Osteoarthritis Diagnosis and Treatment

Marty and Laura tackle the topic of osteoarthritis in our pets, diagnosis, treatment and the differences between cats and dogs with this disease.

"The only time we'll see a pet cry in pain is if they have either serious trauma or they slipped a disc in their neck and those dogs vocalize," Marty said. "But they won't vocalize because they've torn a cruciate. They won't vocalize because they have hip dysplasia or back problem or elbow dysplasia or 1 of 1000 other causes of osteoarthritis. And so our perception, especially in cats, but in dogs as well, is that they're not in any pain because they're not crying."

"We know the dogs are in pain, even if they're not crying. If they're not walking normally, they're in pain. That's just the bottom line and something you need to just know and understand and accept."

Marty walks through the various treatment options. There are multiple options for dogs, although only one for cats. Various commercial diets are formulated to provide support for pets with osteoarthritis.

"(These diets are) based on increasing the fatty acids, increasing the glucosamine, trying to improve joint lubrication and just generally making the pet feel better. Dogs and cats, first and foremost, if they're overweight, get weight off of them because that is going to be the best thing that you can do for them non drug wise or drug wise. That is the one single thing that you can do to really improve their quality of life is for them to not have to carry that much weight on those sore, achy, tired joints. Every part of their body hurts, so get their weight down."

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The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.