Dog Arthritis Veterinary Treatments
When your pet has hip dysplasia or canine arthritis, there are quite a few options for treatment. The treatments can generally be divided into two categories:
(1) Standard veterinary treatments that use prescription medications (or surgery), and
(2) Holistic, complementary or natural therapies.
We’re not against using prescription medications because they can indeed play a role in a holistic approach to treatment under certain conditions.
However, if your deeper goal is to help your dog to actually become healthier and not just “cover up” their symptoms … then you want a therapy that can eliminate or slow down the progression of the arthritis and actually help the joints to heal, if possible.
That’s what most of the holistic, naturopathic approaches are designed to do.
Many pet owners ask about the best naturopathic approaches to help their pets, and that’s what this manual will focus on, such as natural anti-inflammatory agents. Please note, however, that there is no one “best” treatment for every dog since every dog, every case, is different.
Sometimes you have to experiment among several holistic options to find the treatment that will best help your animal and it often comes down to trial and error, trying one option after another just as we do in selecting our own human complementary treatments.
Furthermore, another factor often comes into play when selecting treatment options. As mentioned previously, every dog owner also has different capabilities as to what they can do for their pet because of budgetary constraints. When money is not a factor, you can try quite a few different therapies to see which ones work best for your dog. If you have a limited budget, that can work against you in limiting your options.
We feel that the best veterinarians will look at all the options available, and then help you choose what has the highest likelihood of working best, given your constraints, while producing the fewest side effects and best results for the animal.
For instance, the traditional approaches to dog arthritis or hip dysplasia sometimes include surgery when radiographs indicate joint malformations and management approaches have proved ineffective. A good example would be hip replacement therapy for severe hip dysplasia.
When surgery is not indicated, advisable, or affordable, which is not an uncommon occurrence, a dog can experience relief from pain and inflammation by taking painkillers such as corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications.
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