Arthritis In Pets
Arthritis in pets can be a debilitating disease that can greatly affect your pet’s health and well being. With arthritis, your once happy, playful best friend can quickly turn listless and pain ridden. Pets suffer the same stiffness, pain and swelling of the joints as humans do with arthritis. Arthritis is a chronic disease that can affect joints in almost any part of the body. The changes that occur in your pet are identical to those of the human body. Arthritis in pets is essentially the breakdown of the cartilage that covers or protects the ends of bones at the joint that causes pain in your pet. There are many different types of arthritis that may be found in your pet. Acute traumatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that manifests rapidly as swelling and lameness and is always a result of trauma to the joints.
Another type of arthritis in pets is autoimmune arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. With this type of arthritis your pet’s own immune system attacks the joints. The synovial membranes will become inflamed and mobility will lessen. Osteoarthritis is another type of arthritis in pets. This is a progressing disease that occurs due to the breakdown and destruction of your pet’s cartilage. With osteoarthritis the bones begin to grind against one another causing pain, reduced flexibility, inflammation and reduce mobility. Osteoarthritis is one of the most common types of arthritis in pets. Hypertrophic arthritis has to do with the development of bone spurs. This type of arthritis is very painful to your pet because it is like walking on a tack. This type of arthritis usually occurs as a result of trauma or osteoarthritis.
Arthritis in pets can cause pain for the four-legged member of your family, but your veterinarian is an excellent resource to help make a correct diagnosis and design a plan to help your pet to be more comfortable. See Also: | ||
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