Don't Slow Down! - Dealing with Arthritis, Part I

"Oh, he's fine, he's just slowing down." It's a common comment I hear during exams of middle-aged and senior pets. Just like us, arthritis is one of the most common reasons pets "slow down" as they age, and just like us there are many options for managing discomfort, improving quality of life, and ultimately "speeding them up" again. Like most problems, the key to dealing with arthritis effectively is understanding what it is and why it happens. That's the topic of this article;  in Part II we'll cover the tools we have for treating arthritis.

A visibly swollen ankle. Inflammation
also made it warm to the touch.

Osteoarthritis, simply put, is discomfort and inflammation of the joints. It's the long-term result of abnormal wear and tear, which may be due to irregularities in the joints or cartilage pets are born with - such as hip dysplasia or unstable kneecaps - or, they may damage the cartilage, ligaments, or bone later on. Major abnormalities or trauma will likely be noticed early on and may be dealt with surgically, but minor abnormalities may only be evident much later as arthritis develops over time. Likewise, pets that ask a lot of their joints over their lives - such as athletes, or conversely, obese pets - may ultimately develop arthritis even without other abnormalities or damage.

The most important thing to understand is that arthritis is an inflammatory process. I intentionally emphasize both words. Inflammation is the body's response to damage. Irritated cells release proteins into the bloodstream, which in turn recruit specialized cells and more proteins back to the site. These cells and proteins are intended to repair damaged tissue or fight off infection. This is why a cut on your skin inevitably swells up and turns red - the area is filling with fluid and cells. The inflammatory process cleans up, repairs the damaged skin with a bit of scar tissue, and subsides. However, when the process can not fix the underlying problem - such as with a defect in joint cartilage or a misaligned joint - it just keeps going and going. Thus arthritic joints tend to stay swollen and painful (though how much may vary daily). Moreover, with time the inflammation will induce production of new bone, similar to scar tissue left in skin. Unfortunately, the end result is more irregular joints, and thus more inflammation, more arthritis, more pain, and less mobility. Inflammation is a process, and unless we interrupt it things will only get worse.

Arthritis itself is rarely a surgical disease; however, it is worth pointing out that many of the problems that lead to arthritis can be corrected surgically. Most joint diseases that can be treated surgically don't see the vet initially, and they run a course like this: the pet becomes acutely lame, improves back to normal-ish over a few weeks or months (while we "wait and see"), then a few months or years down the road the lameness returns (arthritis) and slowly gets worse. If abnormalities in the joints of young animals are recognized early it is often possible to correct them surgically and prevent a lifetime of progressive arthritis and pain. Traumatic damage to the joints of adult pets, such as torn ligaments in the knee, also doesn't have to turn into serious arthritis if it's fixed right away. For this reason alone, at the first concern of lameness you should see your veterinarian.

So, that's arthritis in a nutshell - joints are abnormal or damaged, the body tries to fix it with inflammation, but it can't and ultimately just winds up making things worse. In the next part, we'll talk about the different therapies available to interrupt the inflammatory process, slowing or stopping the ongoing joint damage it causes. That's the key to reducing pain, increasing mobility, and ultimately improving quality of life for pets suffering from arthritis.

Continue to Part II.