Greetings,
Welcome to this month's issue of The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. Please pass this along to your friends!

Table of Contents:

1. Featured Articles from The Pet Arthritis Resource Center
2. Hydrotherapy and Arthritic Pets
3. Pet Arthritis Message Boards

Featured Pet Arthritis Content

A Guide to Glucosamine Products for Pets Canine Hip Dysplasia Stories of Users of Rimadyl Natural Arthritis Relief for Pets Recommended Books on easing arthritis pain in Pets Using Glucosamine to Ease Arthritis Pain in Pets

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Osteoarthritis and Digestion

Jet Tubs, Whirlpools and More
If you have never had the opportunity to use a jet tub or whirlpool bath it is a real experience. Sore, tired, aching muscles quickly relax and for most that are used to this kind of thing, it is a real source of pleasure. Not only does it feel good, it makes those aching muscles just disappear.

So, what do pets think about "hydrotherapy?"

Pets like it too
Hydrotherapy is something pets love too and a look in the local phone book will likely locate someone who practices this therapy. Unfortunately, this is not something that every community has available. If fact, it is a service that is in short supply.

(I should add this footnote: Not all dogs love the water. If you try to force the issue, they are only going to undergo a lot of unnecessary stress.)

Home therapy?
I have talked to a lot of pet owners who have swimming pools, hot tubs or whirlpool baths in their homes. They often ask if there is something that can be done at home. The best answer is that "It is probably not a good idea."

The most dangerous part of trying this yourself is the temperature of the water. Pets who are subjected to the effects of heat quickly and anything beyond a few minutes (unsupervised) in a hot tub or whirlpool can be a real disaster. Their bodies are prone to overheating quickly and it goes without saying that this can lead to some really serious health problems and in some cases, can be life threatening.

Generally, professionals use "vests" or "jackets" to both protect and control the pet. In a home setting, most of us are just not equipped to do what is really necessary to make hydrotherapy useful and helpful to our arthritic friends. Additionally, these "pros" know that their sessions usually last only a few minutes at a time and we amateurs have a tendency to overdo these things.

Let's look at an option that will get the job done and is a lot less stressful.

Isokinetic Relaxation
The benefits of warm water therapy are to enlarge the blood vessels (freeing up more blood supply to sore muscles and skin); something that allows stiff joints and limbs to relax. Cold water is going to do just the opposite. It slows the blood flow and reduces inflammation.

Warm Water Therapy
You can try this with (moderate) temperatures in the water and work with your pet while they are in the water (or wherever you may find a place to do this). This allows you to work with the affected areas of your pet's body by massaging and "working" them. It will relax the muscles significantly and for the best results, try to work into sessions that last up to thirty minutes or so.

Cold Water
If your pet is demonstrating sudden pain of injury or an onset of lameness, you might try a cold pack first to see if you can get any inflammation under control as quickly as possible. If this seems to be helping, try moving to a (longer) period of placing the injured joint into (moderately-cold) water. Again, try to extend these sessions out to about thirty minutes.

How long?
These "therapies" are something that does not take forever. Pets with long-term arthritis problems are likely to enjoy these warm water sessions periodically. Two or three sessions a month is good. Typically if they are willing, try to extend these out to about thirty minutes a session. (Your pet may want more.) Clinically, most pets with arthritis demonstrate as much as 80% improvement in their agility and comfort levels.

Cold water therapies are usually confined to a couple of brief exposures to get inflammation under control. This usually means two or three fifteen-minute session over a several day period. It really helps in getting the inflammation under control which means your pet will become their old self faster.

See you next time.

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Pet Arthritis Message Boards

Dogs

• Canine Hip Dysplasia
• Arthritis in Dogs
• Glucosamine for Dogs

Cats

• Feline Hip Dysplasia
• Glucosamine for Cats
• Arthritis in Cats

Other Animals

• Arthritis in Other Animals

Here's a few sample posts from the Forum...

amee
Posted on 04 Jun 2003

I have a 9 year old male Rot and a 13 year old female Rot, both have hip dysplasia. I have tried several different medications from the vet that were expensive and I saw little to no results. I caught the tail end of a documentary that said there is an over the counter drug for human arthritis that can be given to your dog safely, as long as you have the right dosage for their weight. The problem is I don't know what it was. Does anyone have any idea of what it could be and if it is safe. Getting medication for the both of them thru the vet is getting costly, not that they aren't worth it but I am on a tight budget. Please let me know if you've heard of this. Thanks for your help.

Post your own message on The Pet Arthritis Message Board now!

This concludes the June Issue of The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. Look for the next issue in your inbox on July 15th, 2003!

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Have a great June from The Pet Arthritis Resource Center and The Pet Arthritis Chronicle. See you next month!