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Options for Stiff and Sore Pets

Your pet relies on properly functioning joints to move through life swiftly and effortlessly. Any decrease in mobility of any of the nearly 200 joints in your pet's body will greatly hamper their ability to walk, rise, sit and enjoy life in a normal manner. Today, more treatment options than ever exist to help your pet!

Arthritis, more properly termed degenerative joint disease, occurs as smooth joint cartilage becomes worn, and raw bone surfaces become exposed and rub together. This causes pain, loss of mobility and decreased function of the joint. This degeneration can occur over a lifetime of wear, or faster after some type of injury or due to physical deformities such as hip dysplasia. No matter what the cause, the result is the same: stiffness, pain and loss of mobility. If your pet has these symptoms they hurt, and they are asking for help.

Interestingly, a good percentage of pets do not have degenerative joint disease or hip dysplasia. We have found that about 50% of dogs actually have one of several problems associated with their spine! That is why it is dangerous to simply say, "my pet is stiff" so he must have arthritis! That is also why taking the time to establish the exact and proper diagnosis is critical to achieving the best results from treatment.

Our hope is that this information will assist you in understanding options available for your pet and assist you in making choices which can best help your pet move through life with greater mobility and less pain. All animals should have a thorough physical, appropriate X-rays and other tests the doctor may feel necessary to establish the diagnosis and best determine which treatments will be most useful for your pet.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDICATIONS are used to control pain, swelling and inflammation. We don’t use older drugs like aspirin or phenylbutazone due to the high number of complications that are seen. Newer drugs have been specially made for dogs and cats, and are 5-6 times more potent and 10 times safer than these older medications. These include novox, deramaxx, onsior, galliprant and meloxicam. Cortisone is sometimes used in more extreme cases. Please do not give tylenol, ibuprophen or naproxen to your pets. These are toxic!

ADEQUAN is a drug we have had excellent success with for decades now. This product helps rebuild worn joint cartilage. It is given as an injection, usually twice a week for 4 weeks then once every 3-4 months to maintain the benefits. Results are usually seen in 3-4 weeks, and we have very rarely seen any side effects. Over 90% of our clients see improvement in their pets, even in older animals. This product is also safe with other medications. Most clients’ request continued treatment with this product and it works for many conditions!

JOINT SUPPLEMENTS are oral medications that work by providing basic raw ingredients to repair joints and form healthy joint tissue. There are dozens of brands available today but it is our advice to have one that has high levels of glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM, along with omega3 fatty acids. Many of the low cost store brands do not have high quality ingredients or these combinations. We have a product called Synovial Flex which we feel beats the competition hands down in quality and price!

CHIROPRACTIC CARE is available to help restore movement and alignment, mostly of the spine, and can be used to assist in rehabilitation after injury or surgery. While chiropractic will not repair worn joints, it can be very useful to restore proper function and motion in the animal. Dr. Day is certified by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association and specializing in small animals only and he has been practicing chiropractic on dogs and cats since 1995.

COLD LASER THERAPY is yet another drug-free option to help animals with bone and joint pain. Deep-penetrating laser light reduces inflammation, decreases pain and improves healing and repair of tissues.

WEIGHT LOSS may seem common sense, but give a pet a bad joint, pile on a few extra pounds and you have greatly slowed healing and rehabilitation. Several special weight loss diets can speed your pet's diet plan (no, the light foods don't do too much), and some pets should be checked for hypothyroidism, which slows the metabolism and inhibits weight loss. We have r/d, metabolic and Satiety Support all made for true, quick weight reduction.