veterinarian for further assessment:
- Limping
- Muscle atrophy
- Grumpiness
- Hunching
- Shifting weight when walking
- Difficulty in rising from rest position
The initial diagnosis and prescribing of medication must be conducted by a licensed veterinarian. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, you can book an appointment for your dog with a canine physical therapist. At Canine PT and Me, we offer tailored home exercise programs to build strength and range of movement to effectively combat the physical challenges your dog experiences with arthritis.
Treatment of Arthritis in Dogs
As a chronic condition, canine arthritis can be managed successfully through a multimodal approach.
This involves combining different therapies such as medication, weight loss, lifestyle adjustments and physical therapy exercises to maintain your dog’s quality of life, mobility and sense of adventure.
Exercise and Physical Therapy for Canine Arthritis
Your veterinarian will likely have prescribed anti-inflammatories and pain medication to help ease the symptoms of the disease and made you aware that it will likely progress with time.
However, you don’t just have to sit back and wait for your dog’s health and energy to decline.
As certified canine physical therapists, our team doesn’t just love dogs of all kinds! We understand the canine musculoskeletal system thoroughly. We have the skills, resources and experience to help your dog function at its optimum level to offset the debilitating effects of chronic canine arthritis, well into advanced age.
Our physical therapists create a tailored, progressive exercise program that can get your dog moving and active, no matter their stage of diagnosis.
One of the most important aspects of what we do here at Canine PT and Me is create a prescription for a customized home exercise program that focuses on long-term solutions for arthritis and movement-related dysfunction to keep your dog happy and healthy.
We also strongly believe in empowering pet parents with the tools and skills they need to learn how to maintain their dog’s health as they age, while encouraging extra bonding time with their beloved furry friend!
When it comes to human sports medicine, it is well known that we need to add strength. To generate muscle growth and strength, the muscles and tendons need to be gradually loaded with progressive resistance or weight over time. Our exercise programs are designed around this principle and tailored for your dog’s unique individual needs.
We’re often asked about using underwater treadmills or including hydrotherapy as a part of our exercise programs. While this can be useful for some, especially senior dogs and those who have difficulty walking due to a neurological condition, there is no research showing that using an underwater treadmill is better than a land-based exercise program! The underwater treadmill also has one major issue: there is no progressive loading.
The buoyancy of the water in an underwater treadmill takes away the weight bearing/loading that is necessary to build strength. This is because the buoyancy effect actually decreases the effect of gravity.
Although the water height can be adjusted for each dog (which can actually be effective for gait training), the higher the water level also reduces the body weight that your dog uses to build muscle, strength and freedom of movement.
That’s why we prefer the realistic environment of land-based physical training, and we certainly have many happy success stories from our fabulous clients to reinforce our approach.
Keen to teach your dog some new skills and have fun while you’re at it? Here’s 3 safe land-based moves that you can do at home:
- Exercise 1 – Obstacle course: Create an obstacle course of unstable or inflatable objects. Walk your dog forwards across the obstacles.
- Exercise 2 – Backward walking: Lure your dog forwards in a narrow passageway. Stop near the end then ask the dog to back up by placing a treat under their chin or at their throat/chest as you walk forward into them.
- Exercise 3 – Cavalettis: Place pole about wrist level. With a treat or toy lure the dog slowly over the poles to promote active range of motion of the limbs.
Alternative and Complementary Therapies
Acupuncture and chiropractics can certainly be used to give your dog some short-term relief. However, keep in mind that these modalities don’t get to the root cause of the issue whether that be a stiff joint and/or tight muscles. The underlying cause then creates movement dysfunction.
Weight Management for Arthritic Dogs
Shedding the excess pounds is a key factor in reducing the severity of canine arthritis. This is mainly because it reduces the mechanical stress of your dog’s joints and according to Arthritis.org, it’s also thought that fat can store pro-inflammatory chemicals which can worsen arthritis.
Most licensed veterinarians aim to manage arthritis through prescribing anti-inflammatory canine medication such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), pain relief medication and injections, as well as injections to protect joint cartilage. It’s best to consult your trusted veterinarian for more specific advice on appropriate medical management of canine arthritis.
Joint Supplements and Nutraceuticals
A Canine PT and Me physical therapy program is designed to specifically address the movement dysfunction and muscle weaknesses that your dog is experiencing. Physical therapy helps dogs with arthritis stay active, comfortable, and independent by strengthening the muscles that support their joints.
The Role of Physical Therapy in Arthritis Management
Physical therapy plays a vital role in the recovery of dogs with IVDD, regardless of whether they undergo surgery. It aims to restore mobility, alleviate pain, and strengthen the muscles supporting the spine, enhancing the overall recovery process.
Daily Lifestyle Modifications
Small changes around your home can make it easier for your dog with arthritis to navigate and make a positive impact on their quality of life. These include:
- Installing non-slip flooring
- Strategic placement of rugs or mats
- Orthopedic dog bed
- Installing ramps or steps for cars, furniture and beds
Home Exercises and Mobility Aids
Your Canine PT and Me therapy program includes daily home exercises and sometimes mobility devices such as harnesses that offer external support and improved stability, helping to offload arthritic joints and promote safer, more comfortable movement.
Being consistent with the home exercises plays a key role in developing and preserving your dog’s neuroplasticity. This ability to form new neural connections and retain them over time helps your dog maintain nerve function, healthy patterns of movement, alignment, and balance and co-ordination even as the canine arthritis progresses. This process does take time, patience and effort, but as they say, slow and steady wins the race!
Being consistent with the home exercises plays a key role in developing and preserving your dog’s neuroplasticity. This ability to form new neural connections and retain them over time helps your dog maintain nerve function, healthy patterns of movement, alignment, and balance and co-ordination even as the canine arthritis progresses. This process does take time, patience and effort, but as they say, slow and steady wins the race!
Recovery of Dogs from Arthritis
While arthritis isn’t curable, there are many ways to effectively manage this condition to help your dog recover their mobility, quality of life and overall vitality.
Prevention of Arthritis in Dogs
Although the disease can affect all dogs at any stage of life, you can still try and delay its onset by taking some preventative measures, even as early as the puppy stage. You can speak to your local veterinarian at general checkup visits, maintain your dog’s ideal body weight and avoid over-exercising to prevent stress on joints.
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FAQs About Dog Arthritis Treatment
What is the best dog arthritis treatment for senior dogs?
We recommend focusing on low impact physical therapy (PT) and effective weight management.
How does physical therapy compare to medication alone?
Medication often masks the pain rather than directly addressing the source of the pain. Physical therapy on the other hand builds strength to naturally support the function of the joint.
Can canine arthritis be prevented or reversed?
While there is no current treatment to cure or reverse the disease, the progression of canine arthritis can be slowed down significantly with ongoing management such as physical therapy.
What Pawrents Say
“Kelsey did a fantastic job evaluating my 6 year old German Shepherd, Bronson, who has developed leg pain after playing fetch. She did great connecting with my dog and keeping him at ease while she did her testing. She taught me a comprehensive exercise program to implement in improving his leg strength and spine mobility. Bronson has limped less and run faster over the past month with doing these exercises. He’s a happy pup and gives Kelsey all 4 paws of approval.”
–Bronson’s dad
“Canine PT and Me were pivotal in helping our arthritic dog become active again. Kelsey designed a program that was effective and easy for me to implement in between sessions. She also made a recommendation for a specialist who was able to make an accurate diagnosis. She also fitted our princess for an ankle brace that she uses for some activities. If your dog ever needs a physical therapist, you could find no one better than Kelsey. Her programs are effective, and she is kind and patient. My dog loved her, and we can’t recommend her highly enough.”
–Toni’s mom
“I wish I could scream from the rooftops telling everyone to send your dogs to PT post surgery (specifically TPLO surgery). Instead I will do it here. Knowing our dog would be undergoing a major surgery, especially one that would hinder her mobility, there was no doubt in our minds that we would be doing physical therapy for our dog after our vet recommended it to us. When weighing out our options, it was a no brainer to work with Canine PT and Me. Kelsey made physical therapy so easy and convenient for us, working with our schedules. Our dog loves her and would be so excited every time and would be exhausted every time Kelsey was done with a session. Now after completing our dog’s PT, she is back to her same old self, doing zoomies in the yard and getting to chase all the squirrels. Hopefully we will never have to go through PT again BUT if we do, we will immediately be giving Canine PT and Me a call! Kelsey we cannot thank you enough for helping bring Guinness back to being her good old self!”
–Natalie B, Guinness’ mom
