Dealing with Your Dog's Arthritis

Let's discuss about dealing with your dog's arthritis. If you are anybody that you know suffers from arthritis you know it can be painful. Did you know that your dog could have arthritis? Dogs can and its painful for them as well. This article will explain some ways to help alleviate some of your dog's arthritis pain. 

Keeping your dog active can actually help. You may be afraid that more activity will cause more pain, but laying around all the time won't help your dog. Arthritis typically affects the knees, hips, ankles and other joints so try to find activities that don't add extra weight and pressure onto your dog's affected joints. Choose therapeutic exercises. Talk to your veterinarian about different things you can do.

During the summer a great way to help your dog with their arthritis pain is to take them swimming. Let them swim in your pool or a lake or creek. Swimming is often recommended for people with arthritis. It is a good exercise and it doesn't put any extra pressure on arthritic joints.

Other exercise includes walks. Your dog needs to do its business anyways so take it for a walk and get some exercise in to. You can start with short walks every day and if your dog doesn't get too sore you can slowly begin to go on longer walks. You can walk around your neighborhood or go to a dog park. If life gets too busy or the weather is bad you can even put your dog on a treadmill.

Besides exercise, a healthy diet is important for dogs with arthritis too. Obesity causes more weight and stress on joints so if you want to prevent arthritis or alleviate some of the pain if your dog already has arthritis you should try a reduce fat, low-calorie diet. Suddenly switching food can cause illness so you have to gradually mix the old and new foods until your dog gets used to it, then you can completely switch. Discuss diet changes with your veterinarian, they can recommend the best type of food for your dog.

The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your veterinarian or other health care professional. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment.