Arthritis in dogs is tough to trace as it is an inner sensation and defect caused in the joints of the dogs. It is invisible to the naked eye, neither can the dogs express that they have an irritation in their joints. Almost all dogs suffer from arthritis, if not taken proper care of. It becomes challenging for a dog suffering from arthritis to lead a normal life and it may lead to severe health problems, if not detected at the initial stage. It is excruciating for the dogs and causes stiffness in them, leading to not being able to move around comfortably.
Sometimes, we see that our dogs cannot move, and they keep lazing around and do not get up all day long. We think they are lethargic. But, most of the time it happens because of arthritis in dogs, which is a clear indication that your furry friend needs to be checked by a vet.
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Some Symptoms of Arthritis in Dogs are:
- Unable to work out and easily get scared while doing any physical activity.
- Stiff joints or lame behavior in the body after trying to get up from long periods of rest.
- Being very effective against anything cold and not being able to bear with it. Being very prone to cold allergies as well.
- Dogs try to reduce their discomfort by licking on the affected area. They keep licking the joints because they feel that they are trying to get rid of the pain caused in their joints due to arthritis. Losing stamina and not moving around as energetically as before.
- Not willing to perform any physical activities such as walking or even stalling up and down the stairs.
- Not being very active like jumping around, instead just lying down in the corner.
- Sounds coming from the joints whenever an attempt is made to move around.
- Hitting through various things in the house due to the reluctance of moving around and causing more accidents.
- Impromptu mood swings.
How to cure arthritis in dogs
Arthritis in dogs is excruciating and discomforting, and one must take reasonable care. If not treated in the easiest possible ways during the initial stage, it might be a big problem for the dog as if not treated, the severity of arthritis keeps increasing.
Some of the ways of treating arthritis in dogs are:
- Giving them good supplements to meet all the necessary calcium and other minerals in the body they cannot acquire due to either lack of appetite or sufficient amount of minerals not being present in the food.
- Ensure that you provide bedding with proper padding to your dog so that it is easy for him to rest on it and not increase his pain level.
- Keep massaging your dog’s joints from time to time to normalize blood flow and ease the pain.
- Even if they do not feel like exercising, try to make them do exercise so it can relax their joints and provide relief.