Understanding How to Reduce Joint Pain
October 15, 2009
Your dog needs exercise and a healthy lifestyle to be happy. Unfortunately, joint pain and dog arthritis enter into most dogs’ lives, especially when they get older, which can make exercising and even just moving around feel unbearable. In these cases, your dog probably prefers to just lay around all day, but this is neither good for their physical health nor for their spirit.
If you want to reduce their joint pain, there are better options out there for you to try in order to manage their pain and prevent further damage to their joints.
The Causes of Joint Pain
There are many different factors that lead to joint pain. Natural wear and tear on your dog’s joints over their lifespan can lead to cartilage and tissue damage or even canine arthritis. Obesity, which is diagnosed in 40% of the modern dog population, also puts extra strain on the joints.
A lack of a regular exercise routine and poor sleeping/living conditions can be bad for your dog’s physical health, leading to weaker joints over time, and major injuries, diseases, or infections can be factors as well. If you suspect that your dog suffers from joint pain or arthritis, make sure to get a check-up at your vet’s clinic in order to get a proper diagnosis.
Options for Joint Pain and Dog Arthritis Treatment
Your first step should be to take your dog to the vet for a proper diagnosis and prescription (which isn’t always medicine). Remember, a healthy and active lifestyle for your pet is absolutely imperative. Make sure to have a regular exercise routine and to feed your dog healthy and organic food. (No table scraps!)
Medications
Sometimes, though, your dog has joint problems so advanced or is obese at such dangerous levels (concerning both your dog’s heart and the strain on your dog’s joints) that normal exercising is impossible. In these cases, medication is another solution that should be considered a supplement to exercising or at least a temporary replacement until your dog gets healthy enough to be active again.
Your vet may suggest prescribed treatments such as NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), joint-fluid modifiers, surgery, or vaccines. There are also dog food companies, such as Hill’s or Purina, that produce special food specifically for dogs with arthritis.
There are other medications and treatments out there that you don’t need a prescription for, such as Flexpet with CM8. This amazing drug is for relieving your dog’s joint pain and/or arthritis pain. It is the only medicine of its kind that contains the special ingredient cetyl myristoleate, and it is manufactured by Flexcin International, Inc.
Being Realistic About the Future
All of your treatment options are intended to reduce joint pain by lubricating the joints and to repair damaged tissues and cartilage. It must be stressed, however, that you should not falsely hope to heal arthritis and joint pain completely. You can reduce the symptoms significantly–enough to give your dog their happy lifestyle back–but there is no medicine out there yet that completely cures arthritis.
By caring for your dog to the best of your ability, you can help to prevent future joint problems as well as work to reduce current joint pain. And by providing the right diet and exercise routine for your dog’s health and happiness, you can have the confidence that your dog’s discomfort is greatly reduced. And that is what is most important.
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